Chapter 5

Adelaide

Voices came and went, but their words were lost. I wasn't sure when it happened or how, but the stress and formality of life had been washed away on a cleansing wave. Nothing mattered, not even my own consciousness.

My head no longer ached with the pounding that kept beat to my heart. Lights no longer blinded, and my body no longer convulsed.

In a place I didn't recognize, surrounded by voices I didn't know, I was content.

Such a strange word, content.

It didn't mean happy nor sad. It was the even keel of emotion, a plateau with no peaks or valleys. It was serenity and peace.

In the recesses of my mind, I recalled a plan to end my own life. Maybe I had. Maybe this was the afterworld. Was there really no heaven or hell, was it simply a sedentary satisfaction that took away the joys and pain of everyday life?

"Mrs. Fitzgerald, you have to drink. If you don't, we'll need to reinsert another IV. You don't want that, do you?"