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
be no pain, Ava. Just wake up. Come
1. me.
No way.
15:30
2:10
112 Ava: Waking
in
have to come back.
should be.
darkness. I feel pain, but it doesn’t kill me. It isn’t
die, Ava.
Alive.
Alive means death-
that’s enough. Wake up. Stop feeling sorry for yourself.
***
like sandpaper scraping against my lids. Everything is blurry,
Ava.
Her voice is warm honey in my mind,
try to speak but my throat is parched, voice
my palm. The
15:00
3/10
Waking Up
resting on my hand. I turn my head slowly, painfully. She’s there, silver fur
colors her
and thick. “What happened?” The words scrape
I want
my name, but
***
a
skin. An IV pinches the
are heavy but I force them open. The ceiling swims into focus–white tiles, fluorescent lights. A hospital. Selene is curled
back. Her relief washes over
me questions, one talking over the other. It’s painful to my ears.
16:30
W10
Ava Waking Up
out?” I rasp,
disuse.
weeks, Selene whines softly. We were so
worried.
way too close to me.
are you feeling?” Lisa pipes up, from my other side.
a punch to the gut.
both Lisa and Lucas rest their hands on my back to lead me up until
entire process that leaves me
I take stock. My limbs
my hand, connected to an IV pole with a few bags hanging off it. One of the bags looks like milk, and
in a hospital gown, blankets pooled around my waist. My hair is lank
cautions as I waver, dizzy.
15:30
5410
Ava Waking Up
through a lot.
I cast my mind back, trying to piece together how I ended up here. Training with Jericho and Lisa. Collapsing
to
us, a feeling of comfort, and
is trying to emerge. Do you feel
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 a lap
She’s way too big for
afraid, Selene soothes, sensing my unease. This is natural
15:31
6/10
Waking
word tastes like ashes on my tongue. Nothing about my life has been natural. Is Vanessa right? Are you going to be
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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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