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49- I couldn’t break that promise. No matter how much my body protested

Author: Hayley
last update Last Updated: 2025-02-23 00:21:33
AUDREY POV

Pain.

That was the first thing I felt, again that day after briefly waking up. Deep, heavy, like someone had poured molten lead into my bones. It clung to my leg, wrapped around my spine, spread into my ribs like fire licking up dry wood.

I wanted to move, to shift even a little, but the second I tried, the pain sharpened, cutting through the fog in my head. My breath hitched. The effort alone made my body scream.

The steady beep of a machine filled the silence. A sound I didn’t recognize at first. My mind felt sluggish, thick with something I couldn’t name.

My eyelids fluttered, too heavy to lift, but I fought through it.

I tried to swallow. My throat was raw, dry like sandpaper. I opened my mouth, but no words came out—just a weak rasp.

Then, a shadow moved beside me.

I blinked slowly, forcing my eyes to focus. The world was a blur, edges too bright, colors bleeding into each other. But as my vision cleared, I saw him.

Mr. Garcia.

He sat beside my bed, a
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