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My body felt hot all over, almost feverishly so, and sore—so sore.
A dark, dense fog shrouded my mind, and I clawed my way through it. Finally I broke the surface and dragged in a deep breath. My eyes felt heavy and tired, and I blinked them open for a fraction of a second before letting them slide closed again. A flash of bright light strobed overhead, hurting my eyes and sending my mind spinning.
Where was I? And why did everything hurt so much?
Though I lay on my back, my neck was cocked at an unnatural angle, and I kicked out my legs in an effort to stretch. Half a second later my feet encountered something hard, halting my progress. I drew my knees upward again, curling into myself as panic set in.
Somewhere in the deep recesses of my mind, memories swirled and though I desperately grabbed at them, they remained elusive and out of reach. My mind remained a blank void, and a soft buzzing filled my ears. As my heart rate increased, the rapid pounding of my heart replaced the white noise, and my lungs rose and fell rapidly, threatening to hyperventilate.
What was happening? Why couldn’t I remember anything?
I kept my eyes clenched closed, and forced several long, deep breaths into my lungs. Panicking was the worst thing I could do. Drawing on instincts deeply conditioned over the past few years, I shoved the fear aside. Instead, I focused on the sounds around me as they came to me in pieces: A low humming sound. Soft music playing from somewhere that seemed far away.
My brows drew together. It all seemed so familiar, even the faint rocking motion beneath me, as if I was hovering in midair. At the strange thought, my eyes popped open. I blinked several times and squinted into the dim light, trying to discern where exactly I was. Another bright yellow glow flashed overhead, then was gone a second later. My brain throbbed as I stared into the darkness once more, blinking the pain away.
Flash.
The light came again, and I grimaced. On it on it went, the bright flashes coming at even intervals every few seconds. I closed my eyes against the dizzying sensation. What were they? It seemed so obvious, yet still so out of reach, and I willed myself to open my eyes again. I redirected my gaze away from the bright blaze of light and studied the dark gray fabric above me. As I focused again on my surroundings, my brain finally made the connection. I was in a vehicle.
My gaze sluggishly moved away from the gray fabric, then lower, and I looked out the window. All I could see was inky blackness. I couldn’t make out anything in the near-dark—no trees, no signs overhead, nothing. Where was I? And who was driving?
I closed my eyes again and lifted one hand to my head. Despite the darkness of the sky, the frequent flashes of the street lights overhead sent pain spiking through my skull. It was so acute that I couldn’t formulate a single thought; I just lay there and massaged my temple, praying that it would go away. Gradually, it began to fade and I tried to open my eyes once more. It was a mistake.
The car hit a bump, and my stomach revolted. It clenched tightly, and bile burned the back of my throat as it rose up, hot and fierce. I rolled quickly to my side and ejected the contents on the floor of the car. I heard cursing in the background, but blood thrummed through my veins, rushing in my ears, drowning out my surroundings. I pressed one hand to my stomach as it coiled and released once more.
Drained, both mentally and physically, I flopped to my back and closed my eyes against the pain and humiliation.
“Drink.” A strong hand holding a water bottle moved to my mouth.
The voice was smooth and cultured. Familiar. Mind still muddled, I tried to place it but failed as my brain threw up another blank wall. I couldn’t focus; memories lurked just out of reach, on the periphery of reality. The one thing I knew with certainty was that it didn’t belong to Eric. I ached to hear the raspy roughness of his voice like a caress sliding over my skin.
Tears pricked my eyes. Why wasn’t he here with me?
I choked on the tiny sip of water and began to cough. Pain burst across the back of my skull, and stars danced in front of my eyelids.
The man tipped the water bottle up again, and I forced my throat to swallow. A second hand moved to the back of my head, holding me still as he urged me to drink more.
Through it all, I kept my eyes closed. I feared that if I opened them again, the water I’d just drunk would end up on the floor, too.
My stomach had seemed to settle, thankfully. I didn’t want to think, didn’t want to feel. I curled one arm around my waist, pretending that it was Eric’s as he held me close.
A hand brushed gently across my brow. “Sleep.”
That voice again. It was so familiar; who was it?
There was a sudden, sharp pinch in my upper arm, and I cried out as liquid fire seemed to burn through my body. I opened my mouth, tried to formulate words but failed. My tongue, thick and unwieldy, refused to cooperate. My body began to relax, and a blessed calm descended over me, pulling me under.