Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“Did she ever regain consciousness?”
“No. I’m sorry.”
“What is her prognosis?”
“We’ll have to wait and see if she wakes up after surgery. She’s on a ventilator until the swelling in her throat reduces and she can breathe on her own. We won’t know if there is damage to her larynx until we extubate her after she wakes up. It’s a waiting game at this point. We’ll know more once she’s out of surgery.”
They entered a waiting room with muted colors and stiff furniture meant to hold up to years of wear and tear as families waited for news about their loved ones. Jake and Josh were both sitting next to each other when Logan entered. Josh stood first and then Jake followed. Logan made his way over to them on swift feet. Josh looked ready to crumble and Jake looked ready to explode. And he did the second Logan was close enough. Logan didn’t try to dodge him, he’d promised both brothers when he dropped them off at school that he’d make sure Skylar was safe, and he’d broken that promise. When the nurse gasped, Logan raised his hand to stop any interference and waited. Jake drew back his arm again, ready to punch Logan a second time, and he still didn’t try stop him. He deserved it. He welcomed the pain. It was his job to keep Skylar safe and he’d let them all down. But Jake never released his second punch. He held it still as he scowled back at Logan, tears filling his green eyes. Logan ignored his hatred, grabbed Jake around the neck, and yanked him into his body. Then he grabbed Josh and wrapped both brothers in a tight embrace.
“She’s gonna be fine,” Logan assured them, praying he was right. “She fought like hell to live. She won’t be down for long.”
Neither said a word while they allowed Logan to give them his strength. He couldn’t imagine what was going through their heads after losing both parents, but he had a pretty good idea. Skylar was their world as well. She was their touchstone. If anything happened to her, they would be lost, same as Logan.
“What if she’s not?” Josh finally asked.
Logan released them both so they could gain back their composure. “There’s no what-ifs, Josh. She’s gonna be fine. But if you need reassurance, know I’m not going anywhere. If the worst happens, you’ll have me in your life for as long as you need me. I won’t let anything happen to you that you don’t want.”
The stiffness in Josh’s shoulders relaxed. He was a man but still part boy. Of the two, he was the one who would be most affected, and Logan had no doubt it scared the kid. If God forbid something did happen to Skylar, Logan would file for custody to make sure Josh never went into the system like he had. That had been Skylar and her father’s biggest fear, and Logan would honor them both if it came to that.
“How long has she been in surgery?”
Jake looked at the clock hanging on the wall. “A little over an hour. They said it would take three to four hours.”
Three hours felt like fucking eternity. Logan had the overwhelming need to move and to keep moving until Skylar was out of surgery. He couldn’t stay there and stare at the door, wondering when the doctor would walk through it. He needed to do something before he exploded.
Ty walked into the waiting room with his phone to his ear. His presence gave Logan the freedom he needed to expend some of the pent-up anger and energy, so he offered to buy everyone lunch as an excuse to escape. He didn’t wait for a response, just nodded at Ty and turned on his heel and got the hell out of there.
Logan wound around the hospital until he found an exit in the back, then slammed through the door and turned the corner until he was out of view from any staff or patients. He let out a ragged breath then inhaled deeply, trying to fill lungs that seemed empty. He kept walking and breathing deep, sucking in air that felt too thick to breathe until he was next to the hospital’s loading docks. Dumpsters lined the back filled with trash, their load bursting from the top, so Logan marched up to the closest one and threw a punch. Then another and another until he couldn’t feel his hands. He recognized the tortured sounds spilling from his mouth as he landed his strikes. He’d heard the same noises over a year ago when his friends had died. They came from his soul. Deep and agonized. They had to be purged or they would consume him from the inside out.
He collapsed to his ass when he was done, his chest heaving from exertion. Closing his eyes against the sun, Logan tried to block out images of Skylar with a tube down her throat fighting to live. Of her broken hand and torn shirt where a monster had tried to take her dignity as well as her life. His hand curled into a fist, but there was no one he could exact his anger on except himself. Max had taken care of it for Logan, stealing his vengeance while saving her life. The war dog would be dining on steak for the rest of his life.