My consciousness was coming back slowly.
At first, all I could hear was the low humming in my head and my pulse vibrating somewhere at the back of my skull. It felt like a woodpecker had somehow taken up a residence inside my head and was now trying to get out. I was almost sure than once I woke up, there were going to be cracks all over the back of my skull.
Then I started hearing low voices. I couldn't quite distinguish what they were saying, but they sounded familiar. I think I recognized my name being said in a hushed tone a few times in a voice I definitely knew, but I couldn't place it or wake up.
Once I felt a light touch on the side of my face and a grip on my palm. I stirred a little, but the move caused me a new wave of pain, so I fell back asleep.
The next time I woke up, I
