ANDREA
Pain is the first thing I register as awareness slowly seeps back into my body. Every inch of me aches, a deep, throbbing reminder that I’m alive. I struggle to open my eyes, my lids feeling impossibly heavy. When I finally manage to pry them open, the world is a blur of white and muted colors.
As my vision gradually clears, I find myself staring at a stark white ceiling. The sterile smell of disinfectant and the soft, rhythmic beeping of machines nearby tell me I’m in a hospital before I can even fully process my surroundings. Confusion washes over me as I try to piece together what happened. The last thing I remember was the dark, terrifying moments when I thought my life was ending. Those fragments of memory send shivers down my spine. How did I survive such a brutal beating? O
