It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover

I urge him forward. “Go to the car.” He continues toward the stairs, and
then I stop walking and spin around to face her. She sucks in a quick gasp
after seeing the absolute fury in my eyes. Then she slaps her palms against
my chest and shoves me.
“He’s my son!” she yells. “I’ll call the police!”
I release an exasperated laugh. I want to tell her to call the police. I want
to scream at her. But most of all, I want to get Josh away from her. She’s not
going to ruin his life on my watch.
I don’t even have the energy to say anything to her at all. This woman
isn’t worth my words. I just walk away, leaving her screaming at me like old
times.
Josh is already sitting in the front seat of my car when I make it back. I
slam my door and grip my steering wheel with both hands before starting the
car. I need to calm myself down before I get back on the road.
Josh seems unusually calm for what just happened. It makes me wonder if
that’s an average interaction between them because he isn’t even breathing
heavily. He’s not crying. He’s not cussing. He’s just watching me, and I
realize how I react in this moment is quite possibly something he’ll absorb
for a lifetime.
I slide my hands down the steering wheel and calmly exhale.
Josh’s cheek is red, and there’s a small gash on his forehead that’s
bleeding. I retrieve a napkin from the glove box and hand it to him, then flip
the visor down so he can see where to wipe.
“I saw her slap you, but where’d the cut come from?”
“I think I hit the TV stand.”
Slow and steady, Atlas. I put my car in reverse and back out of the parking
lot. “Maybe we should swing by the emergency room and have them check
out your cut. Make sure you don’t have a concussion.”
“It’s okay. I can usually tell when it’s a concussion.”
He can usually tell? I clench my jaw as soon as he says that. I realize I
have absolutely no idea what kind of hell this kid has already been through,
and I was about to send him right back into the fire. “Better to be safe,” I say,
but what I mean is, Better to get this documented in case we need proof of her
abuse at a later date.