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.
the pain.
Ava. Just wake
1. me.
No way.
15:30
2:10
Ava: Waking Up
peaceful here, in this hazy
you have to come back. This
should be.
in this serenity of darkness. I feel pain, but it doesn’t kill me. It isn’t enough to kill me.
die, Ava.
Alive.
Alive means death-
up. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You never died. Wake.
***
crack open. They feel like sandpaper scraping against my lids. Everything is
Ava.
Her voice is warm honey in
throat
into my palm.
15:00
3/10
Ava Waking Up
She’s there, silver fur shining, blue eyes
Relief colors
my tongue heavy and thick. “What happened?” The words scrape
arm. I want to
my name, but I’m already
***
returns gradually. The steady beep of a heart monitor. The chemical
my skin. An IV pinches the
are heavy but I force them open. The ceiling swims into focus–white tiles, fluorescent lights. A hospital.
back. Her relief washes over
They’re asking me questions, one talking over the other. It’s painful to
16:30
W10
Waking Up
I rasp, my throat raw
disuse.
whines softly. We were
worried.
Lucas asks, way too close to me.
you feeling?” Lisa pipes up, from my
weeks. The news hits me like a punch to the gut. I
Selene helps, bracing her body against mine, and both Lisa and Lucas rest their
that leaves me
I take stock. My limbs feel
few bags hanging off it. One of the
pooled around my waist.
cautions as I waver, dizzy. You’ve
15:30
5410
Waking
through a lot.
Training with Jericho and Lisa. Collapsing on the couch. Then… nothing. A yawning black hole in
to
us, a feeling of comfort, and the urge to press my cheek
is trying to emerge. Do
fills me with trepidation. I flick a glance toward my wolf, disguised as a husky for a reason she has yet to
way too
afraid, Selene soothes, sensing my unease. This is
15:31
6/10
Waking
The 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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