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.
Ava. Just
No way.
peaceful here, in this hazy
have to come back. This is
in this serenity of darkness. I feel pain, but it doesn't kill me. It
die,
Alive.
Alive means death—
feeling sorry for yourself. You never
* * *
feel like sandpaper scraping against my lids. Everything is
Ava.
honey in my mind, comforting. Grounding. I try to
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,
Relief
and thick. "What happened?" The words scrape
nuzzles into my arm. I want to protest but exhaustion drags me
calling my name, but
* * *
beep of a heart monitor. The chemical scent of disinfectant. Starched sheets rough against my skin. An IV pinches the
The ceiling swims into focus—white tiles, fluorescent lights. A hospital. Selene is curled
back. Her relief
one talking over the other.
long was I out?" I
softly. We were so
okay?" Lucas asks, way too close
are you feeling?" Lisa pipes up, from my
I struggle to sit up, my muscles weak and uncooperative. Selene helps, bracing
an entire process that
pole with a few bags hanging off it. One of the bags looks like milk, and that one's connected to yet another IV line in the elbow
in a hospital gown, blankets pooled around my waist. My hair is
Selene cautions as I waver, dizzy. You've been through
mind back, trying to piece together how I ended up here. Training with Jericho
hole
"What happened to me?"
my face, his fingers hesitant and gentle against my skin. Warmth flows between us, a feeling of comfort, and the urge to press
your wolf is trying to emerge. Do you
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 to explain, and her ears flick as she licks my face, settling into my
not. She's way too
Selene soothes, sensing my unease. This is natural for
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