EMERY
My eyes flutter open, and the world is a blur of lights and unfamiliar surroundings. I blink several times, trying to clear the haze that clouds my vision. My head throbs, a tenacious ache that pounds with each heartbeat. I raise a hand to my temple, feeling the tenderness there, the echo of pain resonating through my skull.
Confusion washes over me as I take in my surroundingsāan unfamiliar room, sterile and white, the faint beeping of machines in the background. Panic claws at my chest as I try to decipher where I am and how I got here. The memories are fragmented and disjointed, as if I'm grasping at straws in a foggy abyss.
