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* * *
Logan sat by Sam’s bed and held her hand, rubbing his thumb over her soft skin as though he might be able to will her awake that way. The doctors said there wasn’t anything wrong with her head. She should wake up and be just fine.
Only, she hadn’t woken up yet and that scared the hell out of him. Logan thought he might crawl out of his skin sitting and waiting. He needed Sam. He needed her to wake up and grin at him and say something cheeky and brilliant and irreverent. Something utterly unfiltered like she always did.
Sam’s mom came into the room and smiled at him. “I want you to go get something to eat now, Logan,” she said.
He shook his head at her.
“I can’t leave her.” Was that his voice? It sounded scratchy, like he’d swallowed glass or sand.
Sam’s mom came over and put her hand on his shoulder. “Yes, you can, Logan. I won’t go anywhere. I’ll be right here. But Sam needs you to be strong for her when she wakes up. And, if you run yourself down while you’re waiting, you can’t be there for her.”
The door to the room opened again, letting in the telltale shaft of light from the hallway and Sam’s father poked his head in the door.
“I’ll go with you, Logan. We’ll just go right down to the cafeteria and Iris will call the minute she wakes up.”
“It’s all right, big guy,” said Sam’s sister, Rose, as she slipped in the room past Sam’s father. “I’ll be here, too. We’ll make sure she knows you’re just downstairs if she wakes up before you get back.”
Logan looked at all of them. They had no doubt in their minds she’d wake up. For them, it was simply a matter of when. They were just letting her sleep off the injury like it was nothing. He didn’t know what it would have been like to be surrounded by this family growing up. No wonder Sam was so incredible.
Her mother squeezed his shoulder again and nodded her head toward the door. “Go on, now. Just a quick trip to eat and get some coffee. And, Gregory,” she said, looking toward her husband, “get some juice in him. He’ll pass out if he doesn’t hydrate.”
Logan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. No one had ever taken care of him like this. Sure, he’d found brothers in the military, brothers who supported him and who he would support no matter what. And they would always be his brothers to him. It wasn’t a bond that time or space could sever.
But Sam had such a strong cradle of family surrounding her. She received love and strength and comfort no matter what happened. And, for some reason, Sam’s family was offering that strength and love to him now. As though he were one of them. As though he belonged.
He rose and joined Sam’s father as they walked down the hall and got into the elevator. Gregory punched the button for the second floor, where the cafeteria was located before clapping Logan on the back.
“Don’t worry, Logan, she’s tough. She’ll be just fine. She always did like to sleep in, though. We’d go up to the lake when she was younger, and everyone would be out on the water before she’d even peek her head out from under the covers. Always did like her sleep.”
Gregory laughed and shook his head as though Sam wasn’t lying in the hospital. As though she wasn’t sleeping when she should be waking up. The doctors had assured them she wasn’t in a coma. She was simply sleeping, but Logan had no idea how her dad could be so calm about it.
They exited the elevator and went to the cafeteria where Logan dutifully ate a sandwich and chugged a bottle of juice, but declined the coffee. He rose to go back upstairs, but Gregory waved him back down.
“Give her time to rest, Logan. She’s all right. In the meantime, you can tell me what your plans are.”
“Uh, my plans, sir?” Oh crap, he felt like he was ten years old and getting a dressing down from his dad. Only Sam’s dad didn’t seem to be judging him. Logan looked at him warily, not sure what the man wanted.
“Sure, your plans. Are you going to marry my daughter when she wakes up? You love her, don’t you?”
Logan grinned. This, he knew the answer to. “More than anything, sir. And yes, if she still wants me when she wakes up, I hope to get her down the aisle as fast as she’ll let me.”
Her father looked at Logan for a long time, not breaking eye contact, not giving any clue to what he was thinking. Logan didn’t squirm at all. He kept his gaze locked on Gregory and let him look his fill.
For once, Logan felt whole. He didn’t feel damaged any longer like he had when he first came home. He wasn’t broken or a danger to anyone around him. He finally felt like he was worthy of Sam
He wasn’t an idiot. He knew he still had PTSI, and that there would be some hard times ahead of them. He knew he would need Billy to pull him out of flashbacks. He knew he had a lot of sessions with Ernie in his future, but he felt somehow like he could be whole despite that. He could have a future and work through it all with Sam at his side.
Gregory nodded. “Well, good then. Let’s go see if my little girl is awake. Maybe I’ll tell her she’s had enough time to lollygag in bed. She’s got a man waiting for her.”
* * *
Sam didn’t wake up. Not for another six hours and by then, Logan wanted to claw through his skin and right on out of it. Billy sat next to him, his head in his lap.
The dog had alternated between sitting and calming Logan, and climbing up onto the bed to lie with Sam. As a service dog, he’d been allowed in the hospital as long as Logan was there, and none of the doctors or nurses seemed to object to him lying in bed with Sam.
Logan took Sam’s hands and threaded them through Billy’s fur, and he would swear Sam’s eyes began to move behind her closed lids at that.
