Page 17 of Accepting Fate
That man must have ladies lining up at the door to get a crumb of his attention. One look into those beautiful blues and he could have a nun begging on her knees.
Woah Logan, calm down.
I need to think about something else besides Grayson. I will never see him again and even if I did, I wouldn’t let him get close. The fire that erupted all over my body at the simplest touch from him was enough of a warning for me that I need to stay away from him.
Attempting to distract myself from Grayson, I pull into Starbucks. I usually don’t drink coffee after a night shift because it makes me wired, and I won’t sleep but if I don’t, I’ll be right back at the hospital in the back of the ambulance for falling asleep at the wheel.
After ordering the biggest size they have, I start the journey home. Laura gave me the day off since I was there for almost 20 hours.
I should call Harper, but I need to gather all my thoughts before divulging on the night’s festivities.
The drive home drags, and for the first time I feel a hint of dread for choosing a place outside of the city. It’s still early and the only people on the roads are the people that have to be at work before the rest of the world does.
When I get into the city limits of Cliff Haven and hit the main road, I see The Needle, the small tattoo shop across the street from the bar.
A light bulb goes off in my head. That’s what I need, ink therapy. The last tattoo I got was almost two years ago and I’ve been dying to get another one.
As Main Street fades into the distance and I enter the home stretch to my house, I start planning my day. I’ll go home, shower, nap for a few hours, and then go into town and see if the tattoo shop takes walk-ins. I could look it up, but I’ve been meaning to explore the town I now call home. If they don’t, I’ll take that as my sign to explore.
Walking into my house, exhaustion hits me hard. After locking the door, checking all the windows and doors, and placing the door jammers under the handles, I kick off my shoes and make the rookie mistake of sitting on the couch. As soon as my butt hits the cushions, I know the shower will have to wait because I refuse to move.
The large coffee is doing nothing to combat the extreme mental and physical exhaustion. Grabbing the gray fluffy blanket off the back of the couch, I toss my phone onto the coffee table and lay down. As I fall asleep, visions of midnight blue eyes cross my mind.
Waking up from my nap, I feel refreshed.
I rub my eyes and immediately I feel like they are on fire.
Dammit. I forgot to take my contacts out before I fell asleep. Rising from the couch I make my way to the bathroom in the loft and take my contacts out. I hate wearing glasses in public so even though my eyes could use a break, I put in a fresh pair.
Now that I can see without everything looking blurry, I take a good look at myself in the mirror and burst out laughing. I must have slept hard because my hair is sticking up in every direction possible and I have drool on my chin.
I turn the shower on and head downstairs to grab my phone. I look out at the top of the big windows and see the rain cascading down the glass. This place is so peaceful, I understand why Mrs. Wanda was devastated to leave.
Checking my phone, I see it’s just past noon, which is good news because that means the tattoo shop will for sure be open by the time I get down there. I also see five missed calls from Harper and a dozen text messages. I assume she spoke to Laura and wants all the details.
Making my way back up the stairs to the bathroom, I call Harper before she drives over here and complains that she had to drive into the boonies to make sure I was alive. I’ve only lived here a few weeks and she tells me every day I’m mountain man bait.
Harper picks up on the first ring, “Bitch you better be calling from the great beyond.”
Rolling my eyes, “Quit with the dramatics, H. I’m fine. I passed out on the couch as soon as I got home.”
I reach the bathroom and finally ditch the scrubs I’ve been in for over 24 hours. At least I had the sense to strip off the scrub top before I left the hospital.
Setting my phone on the back of the toilet, I put it on speaker. I want to shower the night off and Harper will talk my ear off so I might as well get two things done at once.
She must hear the water and yells, “Logan Blake Sawyer, are you showering while on the phone with me?”
“Yep. I want to go get a tattoo today. I passed out as soon as I got home so I’m showering now. Don’t worry, I can still hear your loudmouth.”
“Excuseee me for being worried about my best friend having a bad night. Laura called me crying this morning talking about some little girl and her mom. I know we aren’t the type to do that, but you could have called me still. I love you like a sister and I want to look out for my little sis.”
Now I feel bad for not calling her immediately. She’s right we don’t have the typical feelings and ice cream cry talks like most girls, but she is still the closest thing I have ever had to family besides Allie.
Harper and I are more talk it out in a fashion that involves complaining over a glass of wine. She doesn’t ask about my past and I don’t ask about hers. I know she has secrets but so do I, so I don’t push.
I stick my head out of the shower door so she can hear me clearly. “First of all, you’re a week older than me. I’m hardly your little sis. But I’m sorry, H. I should have thought about Laura calling you. I’m fine. I promise.” Leaning back in the shower I continue, “Not going to lie Harper, that was one of the hardest things I’ve ever witnessed since I started working at MRMC. Those two have been through so much and that little girl attached herself to me. She was almost dead when Grayson walked into the ER with her. I will never be able to unsee her tiny fragile face.”
I know as soon as I say his name out loud, she is going to fixate on him. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.