Surrounded (Unsettled Series Book 2) (24 page)

“Uh…only family was allowed up here…” I explained.

“Don’t worry. I completely understand. When Patrick and I were dating, one time I pretended to be a candy striper so I could sneak into his room after he’d had a dust up on the soccer field.”

I had a hard time picturing Logan Sr. rushing up and down a field to chase a ball.

”That’s a story I’ve got to hear” I said with a weak smile.

“Where is that pink getup? I think it needs to make an appearance,” Logan Sr.  said, brushing Olivia’s arm fondly. The gesture didn’t remove the look of concern on Oliv
ia’s face.

“They will be okay, honey,” he said. “They have to be.”

I had to see him. I tried to steel myself against the sight that would greet me once I entered the room. “Okay, I’ll see you in a while.” My hands were shaking. I didn’t have any idea how I was going to get through this. I pushed through the wooden door.

“Brooklyn?” Laura was standing next to Logan’s bed.

“Hi
, Laura.”

As soon as I looked at Logan, my eyes began to well. God, he was almost unrecognizable. My throat tightened and I could feel my chest collapsing. I looked away, not wanting to see the bandaged mess lying in the hospital bed.

“What happened?” I breathed.

“Some idiot in a Suburban ran a red light. Logan attempted to swerve and ended up rolling the Range Rover. Witnesses said it rolled three times. It’s really a miracle they’re alive.”

“And Scott?” I asked. “I’ve only heard about Logan.”

Lauren looked heartbroken. “Scott
is worse than Logan. It doesn’t look good, but there’s still hope. No reason to give up yet. They’re both alive. That’s the important thing right now.”

Goosebumps ran up my arms at the thought that they could have not made it.

“Why isn’t he awake?”

“
He’s being heavily sedated on pain meds. He’s going to be out for a while.”

Laura rose from her seat. “I’ll step out so you can have a minute.”

“Thank you.” I walked to the other side of the bed and took Logan’s hand. I was scared to touch him because he looked so peaceful. I pushed his hair away from his forehead.

“Logan? Can you hear me?” I whispered. I knew he wouldn’t respond to my voice but I wanted to hold him, feel my hands in his hair. Feel some sign of life. I knew he was in there somewhere, but he still seemed so far away.

Just as I sat down at Logan’s bedside, a nurse came into the room.

“Good afternoon,” she said.

“Hi,” I murmured. “How’s he doing?” I asked as the nurse checked his vitals on the machine he was hooked up to.

“It will be best to give him a chance to rest uninterrupted, so we’re stopping visiting hours for a while. We want reduce his pain medication and ease him into consciousness. But this is a slow process. It can take a few hours…or a few days. It just depends on him. The good news is he pulled through the surgery, so he made it through the hardest part.”

The nurse walked around the bed. I watched as she placed a stethoscope on Logan’s chest.

“I just got here. I would like to stay. I’ll be quiet. I won’t say a word, I swear.” On the inside though, I wanted to shake Logan and scream at him to wake up.

“Honey, I know you’re scared for him. But from what I can tell, he’s going to be fine. He just needs some time to recover. It will be hard at first, but he’s going to be fine.”

I leaned over the
bed rail. “Don’t go anywhere” I whispered in his ear. I placed a feather light kiss on his forehead—one of the only places on his body that wasn’t scraped, bruised, or bandaged. I wanted to see his stunning green eyes. More than anything I just wanted to hear him say my name. Say something.
Anything
. But the only thing that could be heard was the steady humming of the machines around us.

“Why don’t you get some coffee or something? There is really nothing you can do now except wait,” the
nurse said, adjusting the blood pressure cuff around his arm.

“I guess I don’t have much of a choice.”

“Mrs. Colton, he’ll be fine,” she said reassuringly. I was again reminded that I was using Logan’s name. I ran my fingertips over the paper that was attached to my shirt.

“I really hope so.”

“I’m going to head downstairs for a while. I need to get some fresh air,” I said, as I passed Olivia and Logan Sr. in the hallway. I could feel the walls of the hospital closing in on me.

I jabbed the elevator button and waited for the car to arrive. As soon as the doors closed, I lost all composure and began to let all the tears I didn’t want anyone to see come flooding out. How could this be happening? I guess it was true that the worst things happened to the best people, because Logan was one of the best people I’d ever known. I couldn’t fathom not having him in my life. Everyone kept saying he’d pull through, but what did that really mean?

The elevator doors opened and I stepped into the foyer, heading for the lobby.

“Brooklyn!”  I turned and saw Alex standing in the waiting room. “I came as soon as I could. How is he?” She crossed over to me and pulled me into a firm hug. I broke into sobbing heaves all over her teal blouse.

“Shh…don’t cry. He’s going to be okay, B. Just breathe.”

“I need some air,” I sniffed, lifting my head and looking around for the exit doors. I felt completely disoriented.

“Okay, let’s go for a walk.” She grabbed my arm and led me outside.

“Alright, but let’s not be gone too long. I don’t want to miss him if he wakes up.” We made our way through the lobby. “I’m scared, Alex. If he doesn’t pull through…” my voice was swallowed up by the sirens from the ambulance entering the hospital drop off area.

“First of all, don’t talk like that. Logan is going to be fine. Let’s not go looking for trouble.”

