- Nikolai Volkov:
I don't know how long I have been lying here unconscious, my body numb and my mind in a fog.
It was as though I was drifting in and out of consciousness, not fully aware of where I was or what was happening to me.
The only thing I could feel was pain—sharp, intense, unrelenting.
It started in my chest, my ribs aching as though something had crushed me, and then it spread to my limbs, pulsing like a heavy beat in my veins.
I could feel a strange tightness in my body, but at the same time, I felt utterly detached.
Numb.
Inability to move any part of my body as if it does not belong to me.
I tried to open my eyes but my eyelids were heavy like they were glued to each other.
Each blink felt like a battle, a struggle to even move my face.
But somehow, slowly, agonizingly, I managed to open them.
