{"id":4478,"date":"2020-11-25T11:39:23","date_gmt":"2020-11-25T16:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4478"},"modified":"2020-11-25T11:39:23","modified_gmt":"2020-11-25T16:39:23","slug":"fourteen-04-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4478","title":{"rendered":"Fourteen – 04"},"content":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Thomas Merlin Ambrose’s point of view.]<\/em><\/p>\n

When the darkness lifted, I was in bed, bundled in blankets, listening to the sound of distant crickets and the wind in the trees.\u00a0 Every inch of me hurt\u2014hurt more than I wanted to countenance, but it was something I\u2019d just have to deal with one way or another.\u00a0 Near as I could tell, night had fallen, but it was hard to know whether or not I was alone without moving.<\/p>\n

I stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, breathing slowly and as deeply as I dared.<\/p>\n

There was a rustling sound at the far end of the room.\u00a0 I closed my eyes, knowing it had to be one of my friends, stifling the urge to sigh.\u00a0 Anne\u2019s voice came quietly.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you awake?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d I lied.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m asleep.\u00a0 You\u2019re hallucinating. \u00a0Better get that checked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not funny,\u201d she said, her footsteps crossing the room until she was standing at my bedside.\u00a0 \u201cYou scared the shit out of Tory.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe shouldn\u2019t have chased me,\u201d I said, not looking at her.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019d have been fine if he\u2019d just left well enough alone.\u00a0 I\u2019d have made it back to bed without passing out.\u201d\u00a0 I almost said something about popping stitches and bandages, but I held my tongue.\u00a0 She was upset enough already.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t need to make it any worse.<\/p>\n

\u201cWas that the goal?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPretty much.\u201d\u00a0 I opened my eyes and winced slightly\u2014the lamp she held in one hand was almost too bright, sending an ache lancing straight back through my skull.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s been a long day, Anne.\u00a0 Can\u2019t I just sleep?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wanted to be sure you\u2019re okay,\u201d she said softly.\u00a0 \u201cTory went to talk to Mom and Uncle Matt.\u00a0 He\u2019s not going to like what they tell him, is he?\u201d<\/p>\n

I swallowed hard.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know, Anne,\u201d I said.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know because I don\u2019t know what they\u2019re going to tell him, but whatever they do<\/em> tell him, he\u2019s got to sort out for himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s never been that way for us, has it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThings are changing,\u201d I said, closing my eyes again.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll just have to adapt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAdapt,\u201d she echoed softly, almost bitterly.\u00a0 I knew she shook her head without looking.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d I said, already fading back into sleep.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll figure it out.\u00a0 All of us, in our own ways.\u00a0 Things are changing.\u00a0 You\u2019ll see.\u00a0 We\u2019ll all see.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Thomas Merlin Ambrose’s point of view.] When the darkness lifted, I was in bed, bundled in blankets, listening to the sound of distant crickets and the wind in the trees.\u00a0 Every inch of me hurt\u2014hurt more … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[336,337,363,14],"tags":[340,275,150,171,170,149,148,168,147,165,200,146],"class_list":["post-4478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ambrose-cycle","category-book-8","category-chapter-14-book-8","category-story","tag-ambrose-cycle","tag-anne-mackenzie","tag-awakenings","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-original-fiction","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-thomas-merlin-ambrose","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-1ae","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4478"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4478\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4479,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4478\/revisions\/4479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}