~ Adeline ~

"I know medicine."

The boy's little body is small and white on the ground, blood seeping under him in a red streak.

The smell hits me as I move closer. His father is kneeling beside him, hands trembling, voice slicing through the commotion. "Help him—someone, please!"

I retreat a few steps, gaping. He is about seven or eight. His chest is not rising at all. His lips are blue. The angle of his leg is off, bent at an impossible angle, but it is the stillness that desiccates my ...