Logan
“Why isn’t she waking up?” I said for what must have been the thousandth time. She’d made it through surgery fine and was in a room that, thankfully, we were all allowed to be in until she woke up or it got too late. I wasn’t leaving.
“The doctor said it could be a good few hours yet,” Cass said.
Mum and Dad came back into the room with coffee and snacks from the café. “Bill and Bethany’s flight leaves at six so they should be in England by midnight. We’ll pick them up from the airport tonight,” Mum told us.
Her parents must have been going crazy not being here when she was in hospital. I would be a mess if I were in a different country to her.
“Anything from the police?” Jace asked Dad.
“Nothing new. They’re still questioning the driver,” he replied. They’d caught him not long ago. Thankfully, the neighbours’ CCTV showed a clear image of the car so they were able to get the plates and pick him up quickly. It was a kid that hadn’t passed his test long so was probably showing off to his mates and lost control.
Jace leant back against the wall and closed his eyes. “I shouldn’t have come back. If everyone still thought I was dead she’d be okay.”
I gripped Chloe’s hand and forced myself to ignore his stupid fucking comment. Mum, Dad and Cass didn’t though, instantly telling him how idiotic his thinking was and that Chloe wouldn’t want that either.
She wouldn’t rather he stayed away and neither would I. He pissed me off and I wanted to strangle him but what happened to Chloe wasn’t his fault.
I would deal with Jace’s guilt over what happened later, right now all I could concentrate on was Chloe. She was going to be fine, the doctors had stopped the internal bleeding and her vitals were right where they needed to be, but I couldn’t relax until she woke up. I needed those amber eyes looking at me as proof she was alright.
Jace and I had barely said two words to each other since she was hit and I knew full well that I was being a twat by ignoring him but I couldn’t seem to help myself. Right now there was nothing I wanted to say to him.
“Logan, why don’t you take five minutes and get some fresh air?” Mum said. Nell looked up, she hadn’t left the room either and I had a feeling that, like me, she wasn’t going to.
Tearing my eyes away from Chlo, I glared at my mum. “What?”
“You’ve sat there agonising over what’s happened since the second we arrived. Take a minute to breathe, you’ll be in better shape for her when she wakes up.”
Was I in bad shape? Well, yeah, I fucking was, but I hadn’t realised it was so obvious. Did I look as shit as I felt?
“I’m not leaving,” I said.
“I can see you holding your breath, tensing your body. You’re too tightly wound—”
“Mum,” I said calmly but firmly. “I am not leaving this room unless it’s with her. Okay?”
No one said a word after that, except Nell occasionally demanding that her best friend woke up immediately.
***
Mum and Dad left for the airport to pick Chloe’s parents up and the rest of her family that stopped by during the two hour visiting time had left hours ago, promising to come back in the morning. I was left alone with Cassie, Nell and Jace – the three other people that refused to leave. I had a horrible feeling that tomorrow the nurses would try harder to get us to leave.
Chloe was still fast asleep. She was pale but apparently that was normal. That had better be normal. Besides the few times I’d quickly left to go to the bathroom I hadn’t been away from her, and I didn’t plan to, not until I knew for sure she was alright.
“I’m gonna get some drinks,” Jace said. “Anyone want anything?”
“Coffee please,” I replied, staring at Chlo’s face for any sign that she was about to wake. “She’ll want one. Should we get her one?” Of fucking course not! My brain was scrambled. Why the fuck would Chloe want coffee right after waking up from an emergency operation?
Jace looked to Cass and Nell for help. “She won’t want anything yet, Logan,” Nell said.
“I know.”
Shit, I’m an idiot.
“Do you need to take a couple minutes?” Jace asked. “We’ll stay.”
“And if she wakes up?”
“One of us will come and get you.”
I shook my head. “No. I need to be here when she wakes.” If it were the other way around she would be the first person I’d want to see. “A strong coffee would be good though.”
I stood up, stretching my aching legs. It was strange how you could do absolutely nothing and still ache, guess it didn’t help that I was constantly holding myself in awkward positions, too tense to relax.
Brushing my fingertips over her hair, I said, “Come on, wake up, sweetheart.”
“She will when she’s ready, Logan,” Cass said softly.
Nell gently nudged Chloe’s leg. “Chlo loves her sleep.”
I was just about done with the reassurance, too. They all meant well but the only person that could make this okay was Chloe. She had to wake up. I’d lost her too many times. She was finally mine and I hadn’t even had the chance to make her nauseously happy yet.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her; she looked so perfect it made my heart swell. “She’s ready. She loved her sleep but when have you ever known her to sleep this long before?”
“He’s right,” Jace said. “Six hours and she was more than ready to get up.”
She’d been getting less sleep than that recently. We’d both been running on four or five but it was so fucking worth it.
Nell smiled. “I know, but this is different. She’s never been…”
“Run over before?” I said, feeling so fucking angry I wanted to find the prick that hit her and rip him apart.
