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.
will be no pain, Ava. Just wake up. Come
1. me.
No way.
15:30
2:10
112 Ava: Waking
peaceful here, in this
back. This is not where
should be.
place for me? But I’m here, in this serenity of darkness. I feel
die, Ava. You’re alive.
Alive.
Alive means death-
enough. Wake up. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You never died.
***
against my lids. Everything is blurry,
Ava.
voice is warm honey in
my throat is parched, voice a ragged
nose presses into my
15:00
3/10
Waking
She’s there, silver fur shining, blue eyes bright with intelligence
Relief colors her tone.
and thick. “What happened?”
Rest now. She nuzzles into my arm. I want to protest but exhaustion drags me
my name, but
***
gradually. The steady beep of a heart monitor. The
my skin. An IV pinches
heavy but I force them open. The ceiling swims into focus–white tiles, fluorescent lights. A hospital. Selene is curled up
Her relief washes over
one talking over the other. It’s painful to
16:30
W10
Waking Up
long was I out?” I rasp, my throat
disuse.
whines softly. We
worried.
asks, way too close to
pipes up, from my other side.
me like a punch to the gut. I struggle to sit up, my
against mine, and both Lisa and Lucas rest their hands on my back to lead me up until I’m
entire process that leaves
I take stock. My limbs feel stiff,
the bags looks like milk,
a hospital gown, blankets pooled around my waist. My hair is lank and greasy against
Selene cautions as I
15:30
5410
Ava Waking Up
through a lot.
mind back, trying to piece together how I ended up here. Training with Jericho and Lisa. Collapsing on the couch. Then… nothing.
happened to me?”
my skin. Warmth flows between us, a
Vanessa thinks your wolf is trying to emerge. Do you feel
To be whole. But now, with all the strangeness surrounding my heritage, the idea fills me with trepidation. I flick a glance toward my wolf, disguised
too big
sensing my unease. This is
15:31
6/10
Waking
my tongue. Nothing about my life has been natural. Is
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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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