Lukas woke up slowly.
For a few seconds, he didn't even know where he was.
The room was dim, lit faintly by the orange glow of the evening sun leaking through the curtains. His body felt heavy, sluggish, like his limbs still hadn't fully woken up with him. His throat was dry. His head foggy.
That strange feeling after a long sleep settled over him completely—the kind where time stopped making sense for a moment. He couldn't tell if he had slept for one hour or ten. His brain still felt halfway trapped inside whatever emotional exhaustion had knocked him out in the first place.
Then slowly—
the memories came back.
The restaurant.
Jane.
His father.
The car.
His chest tightened faintly at the thought.
Lukas exhaled and sat up slowly on the bed, rubbing a hand over his face before reaching for the glass of water near the bedside table. The water was warm already, but he drank it anyway, emptying almost half the glass in one go.
That was when he heard the voices.
