A Kiss in the Rain

Chapter 2

"Mom what happened?" Kali tried to ask but the question came out broken and barely above a whisper.

  Her mother remained still and Kali couldn't tell if she were breathing or not. She knelt down beside her, avoiding the honey blonde waves of hair that fanned around her head. Kali held her own breath, listening for any sounds her mother might make; whether it be a gasp of air, a whimper, or her heartbeat. When she was still unsure, Kali shakily reached her hand under her mothers hair and placed two fingers against her neck. She noticed her mothers skin was still warm and it comforted her. Then she felt the pulse.

  Kali let out a long rigid sigh of relief. Had her mother simply fainted? When she pulled her hand back, her stomach dropped. Crimson liquid ran through the ridges of her finger tips. It was.. blood. Her mothers blood? Kali reached to move the mess of hair away from her mothers neck when a hand shot up and grabbed her wrist. She couldn't help but scream, her heart and body coiled inside itself.

"Kali?" The voice was weak and a little hoarse but it got her attention.

"Mom! Are you okay?" Kali still felt uneasy and a little nauseous. She looked down into her mothers green eyes, noticing they were a little dull in color. Her pupils were small even though Kali was blocking the sun from her mothers face. "Mom.. I thought you were.."

A confused look hung over her mothers prominent features. Her eyes were looking up at her, but  it didn't seem as if she were looking at Kali. Her mothers fingers tightened around Kali's wrist, almost painfully, except she didn't seem to have the strength to actually hurt her.

"Hold on mom, I'll go call an ambu-"

"No!" The urgency in her mothers voice caught Kali off guard and she jumped. "No." The woman repeated.

"You're bleeding.."

"I'm okay," she interrupted. "I'm okay, I just need to go inside and drink some water."

Now Kali was the one who was confused. Her mother was acting as if she had just casually lied down on the garden shed floor to take a nap. Maybe she had hit her head when she fell.. Did she fall? She seemed so perfectly laid out. Her limbs weren't all over the place like a normal persons would be if they fainted and fell over. She was on her back, arms at her sides, legs straight out. It was.. odd.

"Mom really, I think you should get checked out at the hospital. You're bleeding from somewhere." Kali finally said as she pulled her wrist from her mothers grip. When she went to reach and find the wound once more, her mother stopped her.

"Don't baby me, Kali, I said I'm fine." Her mothers tone had an edge to it but the woman gave a small smile. She lifted herself up.

      Kali watched as her mother pulled herself to her feet, unsure of how to respond to her odd behavior. It took her a moment to realize there were two puncture wounds in her mothers swan like neck. Kali's eyes widened.

"Mom!" She gasped.

Her mother gripped her neck over the wound. "I guess I am bleeding," she finally admitted.

"Yeah? No kidding! What happened?!" Kali interrogated, feeling a bit irritated by her mothers lack of interest in the situation while her own heart felt as if it were about to explode. When she went to push herself up, her hand bumped into something that felt like cold metal. On the floor where her mother had been, laid a pair of gardening shears.

"I must have fallen on them," her mother stated noticing what her daughter was staring at. "No biggy, it's just a little scratch."

Kali stood throwing her hands in the air. "Geez mom! You could have hit an artery or something!"