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, Ava. Just wake up. Come
1. me.
No way.
15:30
2:10
112 Ava: Waking
in this
to come back. This is
should be.
I feel pain, but it doesn’t kill me. It isn’t enough to kill me.
die, Ava. You’re
Alive.
Alive means death-
enough. Wake up. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You never died. Wake.
***
against my lids. Everything is
Ava.
is warm honey in my mind,
my throat is parched, voice
wet nose presses into my palm. The slight weight
15:00
3/10
Waking
She’s there, silver fur shining, blue eyes
awake. Relief colors her
thick. “What happened?”
She nuzzles into my arm. I want to protest but exhaustion
my name, but I’m already gone.
***
of a heart monitor. The chemical scent of disinfectant.
my skin. An IV pinches the back of my
The ceiling swims into focus–white tiles, fluorescent lights. A hospital. Selene is curled up beside me, a comforting
relief washes over me.
are here. They’re asking me questions, one talking over the
16:30
W10
Ava Waking Up
out?” I rasp, my throat raw
disuse.
Selene whines softly.
worried.
asks, way too close
are you feeling?” Lisa pipes up, from my
news hits me like a punch to the gut. I struggle to sit up, my muscles weak and
Lucas rest their hands on my back to lead me up
process that
upright, I take stock.
off it. One of the bags looks like milk, and that one’s connected to yet another IV line in
pooled around my waist. My hair is lank and greasy against my neck.
cautions as I waver,
15:30
5410
Waking
through a lot.
piece together how I ended up here. Training with Jericho and Lisa. Collapsing on the couch. Then… nothing. A yawning black hole in
to
and gentle against my skin. Warmth flows between us, a feeling of comfort, and the urge to
wolf is trying to emerge. Do you feel any different?”
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 as though she’s
way too big
sensing my
15:31
6/10
Ava Waking
life has been natural. Is Vanessa right? Are you going to be a
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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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