I hear shouting coming from my dad's office, and the second I recognize the voice, I'm on my feet, rushing into the room. When I get inside the room, it takes my brain to register what's happening. I thought I'd seen Bryant angry before, but my dad is pinned to the ground underneath him, covered in blood, and Bryant is continuously pulling his fist back and hitting him.

My dad is pleading with him to stop. My dad is pleading with him to stop. That's the most difficult part of the situation to comprehend. I've been on the receiving end of Bryant's anger, and I've been on the receiving end of my dad's. Never in a million years did I think Bryant was capable of taking my father in a fist fight.

Sure, I've seen him fly off the handle, and sure, I've been laid out by his fist a couple of times, but watching him beating on my dad makes one thing solidify in my mind. All those times I thought Bryant lost his temper were an illusion. Until today, I had never really seen the guy let his temper have full reign.

I'd be lying if I said this version of the guy isn't terrifying.

The thing is, he's not stopping. I really have no interest in being in the middle of whatever this is, but if he doesn't stop, he's going to kill my dad. I don't have time to. Think about whether I'd be upset about him being gone. My instincts finally kick in when my brain connects the dots between killing and bad.

I rush across the room to where Bryant slams his fist into my dad's already bloody and swollen face. My dad stops pleading with him then, and my heart drops when I realize it's because he lost consciousness.

"Bryant!" I shout at him as he pulls his fist back again.

It's like he doesn't even hear me. His mom chooses that moment to walk into the room, and she starts sobbing hysterically begging Bryant to stop. I try again.

"Bryant! You're going to kill him," I shout.

For a second I think I've gotten through to him because he stops throwing punches, but then Bryant starts kicking my father's unconscious form. That's when I decide it's time to take drastic measures. I step into his personal space, and I grip him by the shoulders, forcing him to look at me. When he sees it's me, his expression doesn't soften, but he does seem to come out of his trance a bit.

He looks down at my eyes, and I see the moment his brain defogs enough for him to recognize what he just did. He takes two steps away from my dad, and shakes his head. I step back with him, trying to keep his focus on me. He only stares straight through me, but at least his eyes aren't on the mess he just made.

"I told you not to tell him," he growls at me before shoving my shoulders backwards.

I nearly trip over my dad, and I spend the next few seconds trying to catch my balance. Bryant storms out of the room mumbling something to his mom on his way out about his dad, and he says something that sounds a lot like hospital.

The good news is, my father is alive. The bad news is, prisons are difficult places to get information on your loved ones from, so I don't know much more than that. I'm losing my mind with not knowing, and I'm losing my mind with knowing what I just did.

It's going to make things worse for my dad. That's the thought that keeps playing over and over again through my head. Even if by some miracle Holland decides not to press assault charges on me, it won't matter. He's going to take it out on my dad, and then my dad really will be dead.

That is, if he even makes it through whatever the hell Holland has already put him through. The unknown is pure torture, and what's worse is that I'm trapped here. I can't leave without a car. I have no interest in talking to Jasper. I have no interest in much of anything, but every second I spend in this house makes it harder for me to breathe.

I'm in my room with the door closed. Nobody has tried to come in here since I stormed off. I'm guessing Kyle is pissed at me for shoving him, though even as the thought flits through my brain, I'm fairly sure that assessment of the situation is more about self-preservation than accuracy. Truth is, Kyle has probably already forgiven me for shoving him. Thing is, I don't know if I can forgive the guy if something happens to my dad. Sure, I've recently decided that saying I care about him might be an understatement of epic proportions, but I don't love Kyle more than I love my dad, and Kyle put my dad in harm's way when he lied to me about telling Holland he knew.

Three sharp knocks on my door cause my head to go a little fuzzy with anxiety. It's been ten minutes since I lost it, and Kyle and my mother, have surprisingly both given me space to cool down. This is the end of that, and I'm not ready.

Turns out, whether I'm ready or not, it doesn't matter. Kyle steps into my room without a response from me indicating he should, and he shuts the door behind him.

"He's at Melview Hospital. He was stabbed twice last night, and the prison sent him there for emergency surgery to repair the damage. He was unresponsive on intake, and he was in critical condition for most of the night, but the doctors managed to stabilize him. He's fully responsive now, and in stable condition. The doctors say he should make a full recovery," Kyle tells me.

Fuck.

"He's okay now," Kyle says the words like they're meant to be reassuring, and there's a part of me that is reassured, but there's another part of me that knows my dad had one of the worst nights of his life because of me.

"That's supposed to make me feel better about putting him through that? Is it also supposed to make me forget you played a massive role in that?" I snap at him, narrowing my eyes at him.

He flinches. He takes two hesitant steps deeper into my room. It's brave of him. After what he just witnessed, I would think he'd want to keep his distance, especially when I'm not being entirely successful in my attempts to quell my anger where his part in this is concerned.

"You didn't put anyone through anything," he tells me, "It's 99% my dad's fault and 1% mine, and you can argue that with me until you're blue in the face, you won't change my mind."

I don't bother arguing with him. He can argue with me until he's blue in the face, and it won't change my mind. My dad is in the hospital because of my moment of weakness when I told Kyle about the situation.

Kyle doesn't say anything further on it, and I'm thankful for that. At the end of the day, he holds a lot less responsibility than his dad does, but there's still blame to be placed on his shoulders. He told me he wouldn't go to his dad, and he did.

"I'm not going to try to convince you to forgive my actions. I know I lied to you, and I know I owe you an apology for that, but right now, I'm more interested in what I can do for you now," he says.

I glare at him.

"What you can do for me now that my dad is in the hospital as a result of your actions?" I ask him.

He jerks his head in a single nod. There's something about his hesitant behavior that has me thawing towards him. He knows I'm mad, and he knows it's justified. Yet he's still in here trying to help. After what he witnessed, I doubt being here is easy. I scrub my face with my hands, and I attempt to take a breath.

"There's not much you can do."

Kyle sits down beside me on the bed where I have my legs dangling off the side. He takes my hand in his just like he did when I was telling him about my dad in the first place.

"He'll be okay," Kyle mumbles.

I wish I could say I believe that right now. I just flew off the handle, and I'm positive my dad is going to face the repercussions of that.

"Maybe," I mumble.

Despite my frustration with Kyle, I'm sure his intentions were good when he went to his dad. He's saying he knows he owes me an apology. I don't have it in me to call him on the fact that his actions might have been the first domino in the chain that will inevitably lead to Holland putting a hit on my dad the second he gets back to the prison. It's not his fault. I'm not so angry that I'm willing to make that leap, but had Kyle not told Holland, things might be different now.

"We'll figure out how to make sure he'll be okay," Kyle says, "right now we need to get you a lawyer."