Miranda flinched, eyes wide with panic. “Hey—hey, stop, don’t try to talk yet!” She fumbled for the water cup on the bedside table, nearly knocking it over in her haste. “Here. Small sips. Slow. You were out for two days, gosh, I’m so stupid because I didn’t give you this first!”
Well, at least that answers the question of how much time I had been unconscious.
“You could have asked me,” Aria interjected.
“I thought you were also sleeping, considering how much you helped me,” I replied,
She held the cup to my lips with shaking hands. The water was cool, blessedly cool, sliding down my throat like mercy. I managed two swallows before the coughing eased enough for me to draw a real breath.
Miranda set the cup down and brushed damp strands of hair from my forehead. “You okay? Perhaps y
