Chapter 8

Delphine

The pain hit me first, a lessening of agony on my body's most sensitive nerves. My head pounded, my chest hurt, and my arms and legs felt heavy as iron. Every breath that I took pressed against my chest, catarrthal and dry, like splinters of glass.

Above came light that itched the surface of my shut eyelids but there was no relief for the unceasing pain. For a fleeting moment in time, I was utterly engrossed by the pain to register where I was, let alone why.

At last, the hard edges of my pain melted away, giving way to the roar of a storm and the soft caress of a drizzle. I blinked slowly, and my vision faded as I attempted to refocus. Machines hummed softly in the background, the rhythm and tone a steady loop.

I was still lying in the infirmary, hooked up with a pile of wires and ca……