Milena snapped awake with a gasp, her eyes meeting an unfamiliar room. She was surrounded by white walls—too bright, too sterile. The ceiling spun above her for a moment before everything began to settle.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she pushed herself up, the hospital sheets sliding off her trembling body. Her hands instinctively clutched the fabric at her chest, panic crawling up her throat as her eyes darted around the place.

“Rafeal…”

Her voice came out as a whisper, hoarse and broken.

Memories surged in—his limp body in her arms, the flatline sound, the doctors shouting.

She swung her legs off the bed, nearly collapsing from the...