Twisted Fate by Summer Cooper
18
Keily
She rushed to the hospital within minutes of Avery coming in to check on her. There’d been a sound, something like a wounded animal in the last mortal throes of a very painful death, a sound Keily hadn’t understood came from her, until Avery rushed in to help. Logan was in the hospital, he’d fallen off one of the machines, a 15-foot drop. He had a head injury.
Keily didn’t know how bad the injury was but her brain produced a million horrifying images as she raced to the hospital he’d been taken to. As a stop light held her up, seeming to take much longer than it normally did, Keily imagined him dying without her there for his last moments, without having ever heard her say that she loved him. Had she missed her chance?
Rosa and Violet both called her as she drove but Keily didn’t answer. She was barely aware that she was driving now, in too much of a panic to be completely aware but still understanding that even the hands-free distraction might be too much for her to deal with at the moment. She had to get to the hospital, had to know what was wrong, had to know if Logan was still…alive.
Tears streamed unchecked down her face, and she was totally unaware of the way sobs tore from her throat. All she cared about was following the road to the hospital and once she was there, finding a spot to park. She could just leave the car at the emergency room entrance, but she knew it would get towed, and it wasn’t really a nice thing to do.
She scoffed out a smile through the watery mess of her face. A year ago, she’d have parked there anyway. Logan had changed her entirely, even down to that little nicety. Would he be there to see how she changed in the future? To see how their girls changed and grew over the years?
He had to be.
The words became a mantra as she walked into the emergency department and asked to know where Logan was. She explained that she was Logan’s girlfriend, that she had three baby girls at home that wanted to have their daddy back, and the woman at the reception area gave in and finally told Keily where he was.
When she made it back to the private room where Logan was being cared for Keily looked around, expecting to see rushing medical staff, but there was nothing. Keily hesitated in the door, looking around in confusion. Was this the wrong room?
“Can I help you?” A male nurse walked by and stopped when he saw Keily was in a bit of a predicament.
“Is this Logan Sinclair’s room?” Keily waved her right hand in the direction of the room.
“Oh yes, he’s down in surgery. Are you a relative?” The nurse’s face changed, became concerned.
“I’m his girlfriend.” Keily wondered if she should lie, tell them she was his fiancé or something, but decided against it.
“Okay. Well, he’s got a fractured leg and a serious head injury. They’re operating now. You can wait here and I’ll update you if I hear anything.”
“Oh god.” Keily gasped, her heart pounding. She felt like sinking down to the floor but held herself together enough to stand on her shaky legs and squeeze out a question. “Is he… alright?”
“He was unconscious when they brought him in and the doctors were concerned about a bleed in his brain, so he went straight into the OR after his scans. The doctors are hopeful he’ll make a good recovery but we’ll know more when they’re out.” The man, probably in his late thirties if the lines around his eyes meant anything, spoke low and soft, as if he were afraid Keily was about to collapse.
Keily stood firm now though, knowing she had to be strong for her daughters and for Logan. She’d get through this, and so would he. He’d fight to come back for the girls, and for her. He deserved a happy life and she promised herself that when he managed to get through this, she’d spend every day making sure he had a reason to smile.
Logan didn’t wake up that first night, but Keily held firm through every day. Every morning she shaved his face because she knew he hated to not be clean-shaven, and she told him about all the things they would do together and with the girls. At the end of every night, she ignored Rosa’s and Violet’s pleas to go home and rest.
Logan needed her. The girls did too, of course, but Logan had nobody to look after him. The girls had Avery, Violet, and Rosa, and her when they were at the hospital with her. She felt a pang of guilt over it all, but she was terrified to leave his side. What if he…woke up and she wasn’t there?
She refused to think of any other possibility, even in silent meditation, her thoughts locked away from everyone around her. Even in the most private place of all, she refused to allow herself to think that anything else would happen. Logan would wake up. It was only a matter of when.
The doctor reassured her that Logan would wake up when he was ready. It wasn’t uncommon for patients to stay in a coma for a while after a serious brain injury. If all went well, she’d see his gorgeous brown eyes again without having to peel his eyelids open, she’d feel his warm dry lips pressing back against hers as he took her in his arms.
“You have to come back to me, Logan.” She said a week after his accident, as the second week of coma started. “You have to come back so I can tell you I love you. So, you can watch the girls grow up. So, we can grow old together.”
She laid her head against his on the pillow and clasped his hand in hers. For a second, she thought he squeezed back, but the moment passed. “Please, Logan. Don’t leave me alone like this.”
