I hate that groggy feeling that comes from waking from a nap in the middle of the day. The sort of disoriented where am I and how much time did I lose that comes from losing most of an afternoon to sleep. Only this didn't feel like I'd napped. The ache in my throat and the way my head pounded felt more like I'd been hit by a truck.
My eyelids parted, fluttered, the dim of the sky overhead, the looming evergreens, adding to my confusion. What happened? Where was I? I'd been in the study, right? Looking at papers I'd found in the fireplace. I groaned as the memories flooded my aching head, flashing like a movie through my mind. Even as someone crouched beside me and the last piece of information I needed to solve the crime appeared in my mental vision at the same time as his angry, brown eyes.