The first thing I felt was pressure.
Not pain. Not even fear.
Just… weight.
It felt like I'd been underwater too long and someone finally let me float to the surface.
Then the beeping reached me.
It was slow, steady and too close to my ear.
A hospital.
I knew that sound anywhere.
My throat felt dry, impossibly tight, and when I breathed, it scraped.
My body ached in places I didn't know could ache. My skin felt heavier than my bones.
But something warm held my hand.
I didn't open my eyes yet. I didn't have the strength.
But I squeezed the warmth.
And whoever held me froze in that second. .
I heard a sharp inhale. It sounded familiar. It sounded like something soft and broken at the edges at the same time.
"Mira?"
My chest tightened.
Jace.
It was him. The love of my life.
His voice was so low it almost sounded like a prayer he didn't know how to say out loud.
I tried again, my fingers curling faintly around his.
That was all it took.
