Page 124 of Accepting Fate
The front desk woman who I have come to know as Ms. Nancy from dropping off lunch to Logan over the past few months, didn’t say anything and let me back.
Now as I stand here, waiting for someone to tell me anything. My knees give out and I sink to the floor. Logan’s present climbs into my lap and nuzzles her fluffy head against my chest.
I look down at her and my eyes burn with unshed tears. I got this fluff ball to help my girl and now she is comforting me while her mom, who she hasn’t even met yet, lays on a table getting poked and prodded.
"Don’t worry, sweet girl, your mom is strong,” I whisper like she can understand.
Harper crouches down in front of us. Her eyes are bloodshot and dried tracks of black run down her face. When I got to Harper, she was sobbing and screaming for help. I’ve only known her to be a smart ass and this was new. I guess seeing her best friend lying on the ground was enough to crack her hard exterior.
"She is going to be okay, Grayson,” Harper says in a quiet and exhausted voice.
"Why isn’t she awake?”
Tears well in her eyes and she takes a second to calm herself before responding. "She sustained multiple hits to the back of her head and has two broken ribs. We gave her a medication that keeps her unconscious for a while so her brain can heal. We have a lot more scans and tests to do, but the doctors know she is strong and expect her to wake up within the next day or two. But we are going to take it day by day. We just need to give her time to heal so she can come back to us.”
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding and run my hand up and down the back of Logan's nameless puppy.
Harper reaches out and smiles. "This was Logan’s present, wasn’t it?”
Nodding, "Yeah. If I wouldn’t have gotten stuck in traffic, none of this would have happened.”
Harper wipes an escaped tear off her face and shakes her head. "You can’t do that to yourself, Grayson. Logan needs you to be strong for her right now. If you are blaming yourself for something that was completely out of your control, you can’t be the best you can for her. And that girl deserves the best version of everyone right now. She does so much for everyone, and she is going to get it.”
Standing, she reaches her hand down to me to pull me up. I take it and stand with the puppy cradled in my arm.
"Now. Go take this pup outside and call whoever you have to because we are going to move her up to the ICU. And even though she is cute, she can’t be in there.” And just like that, gone is the sensitive side of Harper and all business nurse Harper is back.
"I’m not leaving her. What if they don’t let me in to see her?” I argue.
She waves me off. "Go. I will put you down as her fiancé.”
I stare at her, shocked. I never thought Harper liked me. She was never an ass to me, but I knew she didn’t love the idea of Logan being tied to Cliff Haven more than she already was.
"Don’t look at me like that, crazy mountain man. I know you love her, and I assume you are planning on marrying her. Most likely a lot sooner now. So, go. I’ll text you her room number when we get her settled."
I walk over to Logan and the nurse standing beside her gives me the okay. Her beautiful face is a little swollen. Her neck is in a brace and I see dried blood covering a piece of the brace. Anger fills me but I shove it down.
Gently picking up her hand, I plant a kiss on her ring finger and whisper. "I love you, pretty girl. I’ll be right back.”
I rush out of the room and fight the tears that threaten to escape.
Stay strong, Grayson.
I get outside and I inhale the fresh warm air. Taking out my phone, I pause to look at Logan’s smiling face on my screen.
That smile will return. I failed her but I never will again. As soon as she is better, I’m proposing and making her a Hayes forever. The next time she is a patient in this hospital will be when she is having our babies.
I sit on the curb outside, waiting for my family while the puppy plays in the grass. A couple minutes later, my parents and Landon pull into the parking lot and run over to me.
Mom crouches down in front of me and takes my face into her hands. "Oh, sweetie, what happened?”
I know Logan would hate it, but I don’t have the energy to explain shit again to Landon later.
"Logan’s stepdad attacked her in the parking lot. I was supposed to be watching her, but I got stuck in traffic coming back from getting her dog. The fucker slammed her head against the ground and broke her ribs. She is in some sort of coma to help her brain heal.”
Mom doesn’t hide her tears and I have to look away, so I don’t start. Dad is keeping the puppy from running into the parking lot with his arms crossed on his chest, looking like he wants to punch someone.
Landon looks up from his phone. "He just checked into an urgent care five miles away. Noah and Wes will be there in two minutes. What do you want them to do?”