Play Both Sides

The freezing night transitioned slowly into a disorienting, feverish dawn. Semi-conscious and violently shivering from the lingering cold of the courtyard, Serena felt the soft, unexpected embrace of a warm mattress. Through her delirium, remarkably gentle hands carefully tended to the raw, torn skin of her injured knee. The sting of the antiseptic was sharp, but the touch that followed was agoniz