Jason felt indignant, about to retort—
Bzzz, bzzz…
Suddenly, my phone rang loudly in the bedroom.
Jason glanced at the clock on the wall. It was already after two in the afternoon.
“Weird… Mom went out without her phone? It’s way past lunch and she’s still not back…”
He walked to Emily’s door, hesitated, then knocked.
“Sis? Sis! What do you think happened to Mom? Could something really have happened?”
From inside came Emily’s sharp, impatient shout.
“Shut up already! What could possibly happen?”
Seconds later, she yanked open the door, her face twisted with frustration at being interrupted.
“She probably got pissed this morning seeing me play on my phone. She stormed out to play the runaway act, that’s all! Who’s she trying to scare?”
“Forget her. Once she calms down, she’ll crawl back tonight.”
Before Jason could reply, she slammed the door shut again.
Left in the hallway, Jason opened his mouth, then said nothing.
I don’t know how much time passed before I woke again, ripped out of darkness by searing, unbearable pain.
Each breath tugged at broken ribs, my organs felt displaced and crushed.
No—I couldn’t die like this.