Fuck. He might need to block them.
On the other hand, he had no doubt they’d go around that somehow if they could. They didn’t want him noncommunicative; they wanted him to come home and keep up the pretense.
He’d never flat-out told them why he’d left. Never acknowledged it. Which wasn’t like him at all in most situations. Maybe it was time to let them know he wouldn’t be playing their games anymore. He didn’t want to start his future with Yas with this black cloud from the past hanging over him.
And he sure as hell didn’t want them to keep calling while he was trying to focus on helping her heal and keeping her safe.
Zeus swiped to accept the call.
“What?”
“Zeus? Zeus, is that you?” The sound of his mother’s surprised voice made his entire body tense.
“It’s me.”
“Zeus! My boy!” If his mother’s voice had made him tense, his father’s made his whole body quiver with rage. His hand fisted at his side. “When are you coming home?”
“I’m not. I’m not coming home because I’m done pretending that the way you treated Mom is okay. I’m done pretending that you aren’t an abusive husband and father. You want to write me out of the will, that’s fine. I don’t want anything from you.” As his father sputtered, Zeus’ tone shifted. “Mom, if you ever want me to come get you, call me, and I’ll be there to get you away from him in a heartbeat.”
“What? Zeus, no, of course not. You’re just confused.” His mother’s soothing tones did anything but make him feel better.
“I’m not confused at all, Mom. You want help getting away from him, call me. Otherwise, I want you both to leave me alone. If you call me again about me coming home, I’ll block your numbers.”
“You damn, ungrateful?—”
Zeus hung up the phone as his father started shouting furiously, while his mom made shushing noises, obviously trying to calm him down. He hoped his mother wasn’t going to pay the price for that conversation, but he also knew there wasn’t anything he could do about it if she did. If she didn’t want to leave, he couldn’t make her. She had to want to go, and she didn’t.
All he could do was hope that his words had gotten through to her. Maybe she’d call sometime in the future. He didn’t hold out much hope, though.
He sat there in the car for several long minutes. Deep breaths. Trying to calm his nervous system, which felt all fizzy and buzzed. Not how he wanted to go into the hospital. They didn’t call back. Which helped.
Hopefully, this was the last time he heard from them unless his mom decided she wanted out. Just seeing their number on his phone was enough to set him off. He had no control over his mother’s actions, only his own. Sometimes, the reassurance his therapist had given him helped; sometimes, it didn’t. There was nothing he could do for his mom, which meant he had to choose what was best for him.
Unfortunately, since his mom wanted him to join her in pretending his father wasn’t abusive, that meant cutting her off, along with his dad.
Every second that went by that the phone didn’t ring again helped him relax a tiny bit more. Finally, he gave himself a little shake and got out of the car, shoving his phone in his back pocket. He did feel a little lighter having gotten that off his chest. Now they knew. It was out in the open. No more letting them pretend he was just ignoring their calls because he was busy or ungrateful or a bad son.
They would probably convince themselves of that, anyway—at least his father would—but at least Zeus had finally said it. No matter what either of his parents told themselves, they’d had to hear the words. Which might be the most closure he ever got.
He hadn’t thought it would make that much of a difference, but he did actually feel better. Walking into the hospital, even his steps felt lighter. It helped knowing that Yas was being released this afternoon, but that wasn’t the full reason why.
The familiar sound of the hospital—beeping, soft voices—filled his ears as the elevator doors closed behind him. Striding down the hall, Zeus felt his anticipation rise as he approached Yas’ room. Passing by the nurses’ desk, he gave a wave to them on his way. Two out of the three smiled at him, acknowledging his passage. The other was hunched over a computer, earbuds in his ears, totally focused on whatever he was looking at.
Everything was calm. Normal.
Which was soothing after the series of events from the news report on the attack on Macleod to his parents calling in the parking lot. Zeus needed more normal and calm today.
Which was why, when he almost ran into a tall man coming out of Yas’ room, he immediately tensed.
“Sorry, excuse me.” The man smiled, nodding his head. Something about the way he held himself, not to mention the clothing, reminded Zeus of Mason. The other man moved around Zeus, and he got the odd feeling that he was being studied and judged for some reason.
Pressing his lips together, Zeus stepped into Yas’ room and crossed his arms over his chest, raising an eyebrow at her. She was already wide-eyed and a little wary.
“Hey Z. Um…” Her voice trailed off. So he decided to give her a better opening.
“Who was that?” he asked, striding over to her bed. Despite the fact that she looked like a kid caught with her hand in the candy jar, her whole face lit up when he walked toward her. She brightened from the inside out, eyes widening, smile blooming on her lips. There was nothing better than seeing her whole expression change, her body language shifting, the moment she saw him.
The amount of warmth it spread through him washed away the last vestiges of tension from his parents’ phone call, as well as the rising nerves from almost running into a strange man who had been in her room.