Chapter 4

The days blurred together in a haze of pain. My body became a map of bruises—purple fading to green, then yellow, only to be replaced by fresh ones. Officer Jennings made sure of that, orchestrating my suffering with the precision of a conductor leading a symphony of cruelty.

I learned to sleep sitting up, my back against the cold concrete wall. Lying down put too much pressure on my ribs, which I suspected were cracked. The medical ward remained a distant promise, always "tomorrow" or "when there's availability."

I was tracing Maxwell's equations on my thin mattress with a trembling…