Chapter 15: Alex

I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing, groaning as I opened my eyes and turned to look at the blinking screen on the bedside table. Jenni shifted against me, her eyes fluttering open for a second before they closed again and she resettled in my arms again. I leaned over and grabbed the phone, silencing it as I squinted in the bright light to see who was calling.

I winced when I realized it was three in the morning and Kelly was calling me. They were probably worried sick.

“Kelly?”

“Where the heck are you?” Kelly yelled.

I sat up quickly, her tone taking me by surprise. She was crying, gasping into the phone, and there was the distinct sound of sirens in the background.

“What happened?” I was already rolling out of bed and pulling my pants on. Jenni was wide awake, watching me, concern etched across her face.

“I called you seven times!” Kelly was yelling. “Seven times!”

“Kelly, where are you?” I demanded, already feeling my body shake with worry. I had never heard her this hysterical, and the shrill sound of the siren wasn’t helping ease my worry.

“I’m on the way to the hospital,” Kelly cried. “That guy from yesterday came by again.”

“Heath?”

“Grandpa went out to talk to him, and that bastard kept hitting him,” Kelly explained between tears. “I tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t stop. Grandpa’s not waking up, dad!”

I almost dropped the phone. The world around me quickly began to swim in and out of focus. I could almost see myself there with her, in the ambulance, sitting next to her unconscious grandfather, desperately trying to reach me. I felt a sudden lurch in the pit of my stomach, and I wanted to reach through the phone, tell her everything was going to be alright. I wanted to apologize for not being there when I should have been, for letting her down yet again.

The emotions washed over me like a tidal wave, and my mind blanked completely.

“Dad!”

Kelly’s shrill scream brought me back. “I’m on my way, Kelly, I’ll meet you at the hospital.”

“Hurry!” she yelled at me, then hung up.

I pocketed my phone and grabbed my shirt.

“What happened?” Jenni asked, already half-dressed herself.

“They’re taking Samuel to the hospital,” I said, feeling a dark rage build up inside me.

“Oh god, what’s wrong?”

“Apparently, Heath thought it was a good idea to cross the line and attack my father.”

“Kelly?”

“Shell-shocked,” I replied. “Hysterical.”

“That son of a bitch!”

I didn’t answer her, pulling on my shoes as I searched the room for my car keys.

“I’m coming with you,” she said, rushing into the bathroom.

“That’s okay,” I said. “Stay here, I’ll be fine.”

“That’s not a choice you’re going to make for me,” she said, rushing back out and pulling on a t-shirt. She found my keys and tossed them to me. “Now hurry up.”

We were out the door in seconds.

* * *

“He’s going to be okay.”

I hated hospitals. The last time had not been the best of experiences, and every time I even drove past one, my body would stiffen and my head would swim. There were too many memories linked with it. Shitty food, the smell of detergent and disinfectant, and of course, the endless pain. That was the worst of it.

Which made the sight if my father in the ICU even worse. He was lying on a bed hooked up to enough wires to light up an entire block. The constant beeping of the heart monitor filled my head, and I struggled just to keep my concentration on what the doctor was telling me.

“Luckily nothing’s broken,” he said, flipping through the pages of my father’s chart. He looked like a med student, and a part of me wondered if he even knew what he was doing. “At his age, that would have been the biggest problem. He’s stable for now, and once he’s awake, we’ll run an MRI.”

“When do you think he’ll wake up?” I asked, looking at Samuel through the large glass window separating the hall from the ICU.

“Hard to tell,” the doctor replied. “I’m guessing pretty soon. It’s probably just the shock of the attack. What happened, exactly?”

“That’s what I’m going to try and find out,” I replied, my anger now taking a front seat and pushing my worry over Samuel to the back. I wanted to get my hands on Heath and beat his teeth out the back of his fucking head.

“Well, if it’s any consolation, the Sheriff’s downstairs, waiting to get a statement,” the doctor said. “If you have anything to say, it’ll be best to tell him.”

“Thank you, doctor,” I replied.

“Other than that, I suggest you go home,” he continued. “There’s nothing more for you to do here anyway, and we’ll call you if there’s any change.”

I nodded, shook his hand, and made my way back to the waiting room. Jenni was sitting on one of the bigger couches, Kelly curled up in her arms and asleep. I sat down next to them, stroking Kelly’s hair and quickly pulling away when her body shook like a leaf. Jenni kissed her head, rubbed her shoulder and attempted to calm her down.

“What did the doctor say?” Jenni asked.

“Told us to go home,” I said. “And that the Sheriff’s downstairs if I want to leave a statement.”

“What do you want to do?” she asked.

“I want to take Kelly home,” I replied. “I’ll pass by the Sheriff in the morning.”

