Hailey's POV

The morning sun filtered through the curtains, coaxing me reluctantly into wakefulness. As I stirred from a night of restless sleep, a subtle discomfort lingered, gradually growing into a palpable sensation of unwellness. The realization that something was off settled over me like a hazy fog, blurring the lines between wakefulness and the remnants of a fragmented dream.

The first inkling of my uninvited companion, this mysterious ailment, manifested as a dull ache lingering in the ...