OLEANDER
I woke up to a face hovering above mine.
Blinking, I stared into a pair of dark brown eyes, locked on mine with unsettling intensity. Familiar, but I couldn't place them. I focused harder, willing the fog in my head to clear.
"You're awake, Olea," the man said, his voice snapping me out of the haze.
That voice. I knew it too.
My eyes darted to the right, then left, then up at the ceiling. White-painted walls. Fluorescent lights. Machines beeped quietly around me. An IV line trailed from my wrist.
I pushed myself up slowly. A sharp pain bloomed in my back, and I winced.
"Easy," the man murmured, his voice low and gruff as he reached forward to steady me. "Take it slow."
His hands were warm.
"Are you okay?" he asked again, more gently this time.
"Am I?" I whispered, my brows drawing together.
Something was off. Something important. I couldn't remember what it was, but I knew I'd lost something.
