#Chapter 104 - Awake

When my eyes flutter open, I stretch myself a little, feeling bright and refreshed. “All better, baby?” I hear my mom murmur and I go still for a moment before I focus on her face leaning over me. A smile breaks out on my lips, because it’s my mom – my mom, the best mom in the whole world, who I love so much, who I’ve been dying to see for weeks – But then I gasp, and sight up straight, with my entire reality flashing back to me in a moment – why I haven’t seen my mom for months, the Academy, the Examination – “Slowly now, slowly,” mom murmurs, putting her hands on my shoulders and pushing me gently back towards my pillows. “You’re fixed, baby, but you’re still dehydrated and exhausted. Go easy.” But I resist, not wanting to lay down – only wanting my mom, to be in her arms. “Mama,” I cry, tears springing to my eyes, and she relents, wrapping her arms around me and gathering me to her. She holds me close, shushing me quietly and rocking me back and forth like she has a thousand ti