ELENA'S POINT OF VIEW
Everything hurts.
That was the first thing I noticed. A dull, throbbing pain in my head. A sharper ache in my wrist. Soreness everywhere else, like I'd been hit by something heavy.
I tried to open my eyes but the light was too bright. It stabbed through my eyelids and made the pain in my head worse. I squeezed them shut again and tried to figure out where I was.
The sounds came next. Steady beeping. The hum of machinery. Distant voices. The smell of antiseptic and clean sheets.
Hospital.
I was in a hospital.
Why?
I tried to remember but my thoughts were slow, foggy. Like trying to see through thick smoke. There was something important I should remember. Something that happened.
I felt pressure on my hand. Someone was holding it.
"Elena?"
The voice was familiar. Tired. Worried.
Alex.
