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.
here, in this hazy
you have to come back. This is
serenity of darkness. I feel pain, but it doesn't kill me. It isn't enough
won't die,
Alive.
Alive means death—
Wake up. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You
* * *
feel like sandpaper scraping against my lids. Everything is blurry, shapes indistinct.
Ava.
try to speak but my throat
I turn my head slowly, painfully.
awake. Relief
swallow dryly, my tongue heavy and thick.
She nuzzles into my arm. I want to protest but exhaustion drags me under
name, but I'm
* * *
chemical scent of disinfectant. Starched sheets rough against my skin. An IV pinches the back of
are heavy but I force them open. The ceiling swims into focus—white tiles, fluorescent
relief washes over
one talking over the
I
softly. We
Lucas asks, way too close
pipes up, from
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
entire process that leaves me
a few bags hanging off it. One
a hospital gown, blankets pooled around my waist. My hair is
cautions as I waver, dizzy. You've
piece together how I ended up here. Training with Jericho and Lisa. Collapsing
hole
"What happened to me?"
against my skin. Warmth flows between us, a feeling of comfort, and the
wolf is trying to emerge. Do you feel
shift, to run 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
She's way too
Selene soothes, sensing my
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FdXy6I2WTeW+ikGKm6GDXkzsLxufL9ao81rhEFWgti2DGzL8agw7GQ0hvZeQ9ItFOnoKo8RRzBc/2bx1YKB+NJOL7qtoMIOHtqWLQD2yGE1PyUbeKpRqu8dcZjPvTKWik98czOGWaXvmR/RIpVz1kHSy1c3Qm+iO3NkQMn3BRUvZPLvJ+oadhyF65DxxTSJduHDlb80frpBhVH04wrwq6+AG9AgaY4GHF2MgVZbJusqtRFTjl6xL3xmUQtW3ZzX1VQ7w+KKfX/X6knbbPmRzPJaDSLZrPJ5QgoA9FYwAYe9vCdF8zXmda+Y+NoabLvOw1Zt/scZtGJO6kuNigVEO4a12M0cAn8uhNpCROnsQG0C2RfniyGFhzL/VPGltIaH+W4a/5vsu3kPTgGnSo7JQXMwGfA1QpTQ1igkzsvj8YgLsUo4w8ItuVgObFgprvIQc8CjN1QFVde4RyvvF+SjEoyl/RfjpY10Z+4T8WQaSnJ5DJUugrmREscutULafCJd2LB9btSqn53nPkRMfLBGara3RJIVhFzH7NC7cSIig3GSTzCix5aXbcU+ke9kYaeGdMqMOp7i9GDGeZmIWn+nJez1lfldyKu18oPBwBGE9ERxJoJiLJzwFtWNn8mTXpypa/GoxLpKMrg4ol7fB01Q=
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