Excerpt of A Catch In Time by Dalia Roddy

John Thomas tried to focus on the spot where his father's
head and shoulders should be. His father wasn't there.
Where was he? Fear jolted him.

They'd had a very bad accident. Was something wrong with
his father? John Thomas fumbled with his seat belt,
forgetting that he'd been trying to remember something,
ignoring Lucas, the pain in his head, needing
only to see his father, to know he was there and he was all
right.

He grabbed the front seat, heaved himself up, and saw his
father, body contorted on the floor beneath the dash, head
turned at an impossible angle, eyes staring at him.

John Thomas stopped breathing. His pulse thrummed his
eardrums. He fastened his gaze on his father's trembling
lips.

"Watch out," Craig Thomas croaked.

John Thomas leaned farther over the seat, straining to hear.
Using his last breath of life, Craig whispered, "Watch
out . . . for . . . Lucas."

"Dad?" John Thomas stared, stunned. Lifeless eyes stared
back at him."