It had to be a dream. That was the first thing I thought as I woke up. There was no way that it could have been real. It didn’t feel real, in any case. But I wondered what with the morphine in my system if anything was going to feel real.

I tried my best to put it out of my head, and turned my attention to my body instead.

I could feel that I was starting to get better. I could feel more strength in my system and I knew that the worst of everything was ...