Valerie awoke in a cold sweat momentarily still feeling the smoke in her lungs and the fire burn her skin as she screamed. Damon ran into the room along with the doctors. “Your awake,” he whispered in unbelief.
Valerie just stared at him unable to speak. Her eyes focused on the room. Realizing she was in the hospital, and was safe if there was such a thing, she took a deep breath. After the chaos of the fire, the steady rhythm of machines and the soft voices of doctors moving around her unnerved her. No one was directly speaking to her but about her, and though her eyes were open she was not entirely sure she was awake. She was sure of one thing and that was that she hated everyone looking at her like she was fragile.
The doctor standing at the foot of her bed studied the charts and sca
