Page 87 of Blackout

The words that make the faces of everyone you love flash before your eyes.

It’s the words that steal your breath.

The words that you know will change everything.

“I tried calling your father, but fuck—I don’t know if he’s turned himself in yet. They’re taking them to the hospital…it’s fucking bad and I don’t know what to do. They’re cutting her out of the car now and Danny is—shit, the kid is a mess. No one is answering their phones. Not your father or your husband. Not even my fucking old man.”

My eyes snap open.

Cutting her out of the car.

The kid is a mess.

No. No. No.

“Lacey, tell me what to do,” he half shouts, half pleads.

Picturing my brother’s face, I force my eyes to open and drag in a deep breath. I ignore my trembling hands and remind myself of the promises I made to both myself and my father. If there was ever a time for me to step up and be the woman he raised, it’s now.

“Stay with Danny,” I blurt, reaching behind me to cup the back of my neck. “Don’t leave his side, Nico.” Pulling open the door, I hurry outside. I don’t stop to bother with the locks. I just keep moving, making my way towards the car.

“Ask the paramedics what hospital they’re transporting them to, and I will meet you there.”

Nico does what he’s told as I slide behind the wheel and start the engine. A million scenarios and every possible injury race through my mind as I wait for him to tell me where to go. When he gets back on the phone, he tells me the name of the hospital and I peel out of the driveway. Before I get the chance to ask him what happened, he reveals his father is beeping in and quickly disconnects the call.

Lost in my thoughts, I try to keep it together, but the tears come quickly and I’m unable to keep them at bay. If I was a religious person, today would be the day I lose faith. How could there be a God in a world like this, where a single family suffers so much tragedy? It’s fucking impossible and you know what else it is, it’s a damn shame.

Slamming my fist against the steering wheel, I blink through my tears and honk the horn. Yeah, there definitely is no God. If there was, I’d like to think there would be no traffic on the Staten Island Expressway when I’m trying to get to the damn hospital so I can be with my little brother who is probably scared out of his mind right now.

After thirty-five minutes the traffic finally clears, and it takes me another fifteen minutes to get to the hospital. Finding parking in Brooklyn is another nightmare and by the time I finally find a spot I’m a hysterical mess. Knowing I can’t let Danny see me like this, I wipe my eyes and count to ten before charging into the emergency room.

Entering the hospital, my feet come to a skidding halt at the nurse’s station. The blonde behind the desk lifts her head and meets my gaze, raising a perfectly arched eyebrow.

“Can I help you?”

“Yes, my brother and stepmother were in an accident and brought here for treatment. Reina and Danny Parrish?”

“Ah, yes,” she says, not bothering to look them up in the computer. Confused, I watch as she stands and tips her chin towards the left.

“Follow me,” she says as she rounds the desk. Thankful to not have hit another roadblock, I let her lead me through the triage unit of the E.R. “You’ll be happy to know he’s been discharged.”

Discharged?

He’s a minor with one parent being carted off to prison as we speak and another who was just cut out of a car. I think it’s safe to say Reina’s injuries are probably a bit more complex. There’s no way she’s been discharged too. Anger rages inside me at the possibility that Danny has been released to some stranger and I freeze in my tracks.

“Hold it,” I say. “What do you mean he’s been discharged? Who the hell did you discharge him to?”

Glancing over her shoulder, she looks at me as if I’ve lost my mind. Which is pretty fitting because the words that come out of her mouth next make me wonder if I have.

“Why your father, of course.”

And just like that, the script is flipped…

Again.

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