Book Five: Save Yourself — 18.

Gwen partially awakens in an operating theater, disoriented and in pain, oxygen mask on and monitors tracking her vitals. A blood-smeared doctor stands over her as nurses move in the background. When Gwen asks where she is hit, she perceives the doctor as King Sorrow, whose scaled face and golden, red-shot eyes meet her gaze.

King Sorrow describes her injuries with glee—one in the lung, one in the rectouterine pouch, and one in the hip—declaring them severe but not fatal. He claims she will live long enough to reach Easter, when he will attack the hospital, relishing the idea of burning the ICU beneath the maternity ward.

Gwen threatens to kill herself by jumping from a window, but King Sorrow mocks her, saying she will be too weak for months and will need hip surgery. A nurse alerts the doctor that the patient is speaking, and the doctor responds in a nasally American voice about anesthesia awareness, suggesting Gwen’s consciousness is partial and will fade with infusion.

Shifting back to King Sorrow’s voice, he taunts Gwen about her failures, savoring her despair as a prelude to consuming her suffering. He leans in and flicks away her tears with a long, black, forked tongue, calling them irresistible, leaving Gwen terrified and helpless on the table.