I open my eyes and blink several times, discomforted by the light. I notice I have oxygen on and an IV in my hand, and above all, the stabbing pain still lingering in my stomach.

I’m still alive, I tell myself in my mind. The last thing I remember is lying in the mausoleum, in a pool of blood, while Alexander was coming toward me and crying intensely. Was it a dream? I ask myself, exasperated. Alexander crying for me... I couldn’t believe it, though it seemed so real.

Suddenly, I hear the creak