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
1. me.
No way.
15:30
2:10
112 Ava:
in this hazy place.
come back. This is not where
should be.
feel pain, but it doesn’t kill me. It isn’t enough to kill
Ava.
Alive.
Alive means death-
Wake up. Stop feeling sorry
***
like sandpaper scraping against my lids. Everything
Ava.
voice is warm honey in
I try to speak but my throat
presses into my palm. The slight weight of
15:00
3/10
Ava Waking Up
head slowly, painfully. She’s there, silver fur shining, blue eyes bright with intelligence and worry.
awake. Relief colors her
swallow dryly, my tongue heavy and thick.
my arm. I want to protest but exhaustion drags me under again.
name, but
***
steady beep of a heart monitor. The chemical
my skin. An IV pinches the back of
are heavy but I force them open. The ceiling swims into focus–white tiles, fluorescent lights.
relief washes over me.
Lisa are here. They’re asking me questions, one talking over the other. It’s painful to my
16:30
W10
Waking Up
I
disuse.
whines softly. We were so
worried.
Lucas asks, way too close to me.
are you feeling?” Lisa pipes up, from my
weeks. The news hits me like a punch to the gut.
and both Lisa and Lucas rest their hands
that leaves me
I take stock. My limbs
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
gown, blankets pooled around my waist. My hair is lank and
as I waver,
15:30
5410
Waking
through a lot.
cast my mind back, trying to piece together how I ended up here. Training with Jericho and Lisa. Collapsing on the couch. Then… nothing. A yawning black hole in my
to me?”
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, nuzzling
thinks your wolf is trying to emerge. Do you feel
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
way too big
soothes, sensing my unease. This is natural for
15:31
6/10
Waking Up
Nothing about 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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