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.
be no pain, Ava. Just wake
No way.
peaceful here, in this
This is not where
place for me? But I'm here, in this serenity of darkness. I feel pain, but it doesn't kill me. It
die, Ava.
Alive.
Alive means death—
feeling sorry for yourself. You
* * *
They feel like sandpaper scraping against my lids. Everything
Ava.
Her voice is warm honey in my mind, comforting. Grounding. I try to speak
my palm. The slight weight of her head resting on my hand. I turn my head
Relief colors
dryly, my tongue heavy and thick. "What happened?" The
arm. I want to protest but exhaustion drags me under
calling my name, but I'm already
* * *
steady beep of a heart monitor. The chemical scent of disinfectant. Starched
are heavy but I force them open. The ceiling swims into focus—white
relief washes over
questions, one talking over the other. It's painful to my
out?" I rasp,
Selene whines softly.
okay?" Lucas asks, way too
feeling?" Lisa pipes up, from
like a punch to the gut. I struggle to sit up, my muscles weak and uncooperative. Selene helps, bracing
an entire process that leaves me
needle pinches my hand, connected to an IV pole with a few bags hanging off it. One of the bags looks like milk,
around my waist. My hair is lank and greasy against my
Selene cautions as I waver, dizzy.
I ended up here. Training with Jericho and Lisa. Collapsing on the couch. Then...
yawning black hole in
"What happened to me?"
and gentle against my skin. Warmth flows between us, a feeling of comfort, and
your wolf is trying to emerge. Do
flick a glance toward my wolf, disguised as a husky for a reason she has yet to explain, and her ears flick as she licks my
way too big for
Selene soothes, sensing my unease. This
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