29.

Pure darkness.

Everything was pitch black. I couldn't see anything. My eyelids felt extremely heavy, as if someone had attached lead to them, so I couldn't open my eyes.

My first coherent thought: where were you?

And then, the pain hit.

It felt as if someone had chosen that moment to drop an entire mountain on my body.

My breathing was ragged, and every breath I took felt like torture. I felt as if someone was compressing my lungs, not allowing them to function properly.

I felt momentary jolts of pain in my arms and legs, as if someone was pinching every inch of my skin and then stopping, except they were pinching my bones. Yet, I couldn't feel them, much less move them.

The most pain I felt was definitely on my head. My skull felt as if it was cracked. My head spun, although I was fairly certain I was lying down somewhere.

Why did my head feel so heavy?

It felt as if someone had substituted a bowling ball for my head, attaching it to my neck, which couldn't handle the weight, and was hence hurting like that.

I tried concentrating on my voice, trying to speak, but there was something in my mouth. . . was that a pipe?

What was happening? Where was I? And most importantly,

where were you, my love?

x x x