The first thing Cordelia felt was pain. Not the sharp kind that made you scream, but the dull, suffocating ache that seemed to seep into every bone, wrapping itself around her chest until even breathing felt like swallowing broken glass.
Her eyes fluttered open to the muted shadows of her apartment. The curtains hadn’t been drawn back, leaving the room in a sickly half-light. Dust drifted lazily in the air, and the silence pressed heavy against her ears.
It wasn’t silence, though. Not really. Her ribs hurt too much when she inhaled, and she could still hear it—the phantom echo of Reid’s voice, his laughter, the vicious words he spat as his fists landed again and again.
Cordelia tried to push herself up, but her body screamed in protest. Every muscle trembled, her arms shook beneath her
