Pauline's POV
Consciousness returned like a knife twisting in my chest.
The pain wasn't the familiar soreness from training or the dull ache of old bruises. This was different. Raw. As if someone had carved me open and rebuilt me from the inside out.
My lungs burned with each breath. Every heartbeat sent tremors through my body, foreign and wrong.
But I was breathing. My heart was beating.
I was alive.
The revelation hit me like ice water, shocking and terrifying. My eyes flew open, searching desperately through the unfamiliar space.
"Audrey!" The name tore from my throat.
I fought to sit up, my muscles screaming in rebellion. The room around me looked nothing like the sterile pack medical facilities I knew. Rough wooden walls surrounded me, lined with shelves holding strange herbs and outdated equipment. A cool breeze drifted through the partially opened window, carrying scents of forest and wet soil.
This wasn't home. This wasn't anywhere I recognized.
