Shay:
My eyes flickered open, the world around me a blurry haze of stark whites and muted blue. For a few disorienting seconds, I couldn’t remember anything: who I was, where I was, or why my body felt so painfully weak. My head pounded as if lightning had struck directly between my temples, and every limb felt impossibly heavy.
When my vision finally cleared, I noticed a man in a white coat standing at the foot of my bed. He was flipping through a clipboard, skimming it with a practiced seriousness. The name tag pinned to his chest read Dr. Evans.
Sensing I was awake, he glanced up, a small, relieved smile crossing his features. “Good morning,” he said softly. “How are you feeling?”
I tried to speak, my throat sandpaper-dry, my voice cracked and raspy. “W-Where am I…?”
“Do you rememb
