Awakening

Derek had never felt so awful in his entire life. It felt as though his entire head was made of lead and that his mouth was filled with ashes.

His head throbbed so bad that for several minutes after he came to, he simply remained in the same position in which he woke up, waiting for the pounding ache in his head to die down.

It didn’t die down by any means, but he got used to it enough to crack open one eye and try to get bearing of his surroundings. He did not for the life of him, recognize where he was, why he was there, or who had brought him there.

After what felt like an eternity, he was able to struggle into a sitting position, even though his head and body protested the movement every inch of the way.

He soon realized why. There was a dirty makeshift bandage and sling covering the upper part of his chest and his right arm. No wonder moving into a sitting position had hurt so bad.

He looked around him again, trying to get his bearing, but there was nothing to see. He was in