***
Smoke choked her lungs and made her eyes water. The heat burned against her skin. She ran down the steps, tears streaming down her cheeks. Someone grabbed her from behind, strong arms wrapping around her torso.
She woke up gasping and coughing. Her surroundings came into focus. Salmon-colored walls. A hard bed. She was in a hospital room, not in the fire. She had escaped. Her heart pounding, she looked down at herself. She wore a hospital gown, and her arms and stomach stung with pain, though covered with clean bandages.
What had happened? Swallowing, she tried to think over the day, but all she had were blurry images that didn’t make sense. The fire was vivid in her mind, but she didn’t know how she escaped. She remembered riding in a car and bleeding from her stomach. Touching her stomach, she tried to recall how she’d started bleeding, but she faced the same maddening wall of blankness. She swore and clenched her teeth.
Her hands shook as she pushed aside the rail on the side of the bed. She needed to get out of here. She wasn’t sure why, but she had the feeling something bad was going to happen if she stayed here. Her legs were weak when she put weight on them, and she steadied herself.
She needed to find her parents. She tried to picture them in her mind, tried to recall their names, but there was a gap where they should have been. Instead, a crushing weight pressed down on her chest. She pushed aside her panic. It didn’t matter; she’d find them. It was just the shock.
An unfamiliar woman walked into the hospital room. She had wrinkles at the corner of her mouth, and her eyes widened. “You’re awake!”
The girl swayed, her legs nearly giving out, and the woman rushed forward to catch her arm. The woman eased her back onto the bed. “Don’t worry, it’s all right.”
The girl put her head in her hands. “I need to go.” But she didn’t remember why. Something important pressed the back of her mind, but when she reached for it, it faded.
“What’s your name?” the woman asked softly.
The girl’s eyes stung with tears, and she took a steady breath, trying to hold them back. “I don’t know.”
***
I don't have a release date set in stone, but Finding Fiona should be out no later than October 5th.
Very intriguing opening. From the last note you made, it sounds like you are going to self-publish this. If so, I wish all the best in getting things on the right track for the novel and for great marketing success.
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