Unbroken Rules (Rules 3)

“I’m fine. I was in the back seat. I have no idea what happened. The car… it just came so fast, and I was texting. God, I don’t know.” He hyperventilates. “He just hit Dad’s side out of nowhere. They pulled me out in minutes. I was lucky, but…” He pauses. “Dad wasn’t.” I can’t even begin to imagine the horrific events he’s witnessed tonight. “They said they called Mom. But she’s not here. She should be here.”

“And the other driver?”

“I don’t know. It was a hit-and-run.”

“What?” I blurt.

“The police wouldn’t tell me anything after they interrogated me. Just kept on asking me if someone would have a reason to hurt Dad. I told them they were crazy.”

“But… who would do that?” Tears well in my eyes. I have to get a grip before I start spiraling. This is the police’s job. Not mine. “Forget it. How was he? How was Dad? What did he look like at the scene?”

“I barely had time to see him. They took him away in an ambulance, drove me here, and said to wait for mom. Then they told me they were taking him into surgery.”

This isn’t happening.

This isn’t real.

My dad is not in surgery. He’s home cooking dinner and reading the paper. He’ll call me pumpkin when I walk through the door and annoy me about how fast I’ve grown.

My father is fine.

He’s not in critical condition.

He’s not dying.

“Maybe Mom’s picking up Maika,” I say to convince myself.

“Bullshit. She’d be here by now. She knows about the accident. They called her. She doesn’t care, Winter.”

I always thought that Jaden not being related to my mother in any way played an important part in how close they were. He was so young when my mom and Harry got together, he eventually started to call her Mom since his actual mother passed away. And even if she’s a lot nicer to him than she is to me, she’s still never really shown him the love she shows Maika.

“What about your grandparents? Do they know?”

“They tried calling them, but they weren’t home. I wasn’t able to reach them either.”

“We need to try them again. Give me your phone.”

I snatch it from his hand, since I don’t have their number, and press Call. Claire, Harry’s mother, answers after a few rings. I inform her of the situation and ask her to go pick up Maika at her friend’s birthday party. She says that they’ll take care of it and be on their way to the hospital, but I can’t wrap my head around what they’ll say to my sister. How do you tell a five-year-old who still believes in happy endings and fairy tales that the worst thing that could’ve possibly happened… did?

HAZE

I’ve never understood how a mother could hate her own kid. How a parent, the one person a kid should always be able to turn to, could despise her own flesh and blood is beyond me. Lauren hates Winter—she made that clear. But I never thought she was heartless to the point of leaving her goddamn kid alone while her husband is fighting for his life.

It’s been several hours. Kendrick and Allie have been waiting with us for a while. Will, Kass, and Alex went to check Winter’s house in case Lauren showed her face. She never did.

Winter and Jay fell asleep with tears dangling off their eyes and their hearts on their sleeves. No sign of Lauren anywhere. We called her new job—nothing. I have no idea what she’s doing, but she better have the best excuse on the planet. I’ll only accept two reasons: she died or…

She died.

Yep, that summarizes it.

Winter had to deal with Jaden and Maika’s annoying-as-fuck grandparents, and it took everything in me not to punch their dentures out of their mouths. They don’t consider Winter to be family as Harry’s blood doesn’t flow through her veins. They wouldn’t even look at her, only paying attention to Jaden and Maika—like Winter isn’t about to lose her father, too.

Harry’s the only parent who deserves one hair on her head.

They took Maika home at around nine. They said they’d be taking care of her until we can get a hold of Lauren. No news from Harry either. He’s been in surgery for God knows how long, and I’m not sure if no news means good news or We don’t know how to tell you news. If Harry dies, Winter will lose it. And, chances are, she won’t even let me be there for her.

I jump out of my seat at the sight of the doctor heading our way. It’s up to me. Winter and Jay are asleep, and Allie and Kendrick went to get coffee. If he’s coming to tell me my girlfriend’s dad is dead—sorry, ex-girlfriend—I want to be the first to know so I can tell Winter. I don’t want her finding out that her only parent died from a stranger.