Chapter 106

• “I should feel joy… right? But all I feel is my heartbeat ringing in my ears, like I’m standing at the edge of a cliff with no one to catch me.”
• ARLET
• I woke up with a dry throat and a heaviness in my head. My eyelids fluttered open slowly like they'd been sealed shut for days. Everything around me looked strange. The air smelled different. It didn’t feel like a hospital, but the quiet beep of a machine next to me said otherwise. I tried to sit up, but my vision blurred, and black spots clouded my eyes. My body gave up almost instantly, sinking back into the bed. I was exhausted, every part of me aching.