Celine woke to a sharp brightness that felt like needles behind her eyes. At first, she thought she was still inside the corridor—white walls, humming lights, the strange maze they had stumbled into. But as her vision cleared, she realized the air was different. Too sterile. Too clean. Too real.

A hospital.

The ceiling above her was flat, paneled, and humming faintly with the weight of fluorescent tubes. The sheets beneath her were stiff with starch, tucked too tight against her sides. The ...