My eyes open into air that feels suspended in its stillness. Anticipatory, like it 's holding in place, like it 's waiting for the other shoe to drop, like '

I need to get up.

My first attempt to sit doesn 't go well, which I guess is to be expected, but it does earn me a hand on my shoulder gently suggesting I go back down. I open my eyes (which I guess I closed at some point) and look to my right, and there he is.

'Hey, kid, ' Coin murmurs, soft and awed and with just the edge of a worry he can 't quite tuck away.

I blink slowly at him, a smile making its way onto my face. 'Hey, ' I croak back, and it makes me aware of several things attached to my face, and the dull aches beneath them. That, in turn, makes me

achingly

aware of the rest of my body.