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The morning sun filtered through the soft, pale curtains, casting a warm, golden light across the room. Dust motes danced lazily in the beams, creating a tranquil, almost surreal atmosphere in the quiet bedroom. Taylor stirred beneath the plush blankets, her body heavy and sore, every muscle aching with a dull, persistent pain. It was as if her very bones were tired, weighed down by the burden of yesterday's events.
Her consciousness floated in the liminal space between sleep and waking, where everything felt slow and muted. For a brief, blissful moment, she existed in a cocoon of warmth, her mind free from the anxieties and fears that had plagued her for so long. The soft hum of the house—gentle noises of the girls beginning to stir, the distant clinking of dishes in the kitchen, and the faint murmur of Travis's voice—was comforting, a reminder that she was home, surrounded by the people she loved most.
But as she drifted closer to full awareness, something felt off. The comforting haze of sleep began to lift, and with it came a creeping sense of unease. Her body felt unnaturally heavy, as though it were sinking into the mattress, and there was a strange discomfort in her abdomen, an odd pressure that nagged at her senses. She tried to shift, to stretch out the stiffness in her limbs, but the moment she moved, a sharp, pulling sensation radiated from her stomach, making her wince.
Her hand instinctively moved to her abdomen, fingers brushing against the unfamiliar texture of the bandage covering the incision where the GJ-tube had been placed. The tube itself felt foreign and intrusive, a constant, unwelcome reminder of the surgery she had undergone and the new reality she was struggling to accept.
As she tried to adjust to the strange sensations in her stomach, her hand moved slightly higher, brushing against something even more unsettling—a line, thin and firm, trailing from her chest, taped securely in place. A shiver ran down her spine as she traced the path of the central line, the foreign object that now threaded directly into her vein, its purpose both vital and terrifying.
It took a moment for her foggy mind to catch up with the physical sensations, and when it did, a wave of confusion swept over her. Why did everything hurt so much? Why was she in bed? The last thing she remembered was sitting in the recliner in the living room, trying to distract herself from the discomfort of the tube and the strange, unsettling sensation of the central line that had been placed in her chest. She recalled watching Ophelia, her eldest daughter, play with the triplets, their soft giggles filling the room as they wriggled and babbled on the playmat.
She remembered Travis helping her settle into the recliner, his hands gentle but firm as he arranged the pillows to support her back, whispering soothing words as he made sure she was comfortable. His presence had been a balm to her frayed nerves, his steady voice a constant reminder that she wasn't alone in this—he was right there beside her, just as he had always been. She had felt a flicker of calm then, a brief moment of peace as she watched him move through the room, his strong hands lifting Blair, then Salem, then Willow into his arms, their tiny bodies curling into him with a familiarity that melted her heart. She had watched him exchange a few words with Ophelia, who nodded seriously before taking over with the babies, and then...and then...
Taylor's brow furrowed as she tried to piece together the rest, but her memories after that moment were hazy, fragmented, like a puzzle with too many missing pieces. She couldn't recall Travis coming back to her, couldn't remember anything beyond the soft lull of the girls' laughter and the distant, comforting murmur of his voice. How had she ended up in bed? How had she gotten upstairs?
The more she tried to focus, the more the confusion twisted into anxiety, a tight knot forming in the pit of her stomach. She didn't remember falling asleep in the recliner, didn't remember Travis helping her up to their room, didn't remember anything after watching him carry Willow to her crib. Had she blacked out? The thought sent a ripple of fear through her, her heart starting to beat faster as the implications began to sink in.
