“Her phone is turned off,” I mutter.

“Hopefully it didn’t get ruined in the creek when she was holding Seth’s leg,” Zack responds, glaring at me.

What the hell?

Before I can respond, the X-ray techs bustle into the room.

“We need everyone out, please.” A young woman with blond hair, dressed in blue scrubs, pulls a high-tech X-ray machine into the room and positions Seth for the images.

“What the hell, man?” I mutter to Zack, out of our parents’ earshot. He simply shakes his head and hurries back into Seth’s room when the tech leaves.

I try Cara’s cell again, and my stomach clenches in fear when it goes straight to voice mail.

Where the fuck is she?

Long minutes later, the doctor returns with a grim look on his face and dark gray X-ray films in his hands. He pushes them against a backlit frame on the wall and turns to face us.

“I’m afraid I don’t have fantastic news. You did a good job on that ankle, Seth.” The doctor points to the anklebone on the film. I’m no doctor, and even I can see that it’s severely broken. “See here where the bone is completely separated from itself? This isn’t something that can heal with just a cast. I’m afraid you’re going to need surgery, buddy.”

“Can you do that here?” Zack asks with a frown.

“Yes, we have an excellent orthopedic team. We’ll get him into surgery in about twenty minutes.”

“That’s fast,” Mom mutters with surprise.

“We have an OR available, and I want to get this set as soon as possible.” The doctor smiles reassuringly at a shocked Seth. “Don’t worry, you’re going to be fine.”

The nurse bustles in to prepare Seth for surgery, and before we know it, the anesthesiologist arrives.

“I want Cara,” Seth whimpers. “She said we were in this together.”

“I know, buddy. She’ll be here when you wake up.”

Seth is whisked to surgery, and Zack, Mom and Dad, and I are led to the surgical waiting room, where we pour horrible coffee and wait.

I dial Cara’s number again and curse when I get voice mail.

“Where the hell is she?” I ask the room at large.

“I wouldn’t have followed you here either,” Zack replies calmly, and grimaces when he takes a sip of his coffee.

“What the hell, man? What is your problem?”

“You were a dick to her today, Bro.”

“I was not.”

“What happened?” Dad asks as I scowl at all of them.

“You should have seen him at the creek.” Zack shakes his head and throws his untouched coffee into the trash. “She was doing everything right, and he snapped at her to get the hell out of his way.”

“I didn’t snap at her, and she wasn’t doing everything right. She put herself and Seth in danger, and she knew she was wrong.”

“Yeah, she screwed up. Who hasn’t? But she was doing everything right with Seth.”

I cross my arms over my chest to suppress the need to punch my brother and break his nose all over again.

“I get that you were panicked, but so was she, and you were a dick,” Zack repeats. “Before you got in the ambulance you told her you needed to go take care of your family. You made it pretty clear that Cara wasn’t included in that.”

“She was devastated,” Mom chimes in. “I didn’t want her to drive herself, but she insisted.”

“Fuck.” I push my hands through my hair and pace across the small space. “I didn’t mean that.”

“I know.” Mom smiles at me and pats my arm reassuringly. “You were worried about our boy. But you hurt your girl today.”

“Where is she?” I ask again, fear and anger growing in me. “If she promised Seth she’d be here, she should be here.”

“Go find her,” Zack suggests, lounging back in his chair and watching me calmly.

“I’ll wait until Seth is out of surgery.”

I pull my cell out and send Cara a text, just in case she turns her phone back on.

I just need to know that you’re safe, baby. Seth is in surgery. Please call me.

The following three hours drag in a blur of more bad coffee, pacing and sitting, and more pacing.

I continue to call Cara’s phone, getting more and more angry each time I hear her voice mail.

When I find her, I’m going to take her over my knee and spank her spectacular ass until it glows.

The surgeon finally walks into the room and smiles. “Mr. King?”

“There are three of us,” Dad tells him with a grin. “Zack is Seth’s father.”

“Seth is doing great. The surgery went well, and he’ll be moved to his room in about half an hour. He’s already coming out of the anesthetic. He’ll be in a cast for a while, and there won’t be any more swimming this summer, but he should be recovered by the time school starts.”

“Can I see him?” Zack asks anxiously.

“The nurse will come get you when he’s in his room.”

“Thank you,” we all murmur.

“Okay, go find your girl.” Mom grins at me and leans her head on Dad’s shoulder. “We’ve got things handled here.”

* * *

Her car is in the driveway, and my anger spikes again. She’s home, rather than at the hospital as she promised.

She belongs with us.