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.
1. up.
What’s that?
… Ava, you…
Who’s that?
can you hear me?
I struggle to reach the voice that calls me,
but
15:30
1:10
112 Ava: Waking Up
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.
the
Ava. Just wake up. Come back
1. me.
No way.
15:30
2:10
112 Ava: Waking
here, in this hazy place.
you have to come back. This is not where you
should be.
I feel pain, but it doesn’t kill me. It
Ava. You’re
Alive.
Alive means death-
Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You
***
my lids. Everything is blurry, shapes indistinct. White. Harsh
Ava.
warm honey
Grounding. I try to speak but my throat is parched, voice a ragged
my palm. The slight weight of
15:00
3/10
Ava Waking Up
turn my head slowly, painfully. She’s there, silver fur shining, blue eyes bright with intelligence
colors
swallow dryly, my tongue heavy and thick. “What happened?” The
nuzzles into my arm. I want to
but I’m already gone.
***
gradually. The steady beep of a heart monitor. The chemical scent of disinfectant.
my skin. An IV
The ceiling swims into focus–white tiles, fluorescent lights. A hospital. Selene is curled up
back. Her relief
are here. They’re asking me questions, one talking over the other. It’s painful to my
16:30
W10
Ava Waking Up
long was I out?” I
disuse.
Selene whines softly.
worried.
Lucas asks, way too close
are you feeling?” Lisa pipes up, from
a punch to the gut. I struggle to sit up, my muscles weak
both Lisa and Lucas rest their hands on my back to lead me up until I’m sitting.
process that
upright, I take stock. My limbs feel stiff,
needle pinches my hand, connected to an IV pole with a few bags hanging off it. One of the bags looks like
in a hospital gown, blankets pooled around my waist. My hair is lank and
cautions as I waver, dizzy. You’ve been
15:30
5410
Waking Up
through a lot.
century. I cast my mind back, trying to piece together how I ended up here. Training
happened to me?”
us, a feeling
wolf is trying to emerge.
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
not. She’s way too
soothes, sensing my unease. This is natural for you
15:31
6/10
Waking Up
my life has been natural. Is Vanessa
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CZjn9uT9A/Dms1jJlL0V/qHwLxWbJ9f/71bqFQG8t3iQSS7wdxx+GUYtxJmWpsJBdXYWo89R0Rcu2bdoJfRiLpne7ao6NMCfsL7LRnHnDBsKxkKIT+sxo40PdDx98jP/yk2iAeWbPTqgAO0Hvg77izOvm93dgOjWnewDPjaPZQqeEO/S653fCYGEpW54Hi9uiTi1JvwRs91pQyl1mvJy5PFKkXdId5+lFmN3E7bGosr/S0Gsl9lE2EbtaJypOhu7agj44bLMC/vwwDDGJGViedWbQL5lIcRM5IQjeeNZfaJvWZdnllPed/x1FhMPyv4VJp1zsf982UJE13reV1cSpYKcxl4IloscrtWEdGhVF1yoEfm0wn04/xQEkbYqJSE5/MWj6LUo2ESYzzWC/tA7EMhdLkJfumwf7lo16dj6IQb+BsF66dFzEkKAFVk/oIhb8DXP00RHc6EV0f6J/TmRrXQjFa+FSQkM5cehGFbf8w==
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