Andrea’s POV
The first thing I felt was the weight. Not physical, not heavy… but emotional. Like I was underwater, drowning in something dark and thick and full of invisible hands.
My body ached in strange, pulsing places. My lip stung. My ribs throbbed. But the pain wasn’t the worst part.
It was the silence. Then the dull hum of a heater. The slow tick of a wall clock.
I blinked.
A pale light from the nurse’s desk filtered through half-closed blinds, washing the room in a dim, yellow haze.
I could make out a blanket over my legs, a tray of untouched crackers and water beside me, and the soft beep of a heart monitor somewhere near my ear.
I was alive. And for a long moment… that didn’t make sense.
I sat up slowly. My fingers trembled as they touched the edge of the bruising along
