Chapter 272

After falling asleep in the ambulance, Giselle drifted into a chain of nightmares. In one, she was dragged back by Orin and thrown into a water dungeon. In another, someone bound her and prepared to hack off her limbs. Then came the vision of being assaulted by a gang of men, the choking heat of a fire trapping her, the lurch of being shoved off a cliff, the suffocating coil of a venomous snake. She tossed and turned, murmuring incoherently, sometimes crying out, "Help me! Please! No! Run! Hurry… I'm sorry… I won't run… I… no…" In her dreams she was constantly running, only to be caught again. The cycle repeated endlessly. Cars wouldn't start, and phones wouldn't connect. She could see Donovan, but no sound came from her throat. At last, after what felt like an eternity, she heard someone calling her name and felt a hand holding hers. Her eyes flew open. A world of white came into focus—snowy walls, crisp sheets, people in lab coats, and a man's face etched with tension and conce