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.
will be no pain, Ava. Just wake up. Come back to
No way.
peaceful here, in this hazy
back. This is
darkness. I feel pain,
die, Ava. You're
Alive.
Alive means death—
Stop feeling sorry for yourself.
* * *
against my lids. Everything is blurry,
Ava.
my mind, comforting. Grounding. I try to
my hand. I turn my head slowly, painfully. She's there, silver fur shining,
Relief colors
and thick.
arm. I want to protest but exhaustion drags me under
calling my name, but
* * *
chemical scent of disinfectant. Starched sheets rough against my skin.
heavy but I force them open. The ceiling swims into focus—white tiles, fluorescent lights. A
Her relief washes over
and Lisa are here. They're asking me questions, one
was I out?" I rasp, my throat raw from
whines softly. We were so
asks, way
are you feeling?" Lisa pipes up, from my
a punch to the gut. I struggle to sit up, my muscles weak and uncooperative. Selene helps, bracing her body against mine, and both Lisa and
process that
atrophied. A needle pinches 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
Selene cautions as I waver, dizzy. You've been through
of the century. I cast my mind back, trying to piece together how I ended up here. Training with Jericho
yawning black hole in
"What happened to me?"
face, his fingers hesitant and gentle against my skin. Warmth flows between us, a feeling of comfort, and the urge to
thinks your wolf is
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 face, settling into my
way too
Selene soothes, sensing my unease. This is natural
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