Reek and Saint dragged Kodi out of the driver’s seat together. Kodi’s body hung heavily between them. His head rolled. One of his arms dragged across the pavement.
At the same time, Sincere’s voice exploded with panic. “This harness strap of the car seat is stuck! Her car seat won’t move! I can’t get it through the window!”
My stomach dropped so hard it made me dizzy.
Saint roared, “Get the baby out now! This bitch about to blow!”
Reek dragged Kodi farther back, but his eyes stayed on Sincere. “Bro, move! Move now!”
Everybody started yelling at once.
“Sincere!”
“Sincere, hurry!”
“Get back!”
I screamed until I could not hear myself anymore. “Kinsley!Kinsley!”
Legend tried to pull me back further, and I fought him with everything I had left. “No! No, no, no!”
Sincere sounded so desperate as he yelled out, “I can’t get her out!”
Saint shouted something I did not understand. Reek shouted again. Legend shouted again.
Then the car exploded.
The sound ripped through the night. Heat slammed into us. Light flashed so bright it turned everything white for a second, and my scream disappeared under the blast.
24
RHYTHM BROOKS
Anurse kept hovering over me as I tried to push myself up in the bed again, but pain shot through my side and down my hip, and the monitor beside me started beeping louder.
“Ma’am, please,” the nurse huffed. She put her hand on my shoulder and gently pressed me back. “You cannotget up yet.”
“My kids,” I fussed. “Where are my kids?”
“Your children are being treated.Youare being treated. So, you need to stay still.”
I looked down at my body, still in complete disbelief of what had happened. My right arm was wrapped in gauze from wrist to elbow, and my skin underneath burned. My left shoulder had a thick bandage across it, and the sting beneath it pulsed every time I breathed. My cheek felt swollen, and when I lifted my hand toward my face, my fingers brushed raised strips of tape where they’d closed small cuts from broken glass. My lip had a split that kept pulling whenever I talked. My ribs, hip, and knee hurt. My whole body felt sore and bruised, like I had been thrown around like a rag doll.
“You’ve got minor burns,” the nurse said, reading off a chart. “Mostly on your forearm and shoulder. You’ve got superficiallacerations on your face. No major fractures. We’re watching your rib area for bruising. You have a sprain in your knee and your hip is badly bruised. You’re lucky.”
“I don’t care about any of that!” I snapped. “I need to see my kids!”
“You will,” she pressed. “When the doctor clears you.”
I tried again anyway. I was wired. My mind kept replaying the car flipping, the fire, Sincere running toward it, and the explosion. I could still hear myself screaming Kinsley’s name.
The nurse raised her voice. “Ma’am...Stop.”
The door opened then, and Sincere walked in.
I froze the second I saw him. He looked like he had been through hell. His hands and forearms were wrapped in fresh bandages. There was soot still caught at the edge of his hairline.
He looked at me and his eyes softened, but his nostrils flared, like he was still rattled.