“I’m so sorry, Alex,” Jenni said, gently shaking Kelly awake. I watched as my daughter’s eyes fluttered open, her face scarred with tear streaks. She sat up slowly, looked around her in confusion, then stiffened when she realized where she was.

“Grandpa?” she asked, looking at me with eyes that quickly watered.

“He’s okay,” I said. “Still asleep, but the doctors tell me he’s going to be just fine. We’ll go home and come back in the morning.”

Kelly quickly shook her head. “I don’t want to leave him.”

“It’s not up to us, sweetheart,” I said. “They’re kicking us out anyway. There’s nothing we can do here anyway.”

“I don’t want to leave,” she sobbed. She leaned into my arms and began to cry again. I held her tight, the fury inside me burning. A part of me knew that if I came across Heath right now, I’d probably kill him.

“I know,” I said, kissing her head. “Come on, we’ll be back in the morning. That’s only a couple of hours away.”

Kelly nodded and let me pull her to her feet. She held Jenni’s hand, leaning into her as we made our way to the elevators and rode one down. The hospital was empty this time of the night, the fluorescents casting an eerie glow as we walked down the narrow hallway and turned a corner into the emergency room. A single nurse manned the station there, chatting quietly with a man I assumed was the Sheriff. He was dressed casually and looked like he had been dragged out of bed.

He caught my eye, said something to the nurse, then walked up to us.

“Mr. Logan,” he greeted, sticking his hand out. I took it. “I’m Sheriff Baker. I’m terribly sorry about Samuel. He’s an old friend, and when they told me about what happened I came down right away.”

“Thank you, Sheriff,” I said. “If it’s okay with you, I need to get my daughter home. She’s had quite the shock for the day.”

“I can only imagine,” the Sheriff sighed. He looked at Jenni, then quickly back at me. “Any idea who was responsible for this?”

I nodded. “Heath Collins.”

The Sheriff frowned and looked at Jenni again. “Are you sure?”

I turned to Kelly who nodded. “Yes,” I said. “I’ll give you a full statement in the morning. But for now, I suggest you arrest Heath and keep him overnight.”

“That’s going to be difficult without a full statement,” the Sheriff said, scratching the back of his head, his eyes darting between me and Jenni. He looked uneasy, and I began to understand what Jenni meant by the force’s incompetence. This man should have been in his car by now, calling in the arrest.

“I don’t see how,” I said, already knowing that I wasn’t going to get anywhere with him. And that only made me angrier. Heath could be halfway across the state by now. “If you want a statement now, I’ll give you one. But the longer you wait to make that arrest, the more likely you won’t be able to do it. If Heath has a brain in his head, he wouldn’t stick around and wait.”

“How about you pass by the station tomorrow,” the Sheriff said, “and we’ll clear all this up.”

“What the hell is there to clear up?” The anger in my voice was apparent, and the Sheriff took a step back, his hand falling on the holster at his waist.

“Alex, let’s go,” Jenni said.

“The fuck I am,” I said. “I don’t know how you got that badge, but this is ridiculous!”

“Dad,” Kelly said. “I want to go home.”

My eyes locked on the Sheriff’s, and a hint of a smile played at the corner of his lips. He looked at Kelly. “I’m sorry about your grandfather, but we’ll get this all sorted out, I promise.”

My fists shook, and I only calmed down a little when Kelly wrapped a hand around mine and pulled me along. I pulled her to me, staring angrily at the Sheriff.

“I’ll see you in the morning, Sheriff,” I said. “But if Heath’s gone by the time you get your ass off your seat, I’m not going to be this calm.”

“Good night, Mr. Logan,” the Sheriff nodded. “Jenni.”

“Sheriff,” Jenni replied and gently pushed me along.

We walked out, the cool night air failing to calm me down as I led Kelly to the car and opened the door for her to get in. I turned back to the hospital, with half the mind to go back in and give the Sheriff hell, but quickly fought back the urge. I looked at Jenni and shook my head in frustration.

“Can you fucking believe this?”

Jenni wrapped her arms around Kelly’s and looked at the hospital. “Actually, I can,” she said. “I told you before, Baker’s useless.”

“And what do you suggest I do?”

Jenni sighed. “I don’t know,” she said, looking at Kelly. “Go home for starters. In the morning, we’ll pick up where we left off.”

I ran a hand through my hair and clenched my teeth. I wanted to punch someone, badly. If I didn’t I was going to go fucking insane. Jenni rested a hand on my arm and squeezed.

“Fine,” I gave in, my frustration boiling inside me. “Come on, I’ll drive you home.”

“I’d rather stay with Kelly,” she replied.

“You don’t have to do that,” I said.

“Actually, I do,” she said. “I want to.”

I looked at her for a beat, wanting to take her in my arms and kiss her if it weren’t for how pissed off I was. She rubbed my arm and opened the passenger door.

“Come on,” she said.

I closed the door, took another look at the hospital, then got into the car and drove us home.