Chapter 10. I Don't Deserve You

Rae:

I don’t know when I fell asleep.

One minute, the weight of exhaustion drags me under, and the next, I’m blinking against the soft morning light spilling through the curtains. It takes me a moment to get my bearings—my body heavy and sore, my head still foggy from the haze of fever and dreams I can’t remember.

I shift, a dull throb in my forehead where a cold towel sits. The chill feels oddly comforting, a small bit of relief in the aftermath of whatever hell I’ve just crawled out of.

My eyes flick to the room around me, and I freeze.

Eliza. She’s sitting on the couch, eyes bright and wide when she notices I’m awake. Her grin is a flash of sunlight in the dim room, and it makes something in my chest loosen, just a little. She’s holding a bowl—probably full of something I can’t eat yet—and her eyes light up when she sees I’m conscious.

“Rae,” she says, her voice soft but urgent. “You’re awake.”

I blink at her, trying to clear the last rem