I grabbed the first aid box off the edge of the bed and pulled out the card for the hospital that had the number for the hospital. The doctor had told me if I ever needed anything, I should use that number as it would send me to an emergency line. This wasn't the type of emergency he had been talking about, but it was an emergency. Ryan handed me the phone and I dialed the number.

Ryan stood tensely to one side, and I chewed my bottom lip nervously as the phone rang and rang and rang. Just when I thought no one would pick up, there was a click and a man's voice asked, "Hello? St. Thomas Hospital."

I recognized the voice immediately as one of the other nurses who had attended to me during my stay at the hospital. I was thankful he was someone I knew. After a brief conversation about my injury needing to be looked at after an 'accident', I asked him for Ms. Silvia's number. He was reluctant at first, saying that it was against the hospital policy to give out employee information, but agreed to call her himself and give her the number I was calling from. I thanked him many times before he hung up and Ryan and I were forced to wait.

It felt like it took much longer than it should have before the phone rang again in my hand and I picked up quickly. "Hello?" I said.

"Hi, this is Silvia, a nurse from the St. Thomas Hospital. I was told this number called to get in contact with me." Silvia's voice came through and I relaxed. 

"This is Jacob, from the hospital," I said.

There was a split second pause before I got my reply. "Hey, Jacob. Is everything okay?" Silvia asked. She sounded worried.

"I need your help," I said, and started into the long explanation. "My mom is trying to kill my dad, and I can't get a hold of the police because they think it's a prank, and I had to climb out my window to get out of my house because I needed a phone. I'm at Ryan's right now, that's where I'm calling from and-"

Silvia had to stop me before I passed out from lack of oxygen from not breathing."Wow, slow down. Your mother us trying to do what?" she asked.

I took a deep breath and started over, slower this time with Ryan's hand rubbing my back. "My mom is trying to kill my dad. He's been saving up a lot of money and she found out and now she wants to kill him so she can have it all." I hoped Sylvia believed me. It sounded so far fetched that even I felt hesitation saying it out loud. "I think she's poisoning him or something," I said.

Sylvia didn't say anything for a couple seconds. Then, "Oh... kay...? I can call the police station from the hospital. They have a separate set of phones for hospital emergencies," she said. "But it will take me some time to get to the hospital."

"Please hurry," I said. "I don't know what my mom is planning to do."

Silvia began to reply when there was a sudden knocking from the downstairs front door. Ryan and I glanced at the door, then at each other. "Are your parents home?" I asked.

Ryan shook his head. "They're not supposed to be home until 8:00pm, besides they have their own keys. I don't have any friends coming over either," he said.

I started sweating. "Maybe it's a solicitor or something," I said hopefully.

"Hello?" Sylvia asked over the phone when she heard us whispering. "Is everything okay?"

"I don't know," I said.

Ryan stood up and I followed him to the door cautiously. There was another knock from downstairs, more violent this time, and we both hesitated. "Call the police as soon as you can," I told Sylvia. "Hurry." I told her the address to both mine and Ryan's houses and hung up to follow Ryan as he wandered out of the room.

When we reached the stairs, Ryan started down, but I grabbed his arm. "Wait. What if it's my mom?" I asked.

He glanced at the first floor landing. "Then we'll hold her here until the police get here," he said.

I shook my head. "You don't know my mom like I do. She wouldn't come alone," I said. "If she thinks she might get cornered, she'll have some form of a plan."

"Then we'll hold them all here," Ryan said.

I rolled my eyes. "Point for bravery, Ryan, but that's not going to work."

He hesitated, but seemed determined to open the door no matter what I had to say, so after taking a deep breath, he headed down anyways. I bit my lip in worry, lingering on the second floor momentarily before following him. We walked up to the door quietly and Ryan peeked out the curtain. His face paled a little at the sight and I looked over his shoulder. My eyes widened and I immediately grabbed Ryan's arm and tugged him away from the door. "We have to leave," I said quickly.

"But that's-" Ryan was going to say something, but another knock on the door cut him off as my mother's voice drifted through.

"I know you're there, Jacob," she called. "It's not that hard to find you."

A shiver went down my spine at the thought that she had found me so easily. I gave a desparate look to Ryan. "Please..." I pleaded. This wouldn't end well, I had seen it a hundred times before. My mother knew what she was doing.

But Ryan still frowned. "Jacob, your dad," he said.

"I know, but she won't hurt him if she thinks I'm going to tell on her," I said.

My mom was growing annoyed with waiting, her voice more cold when she spoke a second time. "Open the damn door, Jacob. This is useless," she said.

I glanced at Ryan nervously, but he seemed just as conflicted as I was. Save my dad or get out while we could. Neither option was ideal, but my mom knew that. She had planned for that, just as she planned and plotted for everything else.

