LAVENDER’S POV
I wake up slowly, not the gentle kind of waking where sleep loosens its grip and the world eases back into focus, but the abrupt, disorienting kind, where consciousness snaps on like a harsh light in a dark room. My first sensation is cold. The second is pain, not sharp, not blinding, but deep and aching, like my body has been through a battle I don’t remember agreeing to fight.
The third is fear, It surges up my throat before my eyes even open. I gasp and my lids fly apart, white ceiling, fluorescent lights. The rhythmic beep… beep… beep of a monitor somewhere close.
Hospital, My heart slams against my ribs.
“No............” I whisper, my voice dry and cracked. “No, no, no......”
Images crash into me without mercy, blood, red blooming against pale fabric. Pain so sharp
