Elena’s POV

I woke the next morning feeling as if my body had been wrung out.

My fever had dropped, but the weakness lingered like a dull pressure in my limbs. I sat up slowly, my head light, my mouth dry. The hospital room smelled too clean, too sharp. I blinked until the ceiling stopped spinning.

Doctor Li stood at the foot of the bed with a clipboard, his jaw tight. He looked like he had been waiting for me to wake.

“You should stay another day,” he said. “The IV barely ...