My Rescue Was Their Reunion, My Hell Was Their Project Chapter 13

My Rescue Was Their Reunion, My Hell Was Their Project Chapter 13

I watched all four endings unfold. Then the system’s voice 

sounded in my ear. 

[Host, all mission objectives were completed five years ago. 

Upon return to the original world, accumulated rewards will 

be distributed as promised.] 

[Total reward: $100,000,000 USD, to be deposited upon 

arrival. Full physical restoration to optimal health.] 

White light. Then nothing. 

I woke up in a hospital bed. 

The nurse saw my eyes open and nearly tripped sprinting for 

the doctor. In this world – my real world – I was the woman 

who’d pushed a stranger out of the path of a speeding vehicle 

and taken the hit myself. Two years in a coma. No one expected me to wake up. 

The system had offered me a deal – complete the mission, 

come back alive. 

The doctor ran every test twice. “Two years in a vegetative 

state, and your vitals are perfect.” He shook his head, almost 

laughing. “I don’t have an explanation for this.” 

When I checked my bank balance after I was discharged, the balance read one hundred million dollars. I’d never worry about money again. 

I found a therapist. It took me a full year. 

– 

The three years in Ravens Hollow, the torture, the betrayal – all of it belonged to another body in another world. I’d left it behind when I jumped. 

But the memories stayed. I still woke up gasping. Still felt phantom needle stings in my arms. Still soaked my pillow with cold sweat on the bad nights, reliving incisions and blood draws and hands I couldn’t push away. 

But it did get better. 

I took a pottery class. The feel of wet clay turning under my fingers made me feel real – present, grounded, here. I adopted an orange cat that kneads my lap and purrs loud enough to rattle the furniture. 

I moved into a sunlit apartment with a balcony full of roses and lavender. 

After another year, I opened a counseling practice downtown. 

I don’t need to be loved. I don’t need to be saved. 

But I can sit with someone who’s falling apart and offer my hand before they go under. 

The way no one did for me.