Chapter Twenty-Nine
I woke up in the hospital. Well, that's not entirely accurate. "Woke up" makes it sound like I just opened my eyes and there I was, but I think the process took about an hour. At first, I was just aware of space and sound. Footsteps. People moving. I took a deep breath, and felt a twinge of pain, dull, distant. Was I lying down, or floating? When I finally opened my eyes, I saw nothing but smudges of light and dark. More sounds. Voices, but no words. I tried to speak, to ask what the hell was going on, but my jaw didn't want to move, and my tongue was mortared to the top of my mouth like bricks in a dirty garden wall.
After a while, the blurs resolved into shapes. The voices became more distinct. Awareness of my body returned. I was lying down. There was a sheet. Some
