Chapter One“William? William, can you hear me?”
Light. Too much light. And what was that? A voice?
“William, I need to you to focus. Can you hear me?”
It was a voice. He could hear, a little. One side, anyway.
“I ... ah--”
“No, no, don’t try to talk. You sucked in some bad fumes there. Your throat’s going to be a bit rough for a while. Can you open your eyes for me?”
He tried, but they were stuck. He felt a warm, wet cloth swab over his eyes, and then he could open, and blink, and try to focus.
“Good. Can you see okay?”
He nodded.
“Do you know where you are?”
He smiled weakly. Where else in the entire world would something like this happen to somebody?
“Afgha--,” he croaked out, painfully.
The nurse nodded once, and made a note on the clipboard.
“Well, you were, until about 5
