Noah woke to the harsh, unforgiving sensation of sunlight piercing through his eyelids. The brightness was relentless, shining directly down onto his face and forcing him to return to a consciousness he wasn't quite ready to face.
He grudgingly pried his eyes open, but the movement immediately triggered a wave of agony.
A splitting headache throbbed behind his temples, a rhythmic pulsing that felt like a hammer striking an anvil inside his skull.
He let out a low, guttural groan and instinctively reached up to clutch his head, hoping to steady the world.
However, his fingers made direct contact with the exact spot where his forehead had slammed into the dashboard during the struggle.
The physical contact sent a fresh jolt of hot pain through his nerves, causing him to hiss and groan again as he pulled his hand away.
At first, his surroundings were a blurred mess of colors and shapes. His mind was foggy, struggling to piece together the fragments of his memory.
