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
no pain, Ava. Just wake up. Come back
1. me.
No way.
15:30
2:10
112 Ava: Waking Up
peaceful here, in this hazy place.
back. This is not where
should be.
of darkness. I feel pain, but it doesn’t kill me.
won’t die, Ava. You’re alive.
Alive.
Alive means death-
feeling sorry for yourself. You never died.
***
eyes crack open. They feel like sandpaper scraping against my lids.
Ava.
warm
Grounding. I try to speak but my throat is parched, voice a ragged
nose presses into my palm. The slight weight
15:00
3/10
Waking
slowly, painfully. She’s there, silver fur shining, blue eyes bright with intelligence and
Relief colors
swallow dryly, my tongue heavy and thick. “What happened?” The
arm. I want to protest but exhaustion drags me under
but I’m already
***
returns gradually. The steady beep of a heart
sheets rough against my skin. An IV pinches the back of my
but I force them open. The ceiling swims into focus–white tiles, fluorescent lights. A hospital. Selene
Her relief
here. They’re asking me questions, one talking over the other.
16:30
W10
Waking Up
I out?” I
disuse.
softly. We
worried.
you okay?” Lucas asks, way too
pipes
news hits me like a punch to the gut. I struggle to sit up, my muscles weak and
against mine, and both Lisa and Lucas rest their
that leaves me exhausted.
take stock. My limbs feel
One of the bags looks like milk, and that
gown, blankets pooled around my waist. My hair is lank and greasy
cautions as I waver, dizzy.
15:30
5410
Ava Waking
through a lot.
my mind back, trying to piece together how I ended up here. Training with Jericho and
to
reaches for my face, his fingers hesitant and gentle against my skin. Warmth flows between us, a feeling of comfort, and the urge to press my cheek into his
is trying
fills me with trepidation. I flick a glance toward my wolf, disguised as a husky for a reason she has yet to explain,
way too big for that.
afraid, Selene soothes, sensing my unease. This is
15:31
6/10
Waking
about my life has been natural. Is Vanessa right? Are you
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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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