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Nine
Logan spent the rest of the day doing paperwork, praying for a new set of eyeballs, and snarling at anyone that got near him. Tired wasn’t even a word for what he was. It was sheer force of will that he was even upright.
Izzy had been moved to a private room in a new wing of the hospital. They’d sedated her heavily to move her, and she would be out for at least the better part of the day. It was a suite they used for the maternity ward, but it was available and he didn’t care what it cost to put her there.
As soon a
s was humanly possible, he’d have her at the house with a nurse. But right now, she was still being monitored for the liver puncture. A steady diet of platelets was the easiest way to do that. It felt very passive to him.
He was learning that the body was an ever mysterious thing. As essential as the liver was, it was also the toughest organ. Dr. Marra answered his texts when she could. Said it was easier than having him page her every twenty minutes with a question.
He knew he was being a pain in the ass. Even sitting on top of entitled asshole hill with a damn crown and scepter. But the only thing that mattered was getting her through this.
Adam still wasn’t conscious and his parents had barred Logan from visiting. It was obvious they hated him—with good reason. He’d stolen their daughter-in-law and now their son was hurt as well. Nic’s parents, the Wesley’s, had cut off all communication. He’d only met them a handful of times. They lived on the outskirts of Winchester Falls and were both retired middle grade teachers.
About as far removed from Izzy’s academic parents as was possible and still in the same field. Funny how the world worked.
The Wolfes and the Wesleys had banded together to close him out and he couldn’t blame them. Nic had needed to talk it out with her mom—nerves for her best friend and simply the need to confide had driven her to share with the person closest to her. What could he say to that? He’d been a raging bear since Isabella had been hurt. If she… He swallowed. There was no way he could even think about it, let alone say it out loud. No, he definitely couldn’t blame them for hating him.
He just hoped Izzy didn’t feel the same way when she found out about Nichole. He knew she loved him, but Nichole had been her closest friend—her sister, for all intents and purposes.
Part of him screamed to take her away and lie through his goddamn teeth. Take her to the Swiss Alps in the most remote corner of the world where there was no internet or phone. To let her get better before she had to grieve.
But the part that Izzy had revived in him, the one that started to believe in people again—that part wouldn’t allow him to do that. She believed in him enough to love him, he had to believe she could deal with this.
He had to believe they were strong enough to deal with this.
His phone buzzed in his hand. Logan sighed and flipped it up to see Marcus’s name. The ignore button taunted him.
He couldn’t deal with another piece of bad news and it was pretty much a fifty-fifty crapshoot when Marcus was on the other end of the line.
“King.”
“You’re not near anything smashable, are you?”
Logan turned toward the window and pressed his forehead to the glass. “I knew I should have hit ignore.”
“Yeah, you probably should have.”
“Fucking fabulous. What now?”
“Preliminary reports from the arson investigator point toward faulty wiring. Good news for Bella’s insurance payout, bad news for us. I have nothing to tie this with Aimee.”
Logan slammed the side of his hand into the wall. The steel-reinforced frame sent a shockwave of pain through his bones and skin. But that was the only thing that pushed back the haze of anger.
“Logan.”
Marcus’s voice was a vague impression as his body shut down. Blood roared in his head and breath-stealing pain came down like an anvil.
Logan felt the hands digging into his armpits and someone pushed him into a chair. Whomever it was took his phone. He leaned forward and put his head between his knees as nausea followed the pain.
“Oh, shit.”
Zeke’s voice. He told Marcus that he’d call him back then crouched next to him.
“Logan.”
“I’m good.” He swallowed back the bile that threatened.
