The hospital room was still, quiet except for the soft hum of the machines and the rhythmic beeping of the heart monitor. Pale morning light filtered through the half-drawn blinds, laying stripes of warmth across the woman's motionless form.

Serena’s eyelids fluttered once, then again, longer this time, as if something deep inside her was stirring. The faintest crease formed on her brow. Her lips parted slightly, dry and cracked, but trying to shape a breath, a word, a question she ...