Biting her lip, she looked down, wincing.
“Nell, Cassie, why don’t you get the drinks?” Jace said, handing Cass his wallet.
With a nod, Cass took it and left the room. Nell followed after a heartbeat.
I ran my hands over my face. I hadn’t meant to be so hostile to her. “Fuck it,” I snapped, pulling my hair. “Why won’t she just fucking wake up?” I was, quite literally, losing it.
Jace pulled my arm, making me look at him. “Calm down, Logan.”
“I can’t calm down. She was meant to wake up hours ago. Is she gonna die, Jace? Am I going to lose her?” Shit. I couldn’t lose her.
“She’s not going to die.”
I was breathing heavily, trying to keep it together and stay strong when I had never felt so weak in my life.
“She can’t die,” he added.
She could, though. Everyone was going to die at some point, Chloe wasn’t immune to death because I loved her, needed her. She was human and she’d been injured.
I turned away, not wanting to think about the worst outcome anymore.
***
Half an hour and a lot more stressing later, her hand finally flinched in mine. I leapt forward. “Chloe!” I said, studying her face.
“What?” Cass and Jace asked in unison.
“She moved her hand.” I leant closer, using my other hand to stroke her cheek. “Chlo, sweetheart, can you hear me?”
She fluttered her eyes, frowning. And then they opened for the briefest second. She looked tired and groggy but she was still impossibly beautiful. “Logan?” she whispered.
I felt like fucking crying.
“Yeah,” I said, smiling so wide it hurt. “I’m here, everything’s okay. Can you open your eyes again?” I need to see your eyes.
She did and as soon as saw that bright amber staring back at me I could breathe again.
“Hey,” I whispered.
“What happened?” Her voice was throaty and rough.
“Cass, can you get her some water and tell the nurse she’s awake?” Nodding with tears in her eyes, my sister leapt up and headed for the door. “How’re you feeling?”
“My stomach hurts and my throat is dry. What happened, Logan?”
“You were hit.”
“I remember the car,” she said as if she was miles away. What was going through her head?
“I’m so sorry, Chloe. If I hadn’t come back or started that fight you wouldn’t have been there.”
“Shut up,” I hissed. I’d had enough of this I shouldn’t come back, should’ve let you continue to believe I was dead shit.
Chlo swallowed. “It’s not your fault.”
Jace opened his mouth to say something else but she shook her head. “Don’t. You couldn’t have known, no one could. I’m okay now. Are you?” she asked us both but looked up at me.
“We’re both fine,” I said, squeezing her hand. “Well, I am now.”
“Bit worried, were ya?”
I smirked. “Just a little.”
“I’ll go see where Cass is,” Jace said, ducking out of the room as quickly as he could. He hadn’t really seen us as a couple that much so I understood that it was awkward and uncomfortable for him but she’d just woken up and I wasn’t about to hold back.
“How badly hurt was I?”
“You’re going to be fine but there was internal bleeding.”
“Oh,” she whispered. “That… sucks.”
I laughed, feeling the prickle of tears working up from my gut. “Yeah, it sure does… suck. I was so scared, Chlo. Watching you fall to the floor like that was the most horrific thing I’d ever seen. You’re not allowed to die before me. Got it?”
“Logan, I don’t think you can choose.”
“No, I can. I choose to go first, when we’re old and grey and I can’t get it up anymore. Actually, I might want to go the second I can’t get it up but we’ll cross that bridge when and if we come to it.”
“Neither of us are going anywhere for a long time. I was promised forever and a day, remember?”
“I remember. I love you, sweetheart.”
Her eyes danced even though she was clearly in some discomfort. “I love you, too.”
I didn’t get any longer to talk to her or do something big and possibly stupid like propose because Jace and Cass came back armed with a jug of fresh water and a nurse.
“Hi, Chloe, how are you feeling?”
“Sore and thirsty,” she replied.
“Well, I can help with both of those,” the nurse said, pouring a glass of water and getting me to help Chlo drink it while she administered a dose of morphine through the IV.
“I’ll just step out and make a couple phone calls, let everyone know she’s awake,” Cassie said. “Glad you’re back, Chlo. You scared the crap outta us.”
Chloe released the straw from between her lips and smiled. “Yeah, sorry about that. Got run over and all…”
Okay, I wasn’t at all ready for jokes. I put her drink on the side, ignoring the urge to snap. I didn’t want to make her feel bad and I definitely didn’t want her to be angry with me.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” Cass replied, giving Chloe’s leg a little pat.
Nell stepped forwards from where she’d been standing, silently crying. “If you ever do anything like that again I will kick that tiny arse of yours into next year.”
“Good to see you too, Nelly,” Chlo whispered.
Nell pointed at her. “Imma let that one go.”
Smiling like a moron, I laid my forehead on her hand, hiding a tear while she exchanged some colourful banter with her friend.