Pain. So much pain and suffering. There was nothing else that I could remember. Nothing and no one. It seemed that my pain was drilled so far into my mind, I was unable to even picture a single person's face. However, as I became more aware that I was waking up, I realized that it was still dark when I opened my eyes. I couldn't see anything. Not even my own hand in front of my face. The darkness was closing in around me and I was terrified, practically gasping for air in my panic attack.
Suddenly, besides my panicked breathing, the silence was broken by a male's voice. "What were you thinking? Turn the lights back on! She's scared of being alone in really dark places!" he raised his voice. I flinched at the loudness of his voice and then blinked rapidly as white light momentarily blinded me. It only took me a second to realize I was on some sort of hospital bed with different IVs in my arms. I shuddered and regretted it as I finally realized that not all of my pain was part of my fragile memory. It was part of my present.
Wincing, I looked up as a door opened and froze, my blood going cold. The man standing there was young, at least in his early to mid twenties. He had perfectly tanned skin and golden hair. His green eyes lit up like brilliant orbs upon seeing me. He would've been handsome to me, if not for my unconditional fear of him. Some part of my brain reacted upon seeing him, emitting pulses of fear. I screamed, thrashing in my hospital bed past all the pain and soreness only to look for a way to get away from this man.
His face falling, the man tried to take a few cautious steps toward me, but that made me scream louder and more frantically. Seconds later, a couple men and women dressed in hospital white rushed into my room. Two strong men gripped my arms, but I couldn't take my eyes off of the golden man. A woman had blocked his way to me, placing a hand on his arm. "Mr. Odair, you're going to have to leave. She's not ready yet. There's no telling what they all did to her in the Capital," she said, her voice full of sympathy. The golden man, whom I only could know now as Mr. Odair, looked down and nodded. I could see the hurt in his green eyes, but I was too focused on wanting to be as far away as possible from him, no matter how handsome he was. I couldn't deny the gut feeling I had.
