Scarlett's eyelids opened slowly, revealing an unfamiliar room, and she was left puzzled about how she had arrived there. The mattress offered little comfort to her body, and the incessant beeping of the heart monitor next to her head drove her senses into chaos.

She quickly sat upright and, glancing around, understood that she was in a hospital ward. What led to her being in a hospital bed? What happened to her? She experienced a throbbing sensation in her head, and her hand moved up ...