“Alex, you didn’t see him, all bandaged and broken.” I wiped my nose with the tattered tissue I had in my hand as I tried to compose myself. If I didn’t look like crap before I arrived, I definitely looked like it now, but I couldn’t have cared less.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?”
She asked.

“A Suburban blindsided their car and Logan’s SUV flipped. Logan is banged up badly, but Scott…”  I took a deep breath. “Scott is
worse off. They’re trying to keep him stable so they can give him another surgery tomorrow.” When Alex inhaled deeply I knew she caught the gravity of the whole situation. This was bad.

“Look, B
.I know things look and sound horrible now, but Logan’s a fighter and so is Scott. This isn’t their first time at the rodeo and I have no doubt that they’ll pull through.”

I gave her the best smile I could muster, which unfortunately, was still pretty weak.

“You know how I got through those days when Daniel was trying to rehab after he came back from Iraq?” Alex’s brother was a war vet who was discharged after being wounded and losing his arm. He spent months trying to recover and learning how to walk again.

“How?”

“I tried to focus on the positive while we let the doctors and therapists do their jobs.”

“How do I do that? He’s just up there” I said, pointing towards the top of the hospital building. “Lying in a bed, lifeless
. Attached to every medical instrument known to man.” I was on the verge of losing it again.

Alex looked me dead in the eye and smiled. “Did you guys have bomb ass make
-up sex out in Cali? Give me the juicy details?”

“Are you kidding me right now?” I exclaimed. She had to be joking. I was not going to discuss my sex life with her at a time like this. “We are not doing this.”

“Yes we are,” she said firmly. “This is how you’re going to get through the next twenty minutes and then be able to go back inside that stupid hospital and tell Logan he better give it everything he’s got because you’re waiting for him.”

“Fine.” I walked down the sidewalk and away from the hospital. Even as I walked away, I couldn’t help but feel like I should be in
the waiting room keeping a seat warm until the doctor’s gave us more news.

“We’ve already had this conversation,” I pointed out to Alex.

“Well we’re having it again,” she insisted.

I smiled, despite everything going on. “Logan rocked it. I had two orgasms back to back, was sore the next day, and was still ready to go for more. And he did this thing with his tongue…”

She caught the look on my face. “See? Doesn’t it feel better to focus on the good?” I nodded, willing to admit she was right.

I sighed
, pressing the crosswalk signal, “I don’t think I told you before, but thank you. If it hadn’t been for you and Danielle, we might not have found our way back to each other.”

“B, you don’t have to thank me for doing the right thing. I’ll always have your back
.” She said, as we stepped into the crosswalk.

Ready to change the subject, I asked, “What’s going on with you and Jay?” I could hear a pin drop amongst the passing cars.
All of a sudden, Alex seemed to be at a loss for words and that was very unlike her.

“What’s going on?” She didn’t know, did she? Jay wanted
his proposal to be a surprise.

“Well, I kind of think he…”

“What? He what?”

“I think he bought me a ring. Or he’s looking. Has he said anything to you about it?”

“OH MY GOD! Uh, no! What makes you think he bought you a ring?” I was laying it on way too thick. I didn’t want her to know that I was lying through my teeth.

“He left up a website on the laptop a few months ago. I didn’t tell him I saw it, so I wouldn’t ruin anything, you know?”

“Well, if he’s even remotely thinking about proposing, he better tell me!” I said, feigning outrage to keep the charade going.

“If he does say anything to you, you better tell me!”

I secretly patted myself on the back. I had finally successfully kept a secret from Alex—one that was well worth it. She was going to be so excited. Jay was good for Alex. He was so nervous about proposing but I’d assured him a thousand times now that there was only one answer she’d give him—yes.

“I will, I swear!” I crossed my fingers behind my back and prayed to not get struck down by lightening. I had absolutely no intention of ruining one of the most important surprises of Alex’s life. None whatsoever. “
Lets head back. I want to be there when Logan wakes up.” I turned back towards the hospital and pulled out my phone, making sure I hadn’t missed any calls.

“Okay.”

“Thanks for being here Alex.” I said.

“You never have to thank me for being a friend, B. Never.” She leaned in and gave me a sideways hug.

We walked through the front doors to the hospital. “I’ll meet you back over there,” I pointed to a chair in the lobby. “I’m going to stop at the gift shop,” I said.

“Okay.”

I walked into the gift shop and went straight for the greeting card section. I pulled a get well soon card out of the slot and headed towards the counter to pay. I handed the clerk my ten dollar bill and collected my change.

“Do you have a pen I can borrow?” I asked her.

“Sure.” She searched around her cash register. “Just bring it back when you’re done.

It didn’t take me long to scribble down what I had to say.

I handed the clerk back her pen. “Thanks.”

I slid the card into the envelope and walked out of the gift shop. I hoped what I’d written to Logan would brighten his spirits
. “You’re back” Olivia said.

“So you’re Brooklyn.” I turned around to find myself staring directly into ocean blue eyes and a field of hazel colored hair.

“Hi…”

“I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure of formally meeting, I’m Ashley…but you can call me Ash for short.” Ashley? As in his ex-
fiancé?
Was this really happening right now?

“Oh, hi…nice to meet you” I said, hesitantly.
Who the hell had told her he was here?
I didn’t want her here…the same woman who’d stolen from him and acted like his love wasn’t enough. “Ashely is a friend of the family. Her father was with us at breakfast when we got the call this morning, so she decided to drop by."