Vibrant Eyes

Chapter 11

Blood was never something that made me uncomfortable, but this was something else.  There were vertical slits down Caleb's forearms, his hair was almost gone as if someone had pulled it out, and his face was badly beaten. I looked at the faces of those who surrounded us. Most of them mimicked my expression of utter horror, but a few just stood there blank-faced. I had to find out who did this.

As if by instinct, my eyes shifted to the corner of the room. There, curled up in a ball and completely still, sat Troy.

Troy was always the bully. He wasn't as bad as they get, but could still do some damage. He was always the hardest on Caleb out of all of them, probably because Caleb was too shy to stand up to him. He knew better than to mess with Caleb when I was around. He knew his butt would be kicked if he did anything. I should have known he did this.

"What did you do?" I yelled at him. He refused to look up. He didn't move at all.

"Troy, look at me!" Still no movement.

"TROY GOSH DARNET LOOK AT ME!" I screamed while shoving him over. Still nothing. "WHAT DID YOU DO TROY? WHY IS CALEB HURT? HELLO, ARE YOU DEAD?"

There was no reaction from him whatsoever. I reached down to where part of his face was exposed and slapped him. He flinched. Finally.

"I - I didn't mean to do it," he croaked.

"So you did do it. Why would you do this to him?" He didn't answer. I nudged him. Nothing. I gave up.

I grabbed my phone and dialed 911. Luckily someone did me a favor and made a makeshift tourniquet around Caleb's arms. He had already lost quite a bit of blood.

"911 what's your emergency?"

"Yes, hello I have an unconscious 12-year-old male with deep slits down his wrists. He has lost a lot of blood."

"Okay ma'am. Have you covered the wounds?"

"Yes we have. Please hurry!"

"We're on our way ma'am."

"Do you need the address?"

"No ma'am we tracked your phone and found your location. Sit tight, the paramedics are on their way."

"Okay."

"Ma'am is he breathing?"

"Yes but it seems labored. Are you almost here?"

"The paramedics are just around the corner. Please make sure there is enough room to fit a gurney to retrieve him."

"Trust me there is more than enough room."

"Alright ma'am the paramedics are outside for you. I am going to let you go. You're in good hands."

"Okay thank you for your help."

"You're welcome ma'am. Goodbye now."

The paramedics bursted through the door, followed by an angry Gladys. The men and one woman gently lifted Caleb onto the gurney and rushed him out the door, carefully carrying him down the stairs. The rest of the kids scrambled after them. Gladys approached me, looking quite upset.

"What the hell just happened?"

"Caleb is badly hurt, Gladys. For once can you look at what is important instead of grilling me about your responsibilities. This only happened because you left them alone. You know how rough the boys are on Caleb!" I was fed up her at this point. I was done holding back. I let everything flow out of me and just kept yelling at her, while she just stood there speechless and dumbfounded.