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
will be no pain, Ava. Just wake
1. me.
No way.
15:30
2:10
Ava:
peaceful here, in this hazy
you have to come back. This is not where you
should be.
But I’m here, in this serenity of darkness. I feel pain,
die, Ava. You’re alive.
Alive.
Alive means death-
that’s enough. Wake up. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You
***
like sandpaper scraping against my lids. Everything is blurry, shapes indistinct.
Ava.
voice is warm honey
I try to speak but my throat is parched, voice a ragged
wet nose presses into my palm. The slight
15:00
3/10
Ava Waking Up
resting on my hand. I turn my head slowly, painfully. She’s there, silver fur
awake. Relief colors
and thick. “What happened?” The words scrape out.
Rest now. She nuzzles into my arm. I want to
name, but I’m already gone.
***
The steady beep of a heart monitor. The
skin. An IV pinches the
The ceiling swims into focus–white tiles, fluorescent lights. A hospital. Selene is curled up beside me, a comforting
back. Her relief washes
asking me questions, one talking over the other. It’s painful to
16:30
W10
Ava Waking Up
I out?” I
disuse.
whines softly. We were
worried.
okay?” Lucas asks, way too close to
pipes up, from my
The news hits me like a punch to the gut. I struggle to sit up, my muscles weak
bracing her body against mine, and both Lisa and Lucas rest their hands on my back to lead me up until I’m
entire process that
take stock. My limbs feel
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 of my other arm.
in a hospital gown, blankets pooled around my waist. My hair is
Selene cautions as I waver, dizzy. You’ve been
15:30
5410
Ava Waking
through a lot.
cast my mind back, trying to piece together how I ended up here. Training with Jericho
to me?”
face, his fingers hesitant and gentle against my skin. Warmth flows between us, a feeling of comfort, and the urge to press
wolf is trying to emerge. Do
strangeness surrounding my heritage, the idea fills me with trepidation. I flick a glance toward my wolf, disguised as a husky for a
too big
afraid, Selene soothes, sensing my
15:31
6/10
Waking
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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