The door heavy-thudded shut. The lock turned. I lay there, staring at the ceiling, my breath hitching in my chest. I waited for the darkness. I waited for the sleep to claim me, for the world to turn into the gray soup I had become accustomed to.
But the darkness didn't come.
Slowly, the frantic pounding of my heart began to steady. The sharp, jagged edges of my panic began to round off, filed down by the chemicals now circulating in my blood. I didn't pass out. Instead, a heavy, velvet shroud seemed to settle over my mind.
I felt... nothing.
The rage I had felt for Jason was still there, but it was distant, like a fire burning on a far-off horizon. The grief for my life, the fear of this room—it all felt secondary. I was numb. My body felt heavy, like it was made of cooling wax, and m
