The morning light entered the room without a sound, sliding across the bed Amelia slept on, wrapped up in her blanket.
She opened her eyes calmly, staring at the ceiling. There was no sudden gasp, no dramatic jump to an upright position. She just lay there, perfectly still as the phantom echo of a gunshot faded from her ears and dissolved into the quiet of the morning.
She slowly uncurled her fingers. Her palms were sore, marked with deep indentations where her nails had dug all through the night. She rolled onto her side, her hair clinging to the back of her neck from cold sweat that had already cooled.
With a heavy exhale, she removed the sheets and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She sat on the edge for a long minute, her shoulders slumped, staring at the floor waiting for t
