Page 19 of Consuming Logan

All of a sudden pain, sharp and cramping, crashed into Ava. “Oh, God.” Her body doubled over of its own accord, and she listed to the side.

“Baby,” her mom screamed.

Darwin moved fast, his strong arms captured her waist and held her steady. Ava felt her body sway, and then her legs gave way. “Ava, what’s wrong?”

Pain tore through her abdomen instantaneously causing her to cry out.The baby.

“Please, be careful,” she whispered for his ears only, “I’m pregnant.”

Chapter 6

The clanging alarm of a heart monitor pulled Logan from sleep. With more effort than it should take, he cracked open his eyelids. A disorienting swirl of colors country line danced through his vision. Through the moving cloud he took in the too bright lights, the observation window, and the nursing station on the other side. He slammed his lids down hoping to slow the abstract painting obscuring his sight. Something was wrong. Moments later his delayed nerve endings solved the mystery. He was on the wrong side of a hospital bed. What the hell had happened?

“He’s awake,” a woman whispered. It was his mom.

“Open your eyes, son.”

That was his father.

Nope, not doing that. His body hurt like he’d been in traction for months. Every part of him felt roped and tied.

Breathing in, the familiar scents of Betadine, citrus, and disinfectant bombarded his nostrils. Not home, the hospital. He tried to sit up, but a sharp pain ripped through his upper chest and arm. Panting, he collapsed back onto a pillow of cotton.

He gritted his teeth. That hurt.

Logan felt moisture gathering behind his…eyes. Like hell would he cry. Adjusting his shoulder, he winced. His upper body felt as if a dozen free weights had been soldered to each joint. Slowly he lifted again, surprised when cold air hit his skin. He realized the center of his back was bare. A hospital johnny?

He shook his head forcing his addled brain to work. Ava. Where was Ava?

Lids slammed shut, Logan reached out in search of Ava but found empty space. Where was she? He needed to remember something important. Centering his energy, he inhaled, seeking her warm vanilla scent. But the room held no hint of her sweetness. Panicked, Logan ground his molars against the onslaught of swirling nausea and opened his eyes. Wood laminate covered the walls. A flat-screen television hung suspended from the ceiling with an in-room mini-bar underneath. He recognized the room, the SCMC VIP hospital suite.

Logan curled the fingers on his left hand into a fist. He needed to focus. He had to get to Ava.

Blurry figures, like cardboard cutouts, formed a semi-circle around his bed. His mother and father stood at opposite ends of his blanket covered feet, both with deep furrows etched in their faces. Darwin sat off in the far corner, Rebecca Lynn asleep in his arms. Logan frowned at the two unexpected faces in the room. Tyson stood alone, sleeves rolled up, his suit jacket over his arm. He wore a pensive expression. Beside the billionaire stood a man who had to be his brother. Their piercing green eyes, the Tormund Giantbane red hair, and the sheer size of both men. They looked like Game of Thrones extras. To his surprise, the older woman from the party. The one who had waved at him sat in the chair closest to his bedside.

Logan cataloged each face he saw, and the one he didn’t. His pulse began to race, the blood icing in his veins. Where was Ava? Had she been hurt?

“Ava,” he croaked, “where—….”

His throat ached worse than a bad tooth and his normal baritone rang out rusty and unused.

“Don’t try to talk, son.” His father’s voice sounded tired, as if he’d been talking for hours. “Ava’s okay.”

With one hand he felt the space beside him. His sense of touch told him something had to be off. If what his father said were true, then why wasn’t Ava here? The coolness against his fingertips meant she hadn’t been at his side.

Opening his eyes, he looked at his brother. “Want Ava,” he rasped. “Need. To. See her.”

Rebecca Lynn shifted in Darwin’s arms. “Stay here,” she whispered. “I’ll go and bring her down.”

His sister-in-law came over and squeezed his hand before exiting the room. “Glad you’re back among the living.”

Logan’s brain felt scrambled, but he caught the pensive expressions on the occupants of the room. If his family was here, that meant Ava’s family must be with her. Alarm bells blared in his skull. “Why isn’t she here, Dad?”

“She took a spill in the emergency room, Logan. You just lay back till she gets here.”

Logan cautiously turned his head to the right, following the unfamiliar voice. It was the woman, the stranger. Her salt and pepper hair hung in silvery sheets now. Up close, her complexion looked tawnier than tanned, maybe of Hispanic or bi-racial descent. She still wore the same jade colored chiffon lace gown, but a bandage to her right arm tainted the effect. Had she been injured too?

“Who…” His throat hurt like hell. Logan swallowed, trying to moisten the sawdust coating his airways, and then tried again to ask his question. “Who are you?”