Fracture (Unbreakable Bonds 6)

When he got to the hospital, it was to find his mother asleep in the waiting room. She had one of her colorful, pink sweatshirts on and her dark hair pulled up into a ponytail. He reined in his anger and worked to flatten his expression as he softly kissed her forehead. Her eyes opened, alarmed at first, then softening when she focused on him.

God, the thought of her knowing what had really happened to her son gutted him.

“You need to go home and rest,” he said, keeping his voice low. “I’ll sneak back and sit with him awhile.”

Anna’s lips quivered. “I’m afraid he’ll wake when I’m gone.”

“He’s not going to wake anytime soon. Please go home. Do you need me to call you a ride?”

“No, I’m okay to drive.” She stood. “The police still have no information. One of them came by earlier to see if he’d awakened to question him. They know nothing, Jude.”

“I know,” he said quietly. “But they will. We just have to be patient.”

“I’ll go, but I’ll be back early. You don’t stay too long either, okay?” She cupped his cheeks and came up on her toes to look him in the eyes. “Promise me, yie mou.”

“I promise.” He kissed her forehead again and she smiled tiredly as she picked up her purse and left the room.

The hushed atmosphere of the hospital at night washed over him and he walked back to his brother’s small room. His gaze skimmed over the monitors, noting there was still no change but that his heartbeat was steady and strong. He stared down at his brother, at the livid bruises mottling his pale face and the bandage around his head. They still had his neck immobilized. Now that Jude had seen the actual beating, he knew how they’d come to be, and his gut twisted.

A meaty fist snapped into his face and he cried out, his blood splattering the wall behind the bed.

Jordan trying to twist away from the man coming over him.

For the life of him, he couldn’t get those images out of his head and he knew that when Jordan woke, he’d be in for a world of emotional pain as well as physical.

Anger curled his hands into fists in his lap.

“I wish you could talk,” he whispered. “Wish you could tell me why you didn’t come to me for help when you needed it. When have I ever made you feel you couldn’t?” His voice broke and he cleared his throat. “What did you get yourself into, Jordan?”

His brother just lay there, breathing thankfully, but still.

Jude buried his face in his hands. He thought of the years after the Santa incident and how close they’d been after that. How he and Carrick had stepped in and done everything they could to help their single mother raise her youngest. Babysitting and driving him back and forth to practices. Jude had even paid for his brother’s braces. Jordan had been such a good kid, even later when he’d developed the usual teenage attitude. It had never gotten as bad as Jude knew it had with some of his friends.

His mind skipped into a memory.

It was right after Jordan’s sixteenth birthday, and Jude waited in the driveway of his mother’s house, hoping Jordan would be bringing the car back. He still lived at home, their place on a quiet street across from train storage buildings that were mostly hidden due to overgrown bushes. Moonlight shone down on the street, the only other light from the few streetlamps and glowing windows. He glanced up at the window of the house where his mother sat waiting for Jordan to come home, and he tried not to imagine him in an accident, but his paramedic job kept nightmare images in his mind.

Jordan pulled into the driveway and spotted him, a grimace twisting his features in the streetlamps. He sat in the car after turning it off, then released a visible sigh as he got out. He stood next to the car, hands in his pockets.

Jude stalked toward him. “You took Mana’s car. What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that I need wheels,” Jordan snapped. “I’m working and she won’t let me buy one, so I borrowed hers.”

“Without asking?”

“I asked. She was just…doing something and didn’t hear.” Jordan shoved his hands deeper into his pockets.

“Do you have any idea how worried she’s been? I got home, and it was the first thing out of her mouth. You just turned sixteen, and you think you’re ready to just take the car whenever you want?”

“There was a party—”

“Was there booze at this party?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t have any. Promise.” Jordan came close, dressed in a gray pullover and jeans. Since his usual outfit consisted of T-shirts, he’d obviously dressed up for a party. His hair was also neatly combed, so more than likely a girl had something to do with this. “Smell my breath, if you don’t believe me.”