Keith felt as though his skin would burst soon if he couldn’t release some of the tension clawing at his insides. Hours had passed since Sara took off with Molly in her car, and he hadn’t heard a word from her since. The police had shown up about fifteen minutes later, and after Keith explained the situation, promised to keep him posted if they found the women. Why did he drive away and leave Sara to deal with Molly on her own? Why had he stupidly told her not to come back?

He’d only driven around the block before returning to his house, already worried and feeling guilty for what he’d said to Sara. Instead of giving her an ultimatum, which he now realized put her into an impossible position, he should have tried to reason with her. If nothing else, he could have stalled until the cops showed up, but asking her to choose between two people she cared about, even if he didn’t think Molly deserved Sara’s caring, was something Sara just couldn’t do on the spot. He knew that about her. In fact, it was part of what he loved about her. She cared so deeply for her loved ones, that she was loyal even in the face of her own loss. It was also a part of her she needed to work on. Putting other people’s needs above her own was definitely a problem he would be addressing, if she ever came back and forgave him for his harsh words.

They were supposed to go to his brother’s for Christmas dinner, but with Sara out there somewhere with Molly he decided to stay home and wait to hear from her. Not wanting him to sit alone, Kevin and Angie had offered to bring everything over to his house and had arrived just a few minutes ago. Gina and Derek came too, though his father said he didn’t want to be in the way and went home with a plate instead. That was Dad code for ‘couldn’t deal with the stress’, but that was fine with Keith. He didn’t want his father to become upset if things didn’t turn out well. Losing his wife so many years ago made his father particularly sensitive to the loss of a loved one, though if you said that to his face he’d knock you out.

Right now Gina and Angie were putting everything for dinner in the oven and Derek had just made a call to a friend of his who was a detective. That guy had friends everywhere, and Keith was thankful Derek didn’t hesitate to reach out to them for help when needed.

“What did he say?” Keith asked as soon as Derek hung up. The side of the conversation he’d been able to hear hadn’t given many clues, with a lot of yeses and noes on Derek’s part once he’d explained the situation.

“He’s going to look into it and see what he can find out. He didn’t want to at first because you’re not related, but I explained that you were living together and she really didn’t have anyone else to look out for her other than a grandmother in a nursing home,” Derek said, looking grim.

“That’s good, right?” Keith asked and Derek nodded in response. “Then why do you look like that? What else did he say?”

“I don’t know how to say this to make it sound better, but Max was familiar with Molly. Apparently the people she hangs around with are no good, man.” Derek paused and gave Keith a meaningful look. “Like the worst kind of no good.”

“Shit! Why the hell did I let her leave with Molly?” Keith knew the situation was not good, but he hadn’t let himself contemplate Sara being in actual physical danger. That dark idea had lurked in the back of his mind since she left, but he’d focused on the more likely scenario—that she hadn’t come back simply because he’d told her not to. Hearing from Derek that Molly was known to the police and more dangerous than Keith ever imagined made him sick. “I can’t believe I told her not to come back without even thinking it through.”

He made that rash ultimatum based on hurt feelings. And mistrust, which he later found out was completely misplaced. When he called Sara’s grandmother to see if she’d perhaps gone back to visit with her rather than come home, he discovered the truth. Sara had been lying, but not to him. It seems she’d kept Molly’s pregnancy and Carter’s birth from Grandma, worried that it would affect her recovery from the stroke. So she hadn’t been able to tell Grandma about who Carter and Keith were until she confessed to her original lie. It wasn’t good, but it also wasn’t the nefarious purpose Keith had assumed. She wasn’t plotting with Molly to get in Keith’s good graces so Molly could steal Carter. She was trying to protect her grandmother from the stress of Molly’s bad decisions. It was misguided, but not malicious.

“Why doesn’t everyone come and make a plate while we wait for Derek’s friend to call back?” Angie called from the kitchen, breaking the silence that followed his questions. No one had any answers for him, and his friends knew better than to try to convince him that everything was going to be all right.

The last thing Keith wanted to do was eat Christmas dinner not knowing where Sara was and if she was okay, but it would keep him busy for a few minutes and maybe by the time they were done they’d have some news.

He barely tasted the ham and cheesy potatoes he knew Angie and Gina had worked hard on, shoving the fork in his mouth without even paying attention to what it held, but at least he managed to get some food in his stomach, the first since that morning, and thank them for their effort. He couldn’t even bring himself to look at the desserts Sara made the other day as their contribution to the meal. She’d worked so hard on the pies and cookies, and he’d even helped her roll out the dough and frost the cut-out stars and trees. She’d joked that he ate more than he actually frosted, but didn’t seem to mind at all, laughing when he ended up with a stomachache at the end. Even Carter enjoyed himself, though that probably had more to do with the unfrosted cookie Sara gave him to keep him occupied while she baked.

If something happened to her and they never had another chance to make memories like that again, when Carter could actually remember what a wonderful, sweet person she was… Keith didn’t know what he’d do.

His depressing train of thought was interrupted by the doorbell.

“Who would that be on Christmas?” his brother asked. “Were you expecting anyone?”

