Ashes of Foreverland Read Online Free PDF Page A

hands, balling them into fists, and the city rushing past her like a raging storm. She would remember her husband’s voice calling through cotton stuffed in her ears, even though the traffic was sharp and clear. Eyewitnesses reported she fell on her knees and pounded the asphalt.
    She didn’t remember that. Or the flashing lights of the ambulance.
    Or seeing her husband.

4.  Alessandra
    New York City
    P ressure.
    Her head felt like an overinflated balloon, the rubber skin creaking with each stroke. And voices. There were voices out there.
    So many voices.
    Each one blurred like a bad recording. Each time, it joined a smudge of color, like blackness streaked with glowing lights, vivid smatterings of pigments that lingered for a moment, just a moment, then were swallowed by the dark until the next one.
    Her own thoughts flitted in and out of existence, like an art film splashing random images. A few made sense, but none belonged to the voices. Just before the last stroke of the compressor filled her head, she saw a pair of brown eyes.
    Coco .
    The balloon popped.
    A bright flash swallowed it all.
    Alex was spared the pressure and the voices and haunting thoughts. The world fell into place, all the pieces reshuffled and fit where they belonged. And the universe existed again.
    It just existed.
    And she did, too.
    â€”—————————————
    â€œW e’ll be suing,” Samuel was saying. “Negligence, pain and suffering.”
    Through a veil of crusted eyelashes, the flowers were blurry. Brightly colored balls bobbed over them. Alex blinked slowly and the balls turned into helium-filled balloons tied to colored ribbon. She smacked her lips; the corners of her mouth stung.
    â€œGot to let you go.” Samuel hovered over her. “Alex? You awake?”
    â€œWater.”
    He rushed out of sight and returned with a cup. She tried to lift her head. He helped her reach the bendy straw.
    â€œLittle sips.” He took it away. “Give that a moment.”
    The water rushed into her parched throat and cooled her insides all the way to her stomach. He stared at her while she looked around the hospital room. His black hair was pushed back, his whiskers casting a shadow over the lower half of his face. And his smile glowed.
    She smiled back, couldn’t help it, but winced when her lips cracked.
    He helped her with two more sips before setting it down.
    â€œAre you feeling all right?” His voice was soft. She couldn’t remember the last time it was like that. So soft, so caring.
    â€œHow long...have I been asleep?”
    â€œAlmost three days.”
    She lifted her arms and stared at her hands. There were no bandages. Besides feeling a bit shaky—she always felt that way when she was hungry—there didn’t appear to be a reason she was in the hospital. Or sleeping for three days.
    â€œThey reset your biomites.” He ran his hand through her hair. “Do you remember anything?”
    The first thing was the pressure and streaking colors. But then the memory of traffic slowly rose from obscurity, the impact of a speeding truck and blaring horn that wasn’t there.
    And Coco.
    â€œWhat’s your name?” he asked.
    She smiled. “Alex Diosa.”
    â€œYour full name?”
    â€œAlessandra Diosa.”
    â€œThat’s my girl.” He kissed her forehead. “I’ll get the doctors.”
    He gave her one more swallow of water and put it out of reach. The muscles moved beneath his T-shirt. She collapsed on the pillow and watched him go. She was already tired, fighting sleep. She wanted to see the doctors, to see Samuel again.
    The ceiling tiles had tiny perforations, like a white slice of the universe. The helium balloons drifted back and forth, crashing like soft metal.
    A wave of static passed through the room, like a radio dial turned through a space of nothingness. It wasn’t static.