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 up.
No way.
peaceful here, in
to come back. This is not where you should
I feel pain, but
die, Ava.
Alive.
Alive means death—
that's enough. Wake up. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You never
* * *
crack open. They feel like sandpaper scraping against my lids. Everything
Ava.
voice is warm honey in my mind, comforting. Grounding. I try to speak but my
into my palm. The slight weight of her head resting on my hand. I turn my head slowly, painfully. She's there, silver fur shining, blue eyes bright with intelligence
Relief colors
heavy and thick. "What happened?" The words
my arm. I want to protest
calling my name, but
* * *
gradually. The steady beep of a heart monitor. The chemical scent of disinfectant. Starched sheets rough against my skin. An
force them open. The ceiling swims into focus—white tiles, fluorescent lights. A hospital. Selene is curled up beside me,
relief washes over
They're asking me questions, one talking over the other. It's
long was I out?" I rasp, my throat
softly. We
asks, way too
Lisa pipes up, from my other
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
connected to an IV pole with a few bags hanging off it. One of
blankets pooled around my waist. My
cautions as I waver, dizzy. You've been
I cast my mind back, trying to piece together how I ended up here. Training with Jericho
yawning black hole in my
"What happened to me?"
us, a feeling of
sure. Vanessa thinks your wolf is trying to emerge. Do
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
not. She's way
afraid, Selene soothes, sensing my unease.
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