“Just Sara,” he replied, hoping he hadn’t ruined things to the point where she wouldn’t even use her key in the door.

Kevin beat him to it, mostly because Keith couldn’t seem to make his feet move. He watched as Kevin spoke to someone for a second, definitely a man and not Sara, before letting him in. Keith didn’t recognize the person, but unfortunately, Derek knew exactly who he was.

“Max! What are you doing here? I thought you were going to call,” Derek asked when he approached the man and shook his hand. “Is everything okay?”

It was a dumb question since everyone knew the detective wouldn’t have shown up on Keith’s doorstep on Christmas if everything was fine. Angie and Gina came out of the kitchen at that moment and joined the group of men, who all stood staring at Max, waiting for his answer.

“I’m sorry to show up unannounced, but I was in the neighborhood so I figured I’d save myself a phone call.”

Keith caught himself before calling bullshit, since he knew that the man was trying to be nice. His heart wanted to throttle Max and demand he just tell them whatever he’d come over to say and skip the pleasantries.

Derek began to respond, but Keith cut him off. “Do you know something about Sara? Where is she?” he demanded, uncaring that he was speaking to a police officer. He’d been waiting for information for hours and couldn’t take it anymore.

To his credit, Max didn’t get upset or flustered at Keith’s blatant disrespect. “Yes, I do. She was involved in an accident earlier today and is in the hospital.”

Angie and Gina let out shocked gasps at the same time Kevin and Derek both cursed, but Keith stayed focused on the man in front of him. “What happened? Is she okay?”

“I spoke to the responding officer on my way over and he said that he spotted Miss Saunders’ car driving erratically on the expressway and attempted to pull her over. When he was able to get closer he saw the reason why she’d been driving all over the road—her passenger was striking her on the head and arms while Miss Saunders was driving. It’s incredible that she didn’t hit any other cars while this was happening. It took a few minutes, but eventually she exited the expressway at Fillmore Avenue and began to slow down like she was going to comply.” Max recited the facts one by one, without any extra useless information. Keith appreciated that, but it took him a minute to process everything Max had said.

“So she pulled over and they arrested Molly and she’s in the hospital because Molly was hitting her when she was driving?” Keith asked, confused. That didn’t sound like an accident. It didn’t sound good, but the actions Max described didn’t match the look on his face.

“No, it appears that the passenger protested Miss Saunders stopping for the officer and continued to assault her, to the point where she forced Miss Saunders’ foot onto the gas pedal. Twice.” Max paused, for the first time appearing hesitant to continue. “The end result is that the car accelerated at a rapid rate and ended up colliding with a nearby building.”

Keith could tell Max was leaving part of the story out, but what he was saying was terrible enough that Keith didn’t bother asking for more. “Is she okay?” he asked again.

“She’s at County Hospital, but the officer didn’t have a recent update on her condition, though he said when they took her in, her injuries didn’t appear to be life threatening.”

Didn’t appear life threatening? There was a lot of room between completely fine and not life threatening, much of it very scary to contemplate. And with that vague answer Keith was done asking questions. He needed to see Sara for himself.

“Angie, can you stay here with Carter?” he asked, knowing his brother wouldn’t be left behind.

“Of course, Keith,” she replied instantly.

“Gina, stay here with your sister,” Derek said. “I’m going to go with them. One of my old college classmates is a doctor at County. He might be helpful if they give us a hard time about getting information.”

Keith didn’t wait to hear anything anyone else had to say. Carter was taken care of for the time being so his primary concern was getting to Sara. He had his boots and coat on and was out the door in less than a minute. If Derek wanted to come and could help, he’d be grateful, but he wasn’t going to let anyone slow him down.

“Keith, get in my truck,” his brother yelled after him. “I’ll drive.”

“Fine, just hurry up,” he replied without looking back. He’d probably get them in an accident on the way to the hospital anyway with the adrenalin coursing through his veins right then. How could this have happened? How badly was Sara hurt? Would she ever forgive him for driving away and leaving her to deal with her piece of shit cousin on her own?

It took twenty minutes to get to County Hospital and Keith spent the entire time wondering what he would find when they arrived. He alternated between visions of Sara sitting up in bed, smiling at him when he walked into the room, to ones where he found her flat on her back, unconscious and attached to machines. Even though the officer said her injuries weren’t life threatening when they took her in, anything could have happened since then. Or he could have been wrong and not known the extent of her injuries since he wasn’t a fucking doctor. Hell, Sara could be dead right now.

“Keith, Keith!” His brother shook his shoulder to get his attention. “Stop thinking whatever you were just thinking right now. We’re here. Let’s get out of the truck.”

Keith looked around and found Derek already standing on the ground, peering back up at him with concern. “I’m okay,” he reassured them as he slid out. He needed to get control of himself, prepare himself for any possibility, before he walked inside.

“Are you ready?” Kevin asked when they met at the front of the truck.

“I’m as ready as I can be.” It wasn’t a great answer, but it was the only one he had right now. Luckily his brother didn’t try to lecture him, just gave him a pat on the shoulder and led the way inside.

All Keith knew for certain was that no matter what he found, he’d never let Sara face anything on her own ever again.