Roberto woke in staggered waves of pain, his body protesting every tiny movement, every breath that strained through his battered ribs. He couldn’t tell if it was the weight of the world that had crushed him or if he'd simply forgotten how to exist without agony. It felt as if a train had collided with him—or maybe two. Every inch of his skin felt bruised, raw, as though it had been scraped off. Breathing was a struggle; moving was an impossibility.
His eyes cracked open, the dim light from an unfamiliar room seeping in, casting soft shadows on white walls, white furniture, white everything. A bed sat in the center—four-poster, canopy draped in gauzy, delicate fabric. A scene straight out of a fairy tale, though he was sure no one had ever told a story like this one. His head throbbed li
