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
Just wake up. Come
1. me.
No way.
15:30
2:10
Ava:
here, in
back.
should be.
darkness. I feel pain, but it doesn’t kill me. It isn’t enough to kill me.
die, Ava.
Alive.
Alive means death-
that’s enough. Wake up. Stop feeling sorry for yourself.
***
crack open. They feel like sandpaper scraping against my lids.
Ava.
Her voice is warm honey in my mind,
Grounding. I try to speak but my throat
presses into my palm. The slight weight
15:00
3/10
Ava Waking Up
slowly, painfully. She’s there, silver fur shining, blue eyes
awake. Relief colors her
tongue heavy and thick.
She nuzzles into my arm. I want to protest but exhaustion drags me under
name, but I’m already
***
steady beep of a heart monitor. The chemical scent
An IV pinches the back of my
I force them open. The ceiling swims into focus–white tiles, fluorescent lights. A hospital. Selene is curled up beside
back. Her relief
They’re asking me questions, one talking over the other. It’s
16:30
W10
Ava Waking Up
was I out?” I rasp,
disuse.
whines softly.
worried.
okay?” Lucas asks, way too close to
you feeling?” Lisa pipes up,
to the gut. I struggle to sit up,
against mine, and both Lisa and Lucas rest their hands on my back to
that leaves
take stock. My limbs feel
connected to an IV pole with a few bags hanging off it. One of the bags looks like milk, and that one’s
blankets pooled around my waist. My hair is lank
cautions as I waver, dizzy.
15:30
5410
Ava Waking Up
through a lot.
here. Training with Jericho and Lisa. Collapsing
happened to me?”
fingers hesitant and gentle against my skin. Warmth flows between us, a feeling of comfort, and
wolf is trying to emerge.
But now, with 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
She’s way too
soothes, sensing my unease. This is
15:31
6/10
Waking
tastes like ashes on my tongue. Nothing about my life has been natural. Is Vanessa right? Are you going to be a part of me now?
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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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