Aliya’s POV

The scent of antiseptics flared my nostrils as I struggled to pry my eyes open. The beeping sound of machines was the first thing my ears came in contact with, and when I finally opened my eyes, I became consumed with disappointment.

I was alive and well, but what was the essence at this point? I expected to be locked up in a coffin somewhere, dead, but here I was, living for nothing.

My eyes were wide open, but it felt wrong. I shouldn’t have been able to open them, not after what I’d been through for years, and certainly not after what happened to me before now....