Unbroken Rules (Rules 3)

I frown. “What?”

My phone rings.

Annoyed, I pull it out of my pocket, about to send the call straight to voicemail, but the number on my screen stops me.

My brother.

“I’m sorry, I have to take this.” I flip the screen over to him, and he nods. I pick up. “Jay?” I expect this to be a butt-dial since Jaden never, as in ever, calls me.

“Winter?” I immediately know something’s wrong by his tone.

I hear distant voices in the background. He’s in a crowded room. Sniffles? Is he crying?

“Winter, you have to get here. Mom isn’t anywhere. I don’t… I don’t know where she is. They said they called her. Please hurry.”

“Where are you? What’s going on?”

“I’m at the hospital.” His voice is shaky.

At the hospital.

Hospital.

I replay the word in my head a million times.

“What? Why are you at the hospital?”

Muffled cries fill my ears. He’s barely holding it together.

“It’s Dad.”

My stomach flips.

“He got into a car accident. They don’t know if he’s going to make it.”

20

Explanation

“What the hell is going on? Winter, talk to me!” Haze follows closely as I rush to the exit of Vic’s hellhole. So many questions without an answer. How did Jay end up at the hospital? Why isn’t my mother with her kid? How did the accident occur? Why do the worst things happen to the best people?

“Winter, stop!” Haze has to smack his palm to the closed door to stop me from opening it. “What did he say to you?”

“It’s my dad. He’s been in an accident. It’s bad. Really bad.” The tears keep spilling down my cheeks uncontrollably. I’m in shock, empty, the shell of a heart—cold and broken. “Jay’s alone in the waiting room. I have no idea how he got there, but my mom is a no-show. Maika’s at a birthday party today. She has no idea. I just… I’m sorry. I have to go.”

“I’m coming with you.” He runs back to his room and comes out with a shirt on, his coat hanging off his arms, and his keys. “I’ll drive you.”

I don’t oppose. No time for that. I just dash out of the building with Haze on my heels. Plus, I am not okay to drive right now. I’ll run every red light and hit every old lady crossing the street if I do.

Not knowing. It’s maddening. The traffic isn’t too bad, but the drive still feels so excruciatingly long it makes me want to scream out in rage. Haze and I don’t exchange a single word on the way there, both asking ourselves the same question: Is he going to make it?

Haze drops me at the entrance, telling me to go in while he finds a parking spot. My breathing is unsteady, my palms sweaty, my heart beating out of my chest as I push through the motion on the way to the emergency room. I feel like I’m going to collapse when I see Jaden sitting alone with tears spilling down his face. I run to him, and as soon as he sees me, his eyes flash with relief. It doesn’t even take a second. He launches himself into my arms. I hold him tighter than ever before.

“It’s okay. I’m here,” I whisper, and he sobs harder. “What happened? How did you get here?”

“I was in the car with him.”

“Oh my God, are you okay?” I examine him like a crazy person, and he nudges my hands away.