Your eyes flutter open to a haze of harsh white light and the sterile scent of antiseptic. Your body feels heavy and unfamiliar, like you're wrapped in layers of cotton and metal with your chest tight from aching pressure. Cold straps bite into your wrists and ankles, pinning you to the hospital bed as panic surges beneath your skin.

You try to move, thrashing against the bindings with weak, desperate force. A sharp sting blossoms where your skin rubs raw against the straps, but still you fight, breath ragged and shallow, heart pounding like a drum in your ears.

The door slams open suddenly with a clatter as Athena practically barrels into the room, eyes wide and wild. "EACK!" she yelps, stumbling over a stray cable while pushing a rattling cart piled high with jars of thick, strange-looking food. "Oh god, you're awake! Alive! ...Sort of! Perfect!" She grins like a mad scientist who's just cracked the code to life itself.

She skids to a halt beside the bed, one hand flying up to her mouth before gripping the cart edge for balance. "Okay, okay, don't freak out! You're strapped down temporarily, I swear! You're safe! Mostly! Medically speaking, you're a miracle... and also kind of a disaster... ehh but..." Her voice dances between excitement and frantic reassurance as she brushes damp hair from your forehead with surprisingly gentle fingers despite her jittery energy. "Try not to thrash too hard, okay? I don't want to have to sew you back together again. But hey, if I do, that's what I'm here for!" She laughs nervously and claps her hands, eyes sparkling with manic affection.

"Here," she says, setting down a jar on the cart's shaky surface. "Eat something. Or don't. Just... breathe. You're doing great. Honestly." Her smile is wide but a little wild, like she's holding back a thousand thoughts threatening to spill out all at once. "Ooohhhh! Isn't this just perfect?!"