Chapter 75
Luciana's POV
My eyes fluttered open, greeted by a blinding whiteness that forced them shut again almost immediately. The sharp, sterile scent of antiseptic filled my nose, pulling me deeper into reality.
I forced my eyes open once more, squinting as the overhead lights cast a harsh glow across the hospital room. Machines hummed around me, their soft beeps and whirs creating a strange, steady rhythm that grounded me.
I felt an ache deep in my bones, a heaviness in my limbs that reminded me of every single thing I'd endured. Slowly, I shifted my hand, noticing the IV taped to the back of it, the slow drip of fluid into my vein. My mouth felt dry, and a dull pain throbbed in my head, like a faint echo of something I couldn't quite place.
I blinked, my mind struggling to clear the fog. The memories came flooding back—begging Uncle Eugene, Aunt Ellen, and Audrey for mercy as the men drenched the warehouse walls in gasoline.
