Paulina's eyes fluttered open, a gasp escaping her lips as she struggled for air. Her body felt heavy, a leaden weight pressing down on her. She felt weak, drained, like she had run an endless marathon with legs made of jelly.
She tried to sit up, but a sharp pain shot through her head, forcing her back down. She groaned, her vision blurry, the world around her a hazy blur of white.
"Where am I?" she whispered, her voice raspy and weak.
She looked around, her gaze sweeping across the sterile white walls of the room. She was in a hospital bed, her arms and legs secured with IV lines. A faint beeping sound filled the air, the rhythmic pulse of a heart monitor.
"What happened?" she asked, her voice trembling with fear and confusion. "Where's Benedict?"
She tried to recall the event
