Page 19 of Eternally Ginger

Realism hurled into my body; I was wasting time. This man was a liar. I couldn’t believe anything he said. They were the desperate lies of a dying man who tried to save his life. My body scurried across the floor, scrambling to lift Mom’s wrist into my hand. She had a pulse; it was faint, but she was alive. “Mom!”

My fingertips shook her body. “Mom, wake up!” I cried out as Kenneth’s blood spread beneath us.

“Mom, please!” I begged with another push, her chest barely rising and falling.

“Ginger?” Ghoul’s voice called a few moments after, and he burst into the cabin. Truthfully, I had no idea how long it was because I didn’t have a real grasp on time anymore. Hours could have passed as I sat beside my mom’s body, begging her to get up, but I didn’t believe they had. It did not matter how many seconds ticked by. If she died, then all of this was for nothing.

“What the hell?” His eyes followed the blood and traveled to where I was sitting.

“Are you really here? How are you here?” I asked, my eyes blinking in disbelief, wondering if I had actually lost the fight, and it was my blood soaking my clothes.

“I’m here,” he softly reassured.

“Help my mom,” I pleaded in a tiny voice, not caring if she was the person who gave birth to me or not.