He woke abruptly, breath tearing out of his chest as if he had been dragged up from deep water.
For a moment, he didn’t know where he was...or worse, who he was. His eyes flew open to dim light and unfamiliar shapes, his body slick with sweat, his heart hammering so violently it felt like it might bruise his ribs from the inside.
The ceiling stared back at him. White. Lined with faint cracks that branched like veins if he focused long enough.
Still here.
The realization came with a strange mix of relief and dread. Relief that this wasn’t some half-remembered dream. Dread because nothing had changed. He was still trapped inside a body that felt foreign, in a place he didn’t understand, with a mind that refused to give him answers.
His breathing slowly steadied, though the tension didn’
