Little shorter of a book here

Chapter 1: The Awakening

The sterile scent of antiseptic filled the air, mingling with the faint hum of machines that surrounded him like guardians of a fragile life. Jordan Carter’s eyes fluttered beneath heavy lids, his senses stirring in the darkness of the hospital room. The rhythmic beep of the heart monitor, the whoosh of the ventilator, and the whispered footsteps of nurses blended into a dissonant lullaby.

For what felt like an eternity, Jordan lay motionless—trapped somewhere between sleep and wakefulness, between silence and sound. Time had lost meaning. Faces, voices, memories—all fragmented, like shattered glass scattered across the floor of his mind.

And then, slowly, a light flickered.

He heard a voice—not quite real, but soothing, tethering him back to the present.

“Jordan… can you hear me?”

His chest tightened. He tried to answer, but only a rasp escaped—a whisper of breath.

“Stay with us,” the voice urged gently. “We’re here.”

He felt fingers brush his hand, warm and steady. The sensation was foreign, yet comforting.

The world around him began to sharpen—the sterile white walls, the fluorescent glow above, the soft murmur of a distant television tuned to a news broadcast, flickering images of a world aflame.

A nurse’s face swam into view, her eyes kind beneath the mask. “He’s waking up,” she said softly to the doctor standing nearby.

Jordan’s mind surged with confusion. The last thing he remembered was the roar of the crowd, the sting of pain, and then… nothing.

Questions flooded in, but his voice was a fragile ghost.

He blinked, trying to piece together the fragments: the game, the shot, Kyrie, the silence.

His gaze drifted to the window. Outside, the sky was a muted grey, heavy with smoke and ash—a world forever altered.

“Where… am I?” he whispered, voice cracking.

The nurse smiled gently. “You’re safe, Jordan. You’re in Duke Medical Center.”

He tried to lift his hand but found it tethered by tubes and wires. Panic gnawed at him.

“Easy,” the nurse said, placing a calming hand on his shoulder. “You’ve been through a lot. But you’re waking up now. You’re going to be okay.”

Tears welled in his eyes—not just from pain, but from the overwhelming rush of survival.

In that quiet hospital room, Jordan Carter’s journey back from darkness had begun.