When I opened my eyes, everything was hazy, like I was looking through a thick, dirty window. My head throbbed, and my mouth tasted bitter. For a few seconds, I couldn’t move, couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe right.
Then the panic hit. I sat up too quickly and instantly regretted it. The dizziness was like a wave crashing over me. I forced myself to breathe, slow and deep, scanning my surroundings.
I was in a room, a plain, unfamiliar room. The walls of the room were painted a dull cream, peeling slightly at the corners. A single bulb hung overhead, casting a yellow light.
The floor was cold beneath me as I laid on a thin mattress with no blanket, no pillow. Just the mattress in the corner of the room, on the cold floor.
My heart hammered against my ribs as I started to remember what
