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
Ava. Just wake
1. me.
No way.
15:30
2:10
112 Ava: Waking Up
in
have to come back. This is not
should be.
place for me? But I’m here, in this serenity of darkness. I feel pain, but it doesn’t kill me. It isn’t enough
die, Ava. You’re
Alive.
Alive means death-
up. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You
***
open. They feel like sandpaper scraping against my lids. Everything is blurry, shapes indistinct.
Ava.
is warm honey in my mind,
try to speak but my throat is parched,
presses into my palm.
15:00
3/10
Waking Up
my hand. I turn my head slowly, painfully. She’s there, silver fur shining, blue eyes bright with intelligence and worry.
Relief colors her tone.
tongue heavy and thick. “What happened?”
She nuzzles into my arm. I want to protest but
my name, but
***
a heart monitor.
my skin. An IV pinches the back of my
heavy but I force them open. The ceiling swims into focus–white tiles, fluorescent lights. A hospital. Selene is curled up beside me,
relief washes
Lisa are here. They’re asking me questions, one talking over the other. It’s painful to my ears.
16:30
W10
Ava Waking
long was I out?” I rasp, my throat raw from
disuse.
whines softly. We were so
worried.
Lucas asks, way too close to me.
you feeling?” Lisa pipes up, from
to the gut. I struggle
helps, bracing her body against mine, and both Lisa and Lucas rest their hands on my back to lead me
that
I take stock. My limbs feel stiff,
A needle pinches my hand, connected to an IV 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 other
gown, blankets pooled around my waist. My hair is lank and greasy against my neck.
I waver, dizzy.
15:30
5410
Ava Waking
through a lot.
the century. I cast my mind back, trying to piece together how I ended up here. Training with Jericho and
happened to me?”
face, his fingers hesitant and gentle against my skin. Warmth flows between us, a feeling of comfort, and the urge
is trying to emerge.
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
way too big for
soothes, sensing my unease. This is natural for
15:31
6/10
Waking
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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