SCARLETT
A piercing white light hovered above me. I blinked, once, then again. My limbs felt heavy, as if gravity had tripled its weight just for me. Every breath hurt. My ribs ached, my head throbbed, and my throat was bone dry. I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming or dead. Until I heard it.
“Scarlett… Scarlett!”
Voices. Familiar ones. Distant, yet urgent. I turned my head slowly toward the sound, confusion gnawing at the edge of my consciousness. My eyelids fluttered open fully, and I realized I was lying in a bed—a hospital bed. The sterile white walls, the soft beeping of a heart monitor, the faint scent of antiseptic… it all crashed into me at once.
Panic seized my chest.
What happened?
Then it all came flooding back. The fight. Vincent’s grip on my wrist. The escape. The car. The c
