ALEXANDER
The first thing I feel is the sting of light—too sharp, too real, cutting through the fog that clings to me.
My eyes open before I can stop them, and air fills my lungs in a violent rush, tearing from my throat as a groan.
The sound startles me almost as much as it startles the room. Movement erupts around me, shadows shifting, voices rising in surprise, but my gaze finds only one person.
Her.
Emmaline.
She stands frozen, her face pale, eyes wide, lips parted as though she’s forgotten how to breathe. For a moment the hospital walls fall away, the figures blur, and it is only her and me. Only the pain in her gaze—raw and unguarded—that strikes deeper than any blade ever could.
I want to reach for her. To pull her into my arms and never let her go. To tell her that she save
