Core by Teshelle Combs Read Free Book Online

things like that in movies, when people collapsed, wounded after a long battle, it always seemed so dramatic, like the person wanted attention. But Cale was quiet, calm–kneeling simply because it was too much work for him to stand any longer.
    “Did –did they hurt you?” Ava asked. She still didn’t sound like herself. “I should call an ambulance.”
    “No,” Cale said. “They can’t help me. It would be better if you called my mom. She knows what to do.” He reached into his pocket and handed Ava his cellphone. Then, slowly, he lay back onto the floor, his hand resting on his stomach like he was trying to relax.
    Ava searched through his contacts and dialed Karma’s number. She answered after the first ring. “Cale? Where are you?”
    “Uh…” Ava couldn’t think of words. Her mind was all jumbles, as though all the wires in her head had been plugged into all the wrong places.
    “Ava?” Karma didn’t sound surprised. “Is Cale with you?”
    “Yes. He said to call you. I –think he’s hurt.”
    Cale reached out his hand for the phone and Ava had to force herself to pass it to him. His fingers were covered in the reddest blood she’d ever seen. It soaked through his light blue t-shirt, spreading like ink on paper.
    “ Maman,” Cale started.
    He spoke in a language Ava had never heard b efore. It was beautiful really–falls and rises, guttural rolls that sounded like he was being punched in the gut, hushes that tickled her ears when he lighted on them. When he was finished, he handed the phone back to Ava.
    “Ava, I’m on my way,” Karma said. “First, make sure you have a weapon on you, just in case. Do you?”
    “I do.” The mysterious knife that she had found in her backpack was at her feet.
    “Good. Next, you need to examine Cale’s wound for me. Tell me what it looks like.”
    Ava put the phone on speaker and peeled Cale’s shirt up. The gash was just below his ribs, so deep it could have been done with a watermelon scoop. Around the edges, where his blood pooled onto his skin, was a dark purple ring of liquid.
    “It doesn’t sound too bad. He should make it until we get there,” Karma said after Ava explained. “No need to worry.” She sounded so cool and sensible that it grounded Ava. She felt her courage returning to her in small doses. “Go make sure your mother is alright, but stay where Cale can see you,” Karma said.
    Ava left the phone next to Cale and crossed the room to Miriam. She was still sniffling, still terrified. Ava pulled her foster mother’s hands away from her face.
    “Miriam, are you hurt?”
    She shook her head furiously, her pale blond hair flapping around her ears. “Did they get you?” she asked Ava. Her voice sounded swolle n, thick with confusion. “What–what were they?”
    Ava tried not to think about that. It would only scare her again and she needed to stay sharp. “I’m fine. But my friend Cale over there is hurt. I might need your help to look after him until his family gets here.”
    Miriam nodded, not even bothering to wipe away the streaks of tears on her cheeks.
    Ava hesitated. “Miriam, there’ s a lot of blood. Don’t look if you think you’re going to faint.”
    Miriam swallowed. Then swallowed again. “I won’t faint. I want to help you.”
    She followed Ava back to Cale. Only a few seconds had passed, but he didn’t look the same at all. Perspiration beaded on his forehead and neck, dampening the collar of his shirt. He was breathing faster, shallower.
    Ava picked up the phone. “Karma, are you still there?”
    “I’m just ten minutes away, Ava. Cale already told me how to get there.”
    “Okay, good, because he looks like he’s in a lot of pain.”
    Karma fell silent.
    “Karma? Are you there? What should I do?”
    “Check the wound again.”
    Ava gasped as she examined it. The purple had spread underneath his skin, a swirling mess of it moving upward towards Cale’s chest like a hideous network of spider webs. He