-LILIAN-
The slow, agonizing return to consciousness had been like clawing my way out of a bottomless pit. Every breath was a struggle, every flicker of light a painful assault. My body felt alien, disconnected, heavy as lead. I couldn't move my limbs, couldn't make them obey. And when I tried to speak, to scream, to ask what had happened, only a raspy, pathetic sound escaped my throat. The frustration was a hot, bitter taste in my mouth. I was trapped within my own useless body.
The first thing I truly registered, beyond the constant ache and the suffocating weakness, was the taste of warm broth on my tongue. Elara. Her gentle hands, her soft whispers, were the only anchors in my world of pain and fear. She would patiently bring the spoon to my lips, her touch so careful, so soothing. E
