Warning, the following is NOT beta read.
It was cold. As darkness receded from her mind like a changing tide, the first thing Seraph knew was the cold. There was pain too, but it seemed detach from her person, as if there was a wall between it and her. No, the pain was not important right now what Seraph need was heat. Why was it so cold? Where was she?
Seraph opened her eyes and saw nothing but lights and shadows. Slowly, as if her eyes had to warm up to the idea of working again, her surroundings came into focus. She was laying in bed in a sterile white room. The lights were dimmed and much of the room lay stubbornly in shadows, but Seraph could still make out the thin sheet that covered her, the guardrails on the bed, an empty chair to one side and a pressboard nightstand to the other. A curtain, hung from a track along the ceiling and pulled forward to hide half the room, was almost but not quite blocking a wall mounted TV. Seraph tried to raise her arm and found she couldn't. It was restrained, both of her arms were bound.
She was in an institution.
Mind numbing fear pushed her up right and almost out of the bed before pain finally stopped her. It felt like she had ripped her left arm off and the pain in her head made her want to throw up. She gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut as she breathed through the agony. In through her nose and out through her mouth. In through her nose and out through her mouth. In and out. In and out, in and out.
The pain eventually released its grip on her, allowing Seraph to think once more. She was half out of the bed with one leg already on the floor. Clearly she wasn't tied to it, her right wrist was wrapped in a bandage that secured an IV line. The wrap had done its job well, the IV was still in place despite Seraph's earlier spasm. Her left arm was restrained at least- it was securely immobilized against her body. Judging by the pain radiating from her shoulder, it was probably restrained exactly as it should be. Her face was wet from tears, but she couldn't move her arms well enough to wipe them away. Lifting her head to take in her environment again, she saw that the door, far from being locked and barred, was slightly ajar, letting bright light spill in from the hallway. This was not a magic institution.
Seraph carefully laid back down. She was pretty hurt, yet bandaged up. This must be a hospital.
Why was she in a hospital?
Thinking back, Seraph clearly remember her evening with Mrs. Miller. She remembered Mrs. Miller giving her the ring... then leaving... then... she couldn't remember. What had happened after she got the ring? The ring!
The ring had been in her jeans pocket. Now, Seraph was wearing a standard hospital paper apron. Did the hospital have her clothes and the ring, or had they been lost? Seraph didn't feel the items once she found them, would that change if she really had lost one? If not, how would she get it back?
Next to her hand were the bed controls, featured predominantly was the 'call nurse' button. Seraph pressed it, at least some of her questions would be answered. After a moment she turned on the heating pad. There, two problems solved.
