Revived
The first lungful of air feels like fire and ice inside her chest.
Alyx doesn't move beyond that. She can't. The sudden onset of sensation is overwhelming. She can pick out the voice of every single nerve ending in her body, and all but a handful are screaming in pain. Something's hammering inside her, pushing a billion pinpricks outward through her soft tissues.
It takes her a second to realize that the hammering is her own heartbeat.
In the next second, she starts to comprehend the sensations coming in to her body. The circle of light above her is sky; the cold pressure on her back is metal; the rumblings around her are voices.
"She stirs!"
"Her vortal form has regained integrity!"
"We have averted an immeasurable loss!"
"Oh God--" And now she moves, wrapping her hands around her head to try to block out the overwhelming sensations from without and within.
Alyx doesn't move beyond that. She can't. The sudden onset of sensation is overwhelming. She can pick out the voice of every single nerve ending in her body, and all but a handful are screaming in pain. Something's hammering inside her, pushing a billion pinpricks outward through her soft tissues.
It takes her a second to realize that the hammering is her own heartbeat.
In the next second, she starts to comprehend the sensations coming in to her body. The circle of light above her is sky; the cold pressure on her back is metal; the rumblings around her are voices.
"She stirs!"
"Her vortal form has regained integrity!"
"We have averted an immeasurable loss!"
"Oh God--" And now she moves, wrapping her hands around her head to try to block out the overwhelming sensations from without and within.