The first thing I noticed when I started to wake up was that my entire body ached. There was a dull pain in my chest as I breathed in and out, and in my back and neck.
I didn’t move. I tried to lay as still as possible. I was laying on my side— in a very comfortable and plush bed— and for a moment, I thought I was back in my bedroom in Asheville, and a small smile painted my lips.
That day dream was quickly shattered when I felt hands— very familiar hands— probing my body in a familiar way that felt like a doctor’s touch.
I didn’t dare move. The fingers were from pressing gently behind my ear, to gently going through and probing my scalp under my hair, and from there moved down and stopped at the existing bruise I knew I had on my forearm. The touch was so pleasant to me that it made
