Chapter 112 Ava: Waking Up
Darkness.
Light.
So cold.
It burns.
My lungs ache.
Something's holding me down.
There are whispers. Prayers, I think.
Chaos reigns in this hazy world. Something beeps incessantly.
I'm sweating. My hands are too warm.
… up.
What's that?
… Ava, you…
Who's that?
… can you hear me?
I struggle to reach the voice that calls me, but something sucks me away again.
Frustration simmers, but I'm too tired to fight it.
Ava, you have to wake up.
There it is again.
I know you can hear me, because I can finally hear you.
Hear me? Hear me what? Am I talking?
Yes.
No, I don't think I'm talking. I'm too tired. My body is crushed beneath the earth. Fire ate every last bit of me. I drowned. The air was sucked away.
You're alive. You're asleep in the hospital. You're just fine. You just need to wake up.
No, no.
No, no, no.
Waking is pain.
I remember the pain.
Ava. Just wake up. Come
No way.
in this
come back. This
this serenity of darkness. I feel pain, but it doesn't kill me. It isn't enough to
die, Ava. You're
Alive.
Alive means death—
enough. Wake up. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You never died. Wake.
* * *
against my lids. Everything is
Ava.
comforting. Grounding. I try to speak but
nose presses into my palm. The slight weight of her head resting on my hand. I turn my head slowly, painfully. She's there, silver fur shining, blue
Relief colors
my tongue heavy and thick. "What happened?" The
I want to
my name, but
* * *
scent of disinfectant. Starched sheets rough against my skin. An IV pinches the back
but I force them open. The ceiling swims into focus—white tiles, fluorescent lights. A hospital. Selene is
relief washes
me questions, one talking over the other. It's painful
out?" I
whines softly. We were so
Lucas asks, way too close to
Lisa pipes
struggle to sit up, my muscles weak and uncooperative. Selene helps, bracing her body against mine, and both Lisa and Lucas rest their hands
an entire process that leaves me
A needle pinches my hand, connected to an IV pole with a few bags hanging off it. One of the bags looks like milk, and that one's connected to yet another IV line in the elbow of
my waist. My
as I waver, dizzy. You've been through
mind back, trying to piece together how I ended
black hole in
"What happened to me?"
hesitant and gentle against my skin. Warmth flows between us, a feeling of comfort, and
your wolf is trying to emerge.
a glance toward my wolf, disguised as a husky for a reason she has yet to explain, and her ears flick as
She's way
sensing my unease. This is
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