Chapter 5

The moment Arthur's panicked shouting came through the phone, Evan jolted upright in bed. "Dad? What blood donation? Who's forcing Mom to donate blood?"

"Queenie! I was worried about you two after you left yesterday, so I followed you. I called Queenie, and she told me to bring your mom to the hospital to find her. As soon as we got here, she started forcing your mom to donate blood for some man! I'm not saying I don't want your mom to help, but she's getting on in years. She can't do this!" Arthur cried.

Evan's heart clenched hard, and his mind went blank. Queenie was forcing his mother, Grace Bronson, to donate blood to Joel?

She was insane!

Grace was already 62—way past the age where anyone should be giving blood. On top of that, she wasn't the healthiest. The doctor had said that she absolutely couldn't donate blood.

Without a second's hesitation, Evan jumped in the car and tore off toward the hospital. He was still running a fever, but he couldn't care less. He sped like a madman, blew through three red lights, and reached the hospital in under ten minutes.

When he got there, Arthur was on his knees in the hallway, clutching Queenie's pant leg and pleading with her. "Queenie, for Evan's sake, don't force Grace to donate blood! She's old. Her body can't take it!"

"Mr. Sutherland, it's not like I want to force her. Blame Evan for this. He's the one who pushed Joel to jump and suffer major blood loss. I called Evan over and over, but he wouldn't pick up. I know Mrs. Sutherland has Joel's rare blood type. Don't worry—I won't take that much. Just 2 pints."

Arthur almost blacked out on the spot. "2 pints? She can't handle that!"

No matter how much he begged, Queenie wouldn't budge an inch.

Evan finally got it. All those calls last night weren't because Queenie and Colin had realized they were wrong and wanted to apologize. They hadn't been trying to patch things up. Instead, they'd wanted him to give Joel his blood.

"Dad, get up! Stop begging her!" Evan rushed forward and hauled Arthur up.

"Evan, beg her! Beg Queenie to stop!" Arthur sobbed, his eyes swollen from crying.

Evan's own eyes burned red as he stared at Queenie. "Where's my mom?"

Her gaze went ice-cold the moment she saw him. "She's inside, donating blood."

"Inside, huh?" Evan stalked to the door and pounded on it like a man possessed. "Open up! Open the door! My mom didn't agree to this! She's 62 years old. She can't donate blood, let alone 2 pints! This is attempted murder! Open the damn door!"

He hit the door with everything he had, fists slamming so hard that the frame rattled.

Colin couldn't take it anymore and hurried over to pull him back. "Evan, stop! Joel's in there getting emergency treatment. You're gonna distract the doctors! Do you want him to die in there?"

"So his life counts, but my mom's doesn't? Do you have any idea what 2 pints means for an old woman? My mom was always good to you, Colin. Have you forgotten all about that? And now you're taking some stranger's side over hers…" Evan's voice cracked, the rest of his words dying in his throat.

He went right back to slamming on the door. "Open up! Open the door, or I'm calling the cops! I'll make sure this hospital gets shut down!"

"That's enough!" Queenie strode over and grabbed his arm in a hard, punishing grip. "Are you done causing a scene? If it weren't for you, would Joel have jumped? If it weren't for you, he wouldn't even need a transfusion right now.

"Instead of trying to make things right, you're actually trying to stop your mom from saving him? You really are cold-blooded!"

Evan was already weak from his fever. Her sudden yank sent him stumbling back a few steps before he crashed to the floor.

Arthur saw him go down and snapped. He lunged at Queenie. "Don't you lay a hand on my son, Queenie! You came to my house swearing you'd treat him well for the rest of your life. It's barely been a few days since then! Why are you doing this? Who the hell is that man in there?"

"Dad, drop it." Evan gritted his teeth and pulled out his phone. "I'm calling the police. I'll make them pay for this!"