The world didn't come back all at once. It leaked in through the cracks of my eyelids in jagged, painful bursts of white light. I felt like I was being dragged through deep, wet sand. Everything was heavy—my tongue, my limbs, even the air in my lungs. I felt hands on me, firm and familiar, shifting my body. I was being moved like a mannequin, my joints stiff and my skin feeling like it belonged to someone else.
"...why does Liam care... only been a couple days..."
The voice was a low, distorted rumble, vibrating through the mattress. It sounded like it was coming from underwater, filtered through the thick, grey silt of my consciousness.
"...not part of the plan... Sterling can wait..."
"Jason?" I tried to say the name, but it came out as a dry, pathetic croak. My throat felt like I ha
