The title is kinda self-explanatory, but what I'm looking for is a one single word describing your desperate need/desire to find the solution of your problem/situation.
I'm writing a story where a character is cheated out of his price and I try to describe how he felt:
“But I… But he…!” stuttered Adam, a third bewildered, a third furious and a third [insert word here].
He feels cheated, confused and angry by what had just happen, but are desperately looking for a way he perhaps won or finding a way to dismiss whatever foul play he had been subjugated by, and I want to sum it up into one word that would match the sentence above.
I'm mot even sure that what I look for exist, but I have this gnawing sensation in the back of my neck that makes me suspect that it just might.
