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 wake up. Come back to
1. me.
No way.
15:30
2:10
Ava: Waking
in
you have to come back. This is
should be.
this serenity of darkness. I feel pain, but it doesn’t kill me. It isn’t
die, Ava.
Alive.
Alive means death-
Wake up. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You never died.
***
sandpaper scraping against my lids. Everything is blurry, shapes indistinct. White. Harsh lights.
Ava.
Her voice is warm honey
my throat is parched,
presses into my palm. The slight weight
15:00
3/10
Waking
head slowly, painfully. She’s there, silver fur shining,
Relief colors her
my tongue heavy and thick. “What happened?” The words
arm. I want to
calling my name, but I’m already
***
steady beep of a heart monitor. The chemical scent of
An IV pinches the back of
force them open. The ceiling swims into focus–white tiles, fluorescent lights. A hospital. Selene is curled up beside me,
Her relief washes over
asking me questions, one talking over the other. It’s painful to my ears.
16:30
W10
Waking
long was I out?” I rasp,
disuse.
weeks, Selene whines softly. We were
worried.
Lucas asks, way too close
you feeling?” Lisa pipes up,
me like a punch to the gut. I struggle to
bracing her body against mine, and both Lisa and Lucas rest their hands on my back
process that leaves
take stock. My
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
my waist. My
I
15:30
5410
Waking
through a lot.
of the century. I cast my mind back, trying to piece together how I ended up here. Training with Jericho and Lisa. Collapsing on
to
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 hand,
wolf is trying to emerge. Do you feel any different?”
the strangeness surrounding my heritage, the idea fills me with trepidation. I flick a glance toward my wolf, disguised
way too big for
my unease. This is natural
15:31
6/10
Ava Waking Up
word tastes like ashes on my tongue. Nothing about my life has been natural.
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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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