Inevitable

At first Emanuele doesn't know if she is dreaming or if she has really died.

The sounds around her are confused, disconnected voices and noises that make no sense. The first coherent thing she hears is a gentle but firm warning, "Ten minutes. No more seconds beyond that."

A murmur of approval sounds soon after, and then, silence.

Emanuele wants to open her eyes, but her eyelids are seriously heavy. Also, her lungs are in tatters; but working, which could indicate that she was alive and being cared for in a hospital... Or dead, awaiting judgment in purgatory. Maybe even in hell itself.

The girl's senses become more and more present. Her hearing finally returns to normal, or as close to normal as she can get, and she clearly perceives that someone is approaching her.

Emanuele's sense of balance is next to come back on line, and the girl has enough understanding to absorb that her body is lying on a stable surface, such as a stretcher or orthopedic bed. Once again, the young girl tries t