I glared over at my cell when it started up for the fourth time as I walked back out of the bathroom. Moving over to the nightstand, I looked at the screen and tapped the green button.
“Hey, Mom,” I answered.
“Eli! Oh my God, Eli!”
Everything in my body jolted as her screams came through the phone. “Mom! What happened?”
“Your dad—hospital—you need—please!” she choked out between sobs.
“Mom, try to calm down and tell me what happened.” Turning around, I ran through my apartment and grabbed my keys and wallet before running out the door and to my truck as she tried to tell me about Dad.
“His car exploded at the house. I was out of the city having breakfast with my sister! He—he’s at the hospital, you need to be there for him! There’s so much traffic, and I can’t get there!” she screamed.
“Pull over until you can calm down, I’m already on my way.”
“No, I need to be there!”
“Mom!” I barked, and waited for her hysteria to calm. “Take deep breaths, he’s going to be okay. But you need to be okay too, so try to stay calm so you can get yourself there, all right?”
She whimpered and sniffled, but didn’t respond otherwise.
“What do you mean exploded?”
“Just . . . just exploded. Blew up. In the driveway.”
I blinked slowly. Exploded? That shit happens in movies. “Was he in it?”
“Walking toward it.”
“Thank God,” I whispered, but my mind wouldn’t shut off. Seriously. That’s movie shit. “All right, I’m on my way, just try to stay calm. I’ll call you when I see him.”
Ending the call, I drove as fast as Friday morning traffic would allow me to the hospital, and was quickly taken back to where my dad was. Fear flooded my veins and weakened my knees the closer we got to his room. I didn’t know what to expect, I didn’t know if he was in a coma, I just didn’t know anything.
“What the hell happened?” I asked, my tone coated in relief when I saw him sitting up in the hospital bed.
“You’re asking the wrong person. Is your mom okay?”
I shot him a look and sighed as I sat in the chair next to the bed. “Not even close, but she’s on her way. You don’t look anything like what I was afraid I’d find.”
He laughed shakily. “Just some scratches and a bump on my head from where I hit the walkway. I mainly can’t stop shaking and my ears are still ringing.”
“Christ . . . you scared me, old man.” I squeezed his outstretched hand and called Mom.
“Eli?” she answered frantically.
“He’s fine. I’m sitting with him now. He’s just a little shaken up.”
She breathed a deep sigh of relief. “Oh, thank God!”
“Yeah.”
“Tell him I love him and I’m on my way.”
I looked up at my dad to see him smiling, and I knew he could hear her. “Will do, see you soon.” Once I ended the call, I sat back again and rubbed my hands over my face. “She said you were walking out to your car?”
Dad blinked quickly. “The alarm went off on my car . . . I figured someone hit it with the newspaper or something. I tried turning it off with the key fob inside the house, and when it didn’t stop, I walked outside. I was about”—he thought for a second—“halfway down the walkway to my car when it just blew up. I have no idea what happened, and I was never knocked unconscious, but I was out of it. Everything was so loud and just shaky. I still—I still can’t believe that just happened. It doesn’t feel like real life.”
“I was thinking that,” I said gruffly. “Sounds like something you see in movies.”
There was a knock on the door, and two police officers walked in. “Mr. Jenkins, I’m sorry, but we had a few more questions.”
I patted my dad’s arm and stood. “I’m gonna go make a call.”
Walking out of the room, I fell back against the wall and dropped down to the floor, letting out a shaky breath as I ran my hands through my hair. He was alive, he was fine . . . but there had been so much adrenaline pumping through my body that was now quickly fading, that I felt like I was about to crash.
And I needed Paisley.
Grabbing my phone out of my pocket, I pulled up her number and stared at it for long minutes. Just as I started to press down, I heard my name being called. Looking to my left, I saw my mom jogging down the halls and stood to meet her. She had makeup streaming down her face, and her body shook as she cried against my chest.
“Is he okay?”
“Yeah, there are officers in there talking to him.” Shoving my phone back in my pocket, I turned her toward the room. “Come on, let’s go in there.”
I JERKED AWAKE when I heard a scream early the next morning. It was still pitch black in the room and outside the window, and it took me a second to realize where I was. It wasn’t until I heard my mom and dad yelling loudly that I remembered I’d stayed at their house in case Dad needed anything. They didn’t know why his car had blown up, but that shit didn’t just happen out of nowhere, so I’d also wanted to be here in case anything like it happened again.
Scrambling off the bed and out of my old bedroom, I ran toward their room and nearly broke the door off the hinges when I didn’t twist the knob enough and threw all my weight into it.