I didn't want to, I actually loathed the idea, but I took one last look at the front door before I reached out with trembling hands and opened it a crack. My mother scowled down at me. "I knew I would find you here," she muttered before shoving the door open and pushing my half-dead-looking, passed out father, seated in my wheelchair, in the house with her.

My mother slammed the door behind her, oblivious to the fact that this was not her house. As she glared at me, she walked around my dad to stand in front of me. "Why can't you just stay out of my way?" she asked. "Everything would have been fine with Steven if you had just stayed put until I came to get you. Don't you understand anything?"

Her words clawed stripes down my already wavering resolve. Any sane person would find fault in every aspect of her reasoning, but I had grown up with this. When I disobeyed, whether her reason moral or not, I always regretted it. Ryan grabbed my hand for support, but it didn't help much. "Why can't you just leave us alone...?" I asked.

My mom reached out and slapped me before I even realized she was that close. I gasped in pain and stared at her in shock, putting a hand to the burning skin on my cheek. Ryan pulled me back and held me to him as she glared at me. "Don't talk back to me," she snapped.

Ryan glared daggers right back at her. "Touch him again and I'll kill you," he ground out.

I peeked over Ryan's shoulder to see my mom roll her eyes. "He's my son. I can discipline him if I want," she said. Ryan tried to defend me and say that her level of discipline was considered abuse, but she just shoved him aside. I stumbled away from her until back hit the wall. My mom stood over me. "You couldn't just keep your mouth shut?" she asked harshly. I cowered away and she raised her hand again. "Well, I'll teach you a lesson you won't soon forget," she hissed.

I closed my eyes tightly and prepared for the pain that I used to steel myself for almost daily, However, the pain I expected never came. I opened my eyes and looked up to see Ryan standing in front of me, his hand gripping my mom's wrist. He had grabbed her before she could hurt me. "I said not to touch him," he repeated with a dark tone.

Something was different about this Ryan, he wasn't the same one who had laughed with me at the arcade or told me to only look at him that first night we spent together. I couldn't see his eyes from where I was standing, but in a way, I was glad. They were probably burning with anger.

My mother seemed shocked, but she quickly regained her composure. "What gives you the right to stop me? I'm his mother," she said. She tried to pull her hand away, but Ryan's grip only tightened, unyielding.

He suddenly forced her back so she was away from me, his nails digging into her wrist. "Don't touch him," he said.

I frowned, stepping forward. "Ryan, stop," I urged. "I think that's enough-"

"Don't touch him!" Ryan suddenly exploded, his eyes narrowing on my mother. It was like he didn't even hear me. He slammed my mom into the wall behind her, barely missing my dad in the wheelchair. "You treat him like he's an object to throw around! How can you call yourself a mother? Your not even human!" he accused. My mom's eyes were wide with fright. She tried to say something, but Ryan cut her off by pulling her away from the wall and then pushing her back again hard. "How dare you lay your filthy hands on him."

I saw my mom begin to shake and I suddenly knew I had to do something. This was going too far and I had to stop it. I stepped towards them and placed a hand on Ryan's shoulder. "Please, calm down-"

Everything came to a slow stop as Ryan slapped my hand away the second it touched his arm. I stumbled back in surprise and he froze, turning to me quickly and forgetting all about my mother. His eyes grew wide when he realized what he had done and he released my mom to go to me. "Jacob," he said. "I'm so sorry, are you okay?"

Before I could answer, there was a firm knocking on the door and we both looked over as a voice shouted, "This is the police! Open the door or we'll break it down!"

My mom gasped and I rushed to the door to open it, forgetting to answer Ryan's question. Men in uniforms poured in and they held their guns up to us. Sylvia ran in behind all of them and rushed over to me. "Jacob! Are you okay?" she asked.

I hesitated with a glanced at Ryan who was looking away shamefully. "Yeah," I said.

She glanced at my mom. "Is that her?" she asked, her eyes going to my dad with concern.

"Yes," I said. "That's my mom."

She directed the men and they grabbed my mother who still looked to be in quite a shock from the past several minutes. My eyes shifted to Ryan and I saw he was looking at me; however, as soon as our eyes met he looked away again. I stepped towards him, but a police officer put a hand on my shoulder. "We need to get a statement," he said.

I hesitated. "Can't I do it later?" I asked.

"It's best you do it soon," he advised. "We're going to be busy with paperwork later."

With a sigh, I nodded and turned back to Ryan to tell him I would talk to him after. However, I stopped in my tracks when I saw he was gone. I looked around and my eyes landed on the back door. It was standing open, the edge of a jacket just disappearing around the corner.

*******

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