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.
pain, Ava. Just wake
No way.
in this hazy
This is not where you
of darkness. I feel pain, but it doesn't
won't die, Ava. You're
Alive.
Alive means death—
up. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You never
* * *
feel like sandpaper scraping against
Ava.
Her voice is warm honey in my mind, comforting. Grounding. I try to
her head resting on my hand. I
Relief colors her
swallow dryly, my tongue heavy and
my arm. I want to
name,
* * *
chemical scent of disinfectant. Starched sheets rough against my skin. An IV pinches
I force them open. The ceiling swims into focus—white tiles, fluorescent lights.
Her relief
Lisa are here. They're asking me questions, one talking over the other. It's painful to my
I out?" I rasp,
softly. We were so
you okay?" Lucas asks, way too
are you feeling?" Lisa pipes up, from my
helps, bracing her body against mine, and both Lisa and Lucas rest their hands on my back to lead
process
few bags hanging off it. One of the bags looks like milk, and that one's connected to yet another IV
in a hospital gown, blankets pooled around my waist. My hair is lank and greasy
waver, dizzy. You've been through
back, trying to piece together how I ended up here. Training with
hole in
"What happened to me?"
against my skin. Warmth flows between us, a feeling of comfort, and the urge
sure. Vanessa thinks your wolf is trying to
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 as she
She's way too big for
soothes, sensing my unease.
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