I did not wait to find out what came next.

The instant one of them leaned toward me, I moved — I kicked out with all the strength I had, and I was off that bed and on my feet with my back to the wall before any of them understood what was happening.

“Don’t you dare touch me,” I said.

My voice did not shake.

I had used up all my shaking over the previous four months.

What was left was something colder and stronger.