The Inheritance Book 1

Ch 36 Vial: Kellyn Stanley [Monday, Week Three]

Holding her breath, Kellyn forced herself to look at Miss Sarah's face. She was so relieved to discover that her eyes were safe in their sockets. What's more, they were open!

"Oh my gosh! Miss Sarah!" Kellyn grabbed her hand. "You're alive! Thank goodness!"

The teacher turned confused, glassy eyes toward Kellyn.

"And you moved your neck! It's not broken!"

Miss Sarah blinked slowly as a disgusting dark-green, slimy bit of drool dribbled from the corner of her mouth.

Kellyn nearly gagged. Ugh! What was that? Bile? Stomach acid? After all that Miss Sarah had been through, she knew she was being horribly selfish. But she couldn't seem to stop herself from being grossed out. Should she try to wipe the drool away?

"Water?" Miss Sarah wheezed. Her voice was dry and crackly.

"Oh, yes! Hang on!" Kellyn unscrewed the water bottle and, as much as she could with her injured hip, helped Miss Sarah sit up and take a few sips. She then tilted the stream of water so that it washed the green dribbles off her chin.

Miss Sarah touched the back of her swollen head. "Oh! Ow!" She looked at her blood-smeared fingers, found Kellyn's shirt and pressed it to her wound.

"What happened? The last thing I remember, we were walking across the log."

Kellyn paused before answering. If she didn't want to incur future wrath from Mirabelle, she had to explain it in a way that wouldn't direct blame in her friend's direction.

"I am so, so sorry," Kellyn started. "It was a sort of Domino effect. Someone bumped into me and I lost my balance and bumped into you and we both fell. I am so sorry! The others went to get help. And I have been so worried and afraid because you've been unconscious ever since. How are you feeling?"

Miss Sarah coughed. "A little dizzy and groggy. Like I'm under water. My shoulder is killing me, and my head hurts. Disgusting taste in my mouth too."

Kellyn shuddered at the thought of the green drool again and hoped it wasn't a liver fracture or anything serious. "I tried to stop the bleeding with my shirt. I felt a huge bump on your head. I feel so bad."

"Hey, we're both alive." Miss Sarah bent her knees and moved her legs. "That's the important thing. How are you?"

Kellyn told her about her hip and didn't think she could walk on it. "I'm sure I'll be fine though. I was just worried about you. I was seriously so scared you might die. I think you stopped breathing at one point!"

"Oh my gosh! I am sorry you had to go through all that. But hopefully the worst is over and we'll both be okay." Miss Sarah found a clean patch on Kellyn's teal shirt, touched it to her head again and showed Kellyn. "Look, the bleeding has almost stopped and the bump isn't that bad, see?"

Miss Sarah parted her bloody hair and sure enough, the gash was only about an inch long. And the bump underneath it was only the size of a strawberry, not a goose egg like she thought. Kellyn must have been in a panic when she first looked at it because she would have sworn the injury was way more serious.

"Sorry about your shirt," Miss Sarah said as she set it aside and rinsed her hands with some of their drinking water. "I'll get you a new one."

Kellyn waved her hand. "That's the last thing I am worried about."

Miss Sarah rolled her shoulders in a circle. "Wow, my shoulder isn't really too bad either. I thought it was broken. I guess I just needed to wake up and move around a little bit. This might sound crazy, but I am feeling better by the second. I'm still pretty dizzy though, so I am not going to try to stand up yet. Just my luck, I would fall down and break my arm. Just what I need, right?"

"Right!" Kellyn could not believe what she was seeing. How could Miss Sarah go from being almost dead a few minutes ago to joking now?

Miss Sarah stretched. "Hey, what's this?" she said, holding up a small plastic vial with a hole punched into its thin lid. Inside was a drop of dark-green liquid. "This was next to me. I don't remember anyone bringing this. Is it yours?"

Kellyn shook her head slowly. What in the world was going on? Before she had a chance to turn it over in her mind, Miss Sarah grabbed her arm.

"Did you hear something?"

Sure enough, there were voices in the distance!

Kellyn and Miss Sarah both started calling out for help.