Chapter 160

CLAUDIA. “Keep talking and you’re going to wake her up.” “You’re also talking.” “Yeah, but it’s different, because I’m actually whispering.” “No, you’re kind of yelling now….” A couple of hushed voices manage to pierce through my heavy consciousness. I still feel very much detached from my body, so much so that it seems like I don’t have one. Still, I try to reach out for that one connection. The voices. I still can’t quite place them, but I hang onto them like a lifeline, knowing that if I just follow them hard enough, I will be able to break through the surface of this daze…. “She’s moving.” “She’s going to wake up soon.” “Finally.” That one word. That last voice. I will recognize it from a million miles away. From a million lifetimes away. Achilles. And that’s what breaks me through it. Him. Thoughts of him. With a long shuddering gasp, I finally wake up, breaking through the traps of unconsciousness, gasping for air like a swimmer who got swallowed by the currents. I op