I opened my eyes slowly, like my eyelids weighed a thousand pounds.

The first thing I heard was a steady beeping, distant, almost like an echo inside my head.

I was cold. Not normal cold. The kind that started in my chest and spread all the way to my fingers, leaving me weak, small, lost.

I blinked a few times, trying to figure out where I was, until I noticed my hand. It was hooked up to an IV.

A clear tube. A needle in my skin. Liquid dripping down, one drop at a time.

I tried to sit