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.
no pain, Ava. Just wake up. Come back
No way.
in
have to come back. This is not where
this serenity of darkness. I feel pain, but it doesn't kill me. It isn't enough to
won't die,
Alive.
Alive means death—
up. Stop feeling sorry
* * *
eyes crack open. They feel like sandpaper scraping against my lids. Everything is blurry, shapes
Ava.
mind, comforting. Grounding. I try to speak but my throat is parched, voice a
slight weight of her head resting on my hand. I turn my head slowly, painfully. She's there, silver fur shining, blue eyes
Relief colors
my tongue heavy and thick. "What happened?"
nuzzles into my arm. I want to protest but
my name, but
* * *
beep of a heart monitor. The chemical scent of disinfectant. Starched sheets
ceiling swims into focus—white tiles, fluorescent lights. A hospital. Selene is curled up
Her relief washes over
They're asking me questions, one talking
I out?" I rasp, my throat
Selene whines softly.
Lucas asks, way too close
you feeling?" Lisa pipes up,
my muscles weak and uncooperative. Selene helps, bracing her body against mine, and both Lisa and Lucas rest their hands on my back to lead me up until I'm
an entire process
pinches my hand, connected to an IV pole with a few bags hanging off it.
waist. My hair is lank and greasy
Selene cautions as I waver, dizzy. You've been
trying to piece together how I ended up here. Training with Jericho and
hole in
"What happened to me?"
us, a feeling of comfort, and the urge to press my cheek
Vanessa thinks your wolf is
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
She's way too big
soothes, sensing my unease. This is
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