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.
remember the pain.
Just
1. me.
No way.
15:30
2:10
112 Ava: Waking
peaceful here, in this
have to come back. This is
should be.
me? But I’m here, in this serenity of darkness. I feel pain, but it doesn’t kill me. It isn’t enough to kill me.
Ava. You’re
Alive.
Alive means death-
enough. Wake up. Stop feeling sorry for yourself.
***
scraping against my lids. Everything is blurry, shapes indistinct.
Ava.
warm honey in my
speak but my throat is
presses into my palm.
15:00
3/10
Ava Waking
hand. I turn my head slowly, painfully. She’s there,
colors her tone.
heavy and thick. “What happened?” The
She nuzzles into my arm. I want to protest but exhaustion drags
name, but I’m
***
returns gradually. The steady beep of a heart
against my skin. An IV pinches the back of
I force them open. The ceiling swims into focus–white tiles, fluorescent lights. A hospital. Selene is curled up beside me, a comforting
relief washes
me questions, one talking over
16:30
W10
Ava Waking Up
I rasp,
disuse.
softly. We were so
worried.
Lucas asks, way too close
feeling?” Lisa pipes
weeks. The news hits me like a punch to the gut. I struggle to sit up, my muscles weak
mine, and both Lisa and Lucas rest their hands on my back to lead me up
process that leaves me exhausted.
I take stock. My
my hand, connected to an IV pole with a few bags hanging off it. One of the
pooled around my waist. My
as I waver,
15:30
5410
Waking Up
through a lot.
mind back, trying to piece together how I ended up here. Training with Jericho and Lisa. Collapsing on the couch. Then… nothing. A yawning
to
skin. Warmth flows between us, a feeling of comfort, and the urge to press my cheek into his hand,
your wolf is trying
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 lap
way too big
my unease. This is
15:31
6/10
Waking
about my life has been natural. Is Vanessa right?
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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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