#NotReadyToDie by Cate Carlyle

Author:Cate Carlyle
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Common Deer Press
Published: 2019-11-19T16:00:00+00:00

“Um ... Kayla, you have a piece of the doorknob in your shoulder. And it’s bleeding.” Nice one. Way to break it to her gently, Ginny.

Kayla tried to twist around as though she could see the back of her own shoulder if she twisted far enough.

“Stop twisting,” I said. “Trust me, I’m not lying.”

“Crap.”

“You’ll be okay, right? It’s just a surface wound I think.” I tried to reassure her. If I said it out loud maybe it would be true and not be the nasty injury I was staring at.

“Describe it to me, Ginny,” she instructed. “What do you see?”

“Uh, there’s some blood on your shirt and there’s a triangle-y piece of metal sticking out of your shoulder.”

“How big?” she asked twisting her torso again trying to see behind her.

“Stop twisting!” I scolded. “When you do that it moves. It’s loose.”

“What?” she asked. “You mean it’s not stuck in there tight?”

“I don’t know!” I said exasperated. “I’m not a doctor. It’s gross, okay?!”

“Gross? What do you mean?” she asked. “Get it together, Ginny. You need to step up and help me here!”

“Ugh! It’s about the size of a cookie and it has sharp edges. And it’s kind of dangling a bit.”

“Okay Ginny, I need you to get up real close and look and see if the skin has come apart,” she said in her calm candy-striper voice.

“Do I have to?” I whined. “Can’t we just leave it alone, or wrap something around it? You’re supposed to leave sharp objects in, right? And then keep them tight? I think we learned that in health class or somewhere.”

“If it is loose it’s a different treatment, Ginny,” Kayla was losing her patience with me. “Now look closely and tell me what you see.”

“Damn it, Barbie,” I said. I leaned in close for a better look and then jerked my head back away, my hand involuntarily going to my mouth and stifling a gag.

“What?” Kayla asked, not quite so calm anymore. “Tell me what you can see!”

I coughed a few times and cleared my throat, trying to get the image out of my head.

“Um, your shirt is all ripped away there and it’s almost like a crevasse, a skin crevasse. And the metal piece is wedged into the side of it.”

“Oh shit. What did you see in the open part, the crevasse?” she asked.

“It was pretty deep and there was gross white jelly at the bottom,” I said.

“Damnit,” Kayla exhaled.

“What’s that mean?” I asked.

“It means it’s a pretty big opening. I don’t know how long we’ll be stuck in here, and I don’t want it to get bigger. It needs to be stitched up,” she replied.

“I’m sure we’ll get out soon, and the paramedics can stitch you up in no time,” I tried to sound enthusiastic, hoping that she wouldn’t say what I thought was coming next. You better not ask me to touch that mess! I sew flowers on my jeans, not human flesh.

“I have a needle and thread in my desk. I keep it there for Home Ec class,” Kayla pointed one row over.

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