THE SOFT LIGHT filtering through the curtains gradually pulled Mailah from the depths of restorative sleep.
For the first time in what felt like weeks, she woke without the crushing weight of exhaustion pressing down on her chest. Her body felt lighter, more substantial somehow, as if Dr. Morrison's elixir had rebuilt her from the inside out.
She stretched experimentally, marveling at the absence of the bone-deep fatigue that had plagued her for the past days. The ache in her muscles had diminished to a barely perceptible whisper, and when she sat up, the room didn't tilt precariously around her.
A gentle knock interrupted her assessment of her improved condition. "Come in," she called, already recognizing the measured cadence of Dr. Morrison's approach.
Soren entered with his customary air of quiet authority, carrying his medical bag and a small glass vial filled with the same opalescent liquid he'd been administering.
