Chapter Four
Giancarla struggled towards wakefulness. It felt as if she was trying to swim upwards from a cold, dark depth to the sunlight and air overhead. She dimly recalled… or imagined… trying to do that several times in the past, but always before she had failed, sinking back down into unconsciousness to the things that scuttled about in the darkness below, waiting for her. This time, that did not happen. She kept getting closer and closer to the wan light overhead. Soon she would break the surface and be able to breathe again.
The first thing she was aware of was the noise. She could hear the cries of women in pain or distress. Sometimes, she would hear one of them shriek. She stirred. Now she was aware that she was hungry and thirsty and there was a foul, metallic taste in her mou
