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 pain.
Ava. Just wake up. Come
1. me.
No way.
15:30
2:10
Ava: Waking Up
here, in this
have to come back. This is not where
should be.
place for me? But I’m here, in this serenity of darkness. I feel pain, but it doesn’t kill
die, Ava. You’re
Alive.
Alive means death-
feeling sorry for yourself. You never died. Wake.
***
sandpaper scraping against my lids. Everything is blurry, shapes
Ava.
voice is warm honey
but my throat is
into my palm. The
15:00
3/10
Ava Waking Up
my hand. I turn my head slowly, painfully. She’s there, silver fur shining, blue eyes bright with intelligence and worry.
colors her
my tongue heavy and thick. “What happened?”
now. She nuzzles into my arm. I want to protest but exhaustion drags me
but
***
steady beep of a heart monitor. The chemical
against my skin. An IV pinches the back of my hand.
focus–white tiles, fluorescent lights. A hospital. Selene is curled up beside me, a
Her relief washes over me.
one
16:30
W10
Waking Up
I out?” I rasp,
disuse.
softly. We were so
worried.
you okay?” Lucas asks, way too close
you feeling?” Lisa pipes up, from my
weeks. The news hits me like a punch to the gut. I struggle to sit up,
mine, and both Lisa and Lucas rest their hands
an entire process that leaves me exhausted.
upright, I take stock. My limbs
One of the bags looks like milk, and that one’s connected to yet another IV
blankets pooled around my waist. My hair is lank and
I waver, dizzy. You’ve been
15:30
5410
Waking
through a lot.
cast my mind back, trying to piece together how I ended up here. Training with Jericho and Lisa. Collapsing on the couch. Then… nothing. A yawning black hole in my memory.
to me?”
skin. Warmth flows between us, a feeling
Vanessa thinks your wolf is trying to emerge. Do you feel any
trepidation. I flick a glance toward my wolf, disguised as
way too big
soothes, sensing my unease. This
15:31
6/10
Ava Waking
on my tongue. Nothing about my life has been natural. Is Vanessa right? Are
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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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