I was afraid to wake up.
The fear sat heavily in my chest even before my eyes opened. Part of me didn't want to regain consciousness at all. I was terrified that the moment I woke, I would find myself drifting again, separated from my body, forced to watch helplessly as everything around me fell apart.
I had experienced that once before.
The thought of becoming that wandering spirit again, unable to touch anything, unable to change anything, made my heart tighten painfully.
Another thought frightened me even more.
What if I didn't wake up at all?
What if I simply disappeared… without ever seeing Carter one last time, without getting the chance to say goodbye?
Before my awareness fully returned, pain arrived first.
It spread through my body like fire, sharp and merciless.
Strangely, the moment I felt that pain, relief washed over me.
Pain meant I was still alive.
