LOGINJeff's tires screeched as he pulled into the hospital parking lot, he abandoned his car in the fire lane and ran through the automatic doors. He had no idea why his heart was beating so fast, it felt like he was about to lose someone."Adrian Clark!" He gasped at the ER desk. "Where is he?"The receptionist's fingers flew across her keyboard. "Surgical prep area, through those doors and turn..."Jeff was already hurrying away and he burst through the double doors, his eyes swept the chaos of the prep area until he found her.Claire stood in the center of the room with a doctor in front of her, her face was white with tear stains on her cheeks.She was shaking so bad and was pleading with the doctor for something. Jeff could hear her voice breaking from across the room."Please, there has to be something!" Claire's voice was desperate. "Call more hospitals, call other states, there has to be someone with AB negative blood!""Ms. Clark, we've contacted every hospital within a hundred-mi
Claire's phone rang in the middle of her presentation and she ignored it the first time but then it rang again immediately and she suddenly had a strange feeling in her stomach.She excused herself and stepped out of the conference room with her heart already racing."Ms. Clark?" The voice on the other end was tight with urgency. "This is County General Hospital, your son Adrian was brought in by ambulance."Claire gasped and her world tilted. "What happened?""We've been calling you, there was an incident at school, he sustained a serious head injury and lost significant blood, you need to get here immediately."The phone slipped from Claire's hand and she caught it just before it hit the ground but she was already running toward the elevator.---The drive to County General was a blur of red lights she barely saw and turns she didn't remember making, her hands were shaking so badly on the wheel she had to grip harder to keep the car steady.How did Adrian get into an accident so ser
Zane sat at the detention table with a pencil in his hand but he wasn't writing anything because his chest felt tight, hot and angry.Adrian sat two tables away with his head bent over his paper and Zane's hands squeezed into fists so tight his nails hurt his palms because everything was bad now and it was Adrian's fault.Dad and Mom fought all the time and Dad looked at Zane like he was disappointed and had almost hit him, it was because of Adrian that he and his dad hadn't spoken for days until recently.His dad used to be his best buddy until Adrian came and everything Spoilt. Home does feel good anymore and even though he and his dad had reconciled for now, he was still angry with Adrian for turning his world upside down. The teacher stood up. "I need to step out for just a moment okay, keep working quietly."She left and the room got really quiet except for pencils moving. Zane stared at Adrian's bent head and the angry feeling got bigger and hotter in his chest. Now that the t
Claire had just come back from her grocery shopping and was about to get her grocery bags out of her car when she felt a presence behind her. She whirled around and her eyes met with Matt's wide grin."Well, well, well, look who we have here," he said with a gesture, "Claire in flesh and blood, back from the dead." He laughed and leaned against her gate with his arms crossed.Claire glared at him and her hands tightened on the bags because she remembered exactly who Matt was.He used to come to the house when she was Jeff's wife and talk down to her like she was nothing, make jokes about how she'd trapped Jeff into marriage, always siding with Irene.She raised her chin and squared her shoulders, "What are you doing here?""Just thought I'd check in on an old friend." Matt's smile was oily. "See how you're doing.""We were never friends." Claire's voice was ice. "And I don't have time for this."She turned to walk toward her door but Matt's next words stopped her cold."I know who Adr
Three days had passed since the fight at school and Zane still wouldn't look at Jeff.Breakfast was silent except for the scrape of spoons against bowls and Jeff watched his son push cereal around without eating and it hurts him to see his son this way knowing fully well that he was the cause of it.How could he allow himself to lose control so much that he had almost hit him?"Zane, you need to eat." Jeff's voice came out gentle but Zane kept picking his food without looking up."Buddy, please talk to me." Jeff pleaded, he had done everything possible these few days to make Zane talk to him but Zane just wouldn't budge, he had no idea that his son could be this stubborn.Jeff reached across the table but Zane pulled his hand back and stood up with his bowl still full, he walked to the sink, poured it out and left the kitchen without another word.Zane badly wanted to talk to his dad but his mom had told him that the only way to completely have his father's attention was not to talk t
Irene sat on Zane's bed watching him practice his handwriting and a satisfied smile played on her lips because her son was doing exactly what she'd taught him."You've been doing so well, baby." She stroked his hair. "Making Adrian look bad in front of everyone."Zane looked up at her with uncertainty in his eyes. "Really mama?""Yes baby." Irene's voice was firm. "That boy is trying to steal your father from you and you need to protect what's yours.""But mama, Adrian has a daddy now, maybe he won't go after my daddy again.""Let me tell you a secret Zane, that man is not Adrian real daddy, he just attended the father and son's day with him and I tell you that if you're not careful, he might steal your dad and call him his real daddy".Zane's eyes were wide."I won't let him do that, I will never allow him to steal my daddy, my daddy is mine alone" Zane replied fervently and Irene smiled."Keep doing what you're doing." Irene cupped his face. "Make sure everyone sees that Adrian is t







