“Wake up.”
The very echoey, faraway words were punctuated with a sharp crack, then another one. The second one she felt on her cheek, a sting that barely registered as a sensation and was more of a sound. There was also a persistent, low buzzing, like bees. She wanted to wave her hands in front of her face to swat them away, but her arms felt as heavy as stone. Then her cheeks stung again and she wondered if the bees had stung her. Consciousness swam up to meet her, fell away, returned tentatively.
Wait, are those slaps? And is that my cell phone vibrating?
Jo winced and groaned as her face began to smart, and she tried to turn away. All she really felt was pain in her head and she vaguely wondered why her headache was so much worse than it had been, even after taking a painkiller. She
