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.
Just
No way.
here, in this
you have to come back. This is not where
darkness. I feel pain, but it doesn't kill me.
die, Ava. You're
Alive.
Alive means death—
up. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You never
* * *
feel like sandpaper scraping against my lids. Everything is blurry,
Ava.
is warm honey in my mind, comforting. Grounding. I try to speak
The slight weight of her head resting on my hand. I turn my head slowly, painfully. She's there, silver
Relief
swallow dryly, my tongue heavy and thick. "What
Rest now. She nuzzles into my arm. I want to protest but exhaustion drags
my name, but
* * *
steady beep of a heart monitor. The chemical scent of disinfectant. Starched sheets rough against my skin. An IV
swims into focus—white tiles, fluorescent lights. A hospital. Selene is
back. Her relief washes
are here. They're asking me questions, one talking over the other. It's painful to my
long was I out?" I rasp, my throat raw from
softly. We
Lucas asks, way too close to
pipes up, from my other
uncooperative. Selene helps, bracing her body against mine, and both Lisa
entire process
my hand, connected to an IV pole with a few bags hanging off it. One of the bags looks like milk, and that
waist. My hair is lank and greasy against my
waver, dizzy. You've been through a
mind back, trying to piece together how I ended up here. Training with Jericho and Lisa. Collapsing
hole
"What happened to me?"
my skin. Warmth flows between us, a feeling of comfort, and the urge to press my cheek into his
wolf is trying to emerge. Do you
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
She's way too
my unease. This
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