When I opened my eyes, I remembered nothing. For a terrifying moment, I couldn't even remember who I was.
But there was a warmth on my belly and chest, the weight of something reassuringly heavy and solid. Someone was resting their head on me and holding my hand. Someone I knew. Someone I wanted desperately to never leave me.
And then it all flowed back like a river crashing through a broken dam, washing over me in a mighty wave.
"Claudia!"
I must have awoken Evan somehow even though I hadn't even moved. Eyes wide, I stared up at him, too stunned to answer.
But I didn't have to. He wrapped me up in an embrace, hauling me up from the hospital bed as if I weighed no more than a feather. The way he held me was desperate, terrified, frenzied yet gentle, and before I knew it I was clutchin
