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.
be no pain, Ava. Just wake up.
1. me.
No way.
15:30
2:10
Ava: Waking
in this
come back. This is not where
should be.
But I’m here, in this serenity of darkness. I feel pain,
Ava.
Alive.
Alive means death-
enough. Wake up. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You never
***
eyes crack open. They feel like sandpaper scraping against my lids. Everything is blurry, shapes
Ava.
is warm honey
I try to speak but my throat is parched, voice a ragged whisper. “Selene?”
presses into my
15:00
3/10
Ava Waking
head slowly, painfully. She’s there, silver fur shining, blue eyes bright with intelligence
colors her tone.
heavy and thick. “What happened?” The
Rest now. She nuzzles into my arm. I want to protest but exhaustion drags me under again.
but
***
of a heart monitor. The chemical scent
An IV
open. The ceiling swims into focus–white tiles,
relief washes
questions, one talking over
16:30
W10
Ava Waking
was I out?” I rasp, my throat raw from
disuse.
Selene whines softly. We were
worried.
asks, way too close to
are you feeling?” Lisa pipes up, from my
me like a punch to the
and Lucas rest their hands on my back to
an entire process that leaves
upright, I take stock. My
connected to an IV pole with a few bags hanging off it. One of the bags looks like milk, and that one’s connected
around my waist. My hair is lank and greasy against my
cautions as I waver, dizzy. You’ve
15:30
5410
Waking Up
through a lot.
together how I ended up here. Training with Jericho and Lisa. Collapsing on the couch. Then… nothing. A yawning black hole in my memory.
to me?”
against my skin. Warmth flows between us,
your wolf is trying to emerge. Do you
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 as a husky for a reason she has yet to explain, and her ears flick as she licks my face, settling into my
She’s way too big for
afraid, Selene soothes, sensing my unease.
15:31
6/10
Ava Waking Up
like ashes on my tongue. Nothing about my life has been natural. Is Vanessa right? Are you
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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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