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
No way.
peaceful here, in
This is not where
But I'm here, in this serenity of darkness. I feel pain, but it doesn't kill me. It isn't enough
die,
Alive.
Alive means death—
feeling sorry for
* * *
like sandpaper scraping against my lids. Everything is blurry, shapes indistinct. White. Harsh
Ava.
mind, comforting. Grounding. I try to speak but my throat is parched, voice a
nose presses into my palm. The slight weight of her head resting on my hand. I turn my head slowly, painfully. She's there,
awake. Relief colors her
tongue heavy and
Rest now. She nuzzles into my arm. I want
calling my name, but
* * *
returns gradually. The steady beep of a heart monitor. The chemical scent of disinfectant. Starched sheets rough against my skin. An IV pinches
force them open. The ceiling swims into focus—white tiles,
Her relief
here. They're asking me questions, one talking over the other.
I rasp, my throat raw
softly. We were
okay?" Lucas asks, way too close to
are you feeling?" Lisa pipes up, from my
like a punch to the gut. I struggle to sit up, my muscles weak and uncooperative. Selene helps, bracing her body against mine, and both
process that
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
a hospital gown, blankets pooled around my waist.
cautions as I waver, dizzy. You've been through a
mind back, trying to piece together how I
black hole
"What happened to me?"
Warmth flows between us, a feeling of comfort, and the urge to press my
wolf is trying to emerge. Do you
beneath the moon. To be whole. But now, with all the strangeness surrounding my heritage, the idea fills me with trepidation. I flick a glance toward my wolf, disguised as a husky for a reason she has yet to explain, and her ears flick
not. She's way too
soothes, sensing my unease. This is natural for
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