03 | Misery and Woe

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They were silent as the light changed and they weren't the only ones waiting at the crosswalk

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They were silent as the light changed and they weren't the only ones waiting at the crosswalk.

He rubbed his neck. "My car's over there."

She followed his gaze across the street to a dark green vehicle. "Oh, no." She waved her hand. She couldn't be expected to go anywhere with a stranger.

He raised his eyebrows. "At least let me call you a ride."

She tried to move her arm again, to show she was fine, but pain shot through it. She cringed. Her great-grandmother could fix broken bones in two blinks of her eyes, a charm she hadn't yet mastered. Mariam had warned her she couldn't let this one get away.

She needed to stick to him like a wart on a cheek, and this wasn't the time to refuse medical attention either.

She nodded. "Okay, call me a ride."

"Do you want to call someone, let them know where you're going?"

For someone his age, he sure is responsible. Then again, I did have to save his life.

"I'll call my mom." She took out her phone. It had scratches on its case, a new one too, from when it had fallen. "Drat," she murmured.

"I'm Beaumont by the way, but my friends call me Beau," he said, as she dialed her home number from memory, figuring if she couldn't reach her mom, another family member would answer. "What's your name?" Beau asked.

"Cora," she said. "Cora Emerson." Then, into the phone, "Willow, is Mom home? Can you put her on please?"

"Who is this?" Willow asked. "And how did you get this number?"

Cora glowered, so not in the mood for her sister's antics. "I'm serious. I really need to talk to Mom. It's an emergency."

"What kind of emergency, like a zombie apocalypse?"

"Yes, now put Mom on."

"Have you been bitten? Because if you have, I think its best you excommunicate from this family."

"Willow!"

"Oh, all right, Cora. There's no need to scream in my ear."

"Then put Mom on," Cora said through gritted teeth.

"Hang on a second."

The tension in Cora's shoulders loosened. Knowing how Willow could be, she realized her error of not calling her mom's cell instead.

"Cora, I hope you're on your way home," said Stella Emerson.

"I think she's been bitten by a zombie."

Cora ignored Willow's japes in the background. "Hey, Mom," she said, "it's not that big of a deal but I've had an accident and I need to go to the hospital. Someone offered to get me a ride." She then had to explain who he was, how she'd hurt her arm, and where they were.

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