Surrounded (Unsettled Series Book 2) (23 page)

Brooklyn

“Is it time to get out?” I asked, not wanting to leave the confines of his embrace.

“Well, we can’t sleep in here, and we should get out now before it gets cooler.” The sun had long since become hidden behind the clouds and the dark midnight sky was upon us.

“Okay, I’ll grab some towels. Be right back,” he said, releasing me and pulling himself up from the water. I attempted to make a whistling noise as his backside came into full view.

“Sexy!” I yelled out. I was so glad he’d given Amelia the weekend off. I didn’t mind when she was around because she kept to herself and most times I forgot she was even there. But tonight and tomorrow, it was nice to know that if I wanted to I could walk around stark naked I could, and have no worries about her seeing me. I swam to the edge of the pool stairs to wait after Logan disappeared into the house. A few minutes later he was back wrapped in a robe, and held one up for me.

“Let’s go upstairs and get cleaned up. I turned the water on already so it’ll be nice and hot for us,” he said, wrapping his arm around my waist. We climbed the stairs to his bedroom and made our way to the bathroom.

I was surprised to see purple rose petals littering the bathroom floor and candles around the bathtub. I turned around and smiled at him.

“Someone pulled out all the stops
.” Logan really knew how to make me feel special.

“Only for you. Now let’s get in
.” he said, reaching for my robe belt.

Logan turned off the bath water and we both eased into the massive soaking tub filled to the brim with bubbles.

After I got situated, I noticed a long velvet box sitting on the basin on the bathtub. I looked at the box and then back at him. “What’s that?” I asked, hesitantly.

“What?” He knew exactly what I was talking about.

“That
what
,” I said, pointing at the box.

“Well, I’m not sure what’s in there. Amelia left it this morning.” There was no way I was buying that load of crap. Yeah, maybe Amelia had placed it there after she cleaned the bathroom. But Logan had picked it out. That much I knew for sure.

“Open it,” he said, gently pushing me forward. I pulled apart the box and nearly dropped it into the water. Lying in the box was a white gold charm bracelet. The bluish purple colored starfish shaped diamond that hung from the end of the bracelet took my breath away. It was stunning.

“Do you like it? I decided to have the starfish cut from Royal Purple diamonds, since purple is your favorite color, and blue is mine” Was he serious right now? Did I like it? Of course I liked it, I freaking loved it.

“What is there not to love?” I breathed out, looking him in the eyes.  “I’m utterly speechless right now.” My gaze drifted between him and the sparkly jewel in the box. I didn’t even own a pair of diamond studs. I still bought cubic zirconias from Claire’s. Never in a million years would I have thought I’d be the owner of something so lavish and special. Every day that went by Logan showed me more and more we weren’t just a random thing—a passing occurrence. He was real.
We
were real. And that was enough for me. It didn’t matter that we were both jaded in our own way. I didn’t care that things between us had gotten rocky. I was woman enough to admit that was entirely my fault. But the greatest thing of all was that Logan still wanted to be there anyway.

“Happy twenty-fifth, Starburst” He pulled the box from my hands and placed it on the ground. He took my wrist and wrapped the heavy metal around it.

Logan

I pressed my foot to the gas pedal and flicked the blinker to change lanes.

“What time is the meeting with Crownover?” I asked. Scott and I were headed to downtown DC for the third business meeting of the week and it was only Thursday.

“We’re supposed to be there at 9:30. But you know him, Crownover is always late, so I’d say we have some wiggle room. Maybe 9:45?”

Traffic was bumper to bumper so having the extra time was a necessity. “Do we have any more meetings this morning? I didn’t see anything else on the calendar, but I know how sometimes Jen has to schedule things at the last minute,” I said.

Scott pulled his iPhone out of his pocket. “Let me check, but I don’t think so. You know we have dinner tonight for Landon’s birthday, right?”
Shit
. I’d forgotten. Today was my nephew’s fourth birthday. Scott had reminded me at least ten times already. We were supposed to be having a family dinner at his favorite restaurant. The place was like Chuck e Cheese on steroids.

“Did you even get his gift yet?”

Guilt set in. “I didn’t get the Erector set yet, but I’m going to have Jen pick it up before tonight. Don’t worry. I won’t show up empty handed.”

“You better not. He looks up to you.”

“I know. I won’t let him down.” Before Landon, I didn’t realize how much fun kids could be, but being able to show him how to play baseball was great. During the summer, I’d let him come over and we’d throw the ball around for a while. I was willing to bet that Landon was going to have an arm on him. Perfect for a baseball career.

“Are you still taking him to the
National’s game on Saturday?”

“Don’t ask stupid questions. I got Crownover to lend me his suite for the night. The place looks bitchin from the photos he sent me.” I was just glad Landon would feel special for his birthday surprise.

I merged again, veering onto the off ramp into the city. It was only 9:10 so we had some time to spare. “Want to grab a bagel or something? We got some time to kill.”

“Noah’s sounds good. I think there’s one on fifth.”

I rolled up to the red light and stopped. When the light turned green, I rested my foot on the gas pedal and accelerated off the line.

“Let’s plan on—“

The sound of screeching tires rang in my ears, and then I felt the impact. Everything around me faded to black. I heard what sounded like a door open, then close. I groaned. I could barely breathe. My chest rose and fell in shallow increments. What the hell happened?

“Scott?” I called. The noise around me was muffled by the fog in my head.

My arms were being pulled. I grimaced. “Don’t touch me!” I yelled. Although my voice only came out as a painful groan.

“Help is on the way, don’t move. I’m pretty sure you’ve broken a few things”

I had no control of my body. I tried to lift my arms but I couldn’t. I tried to gain some momentum to sit up, but my body faltered.

“You’re pretty messed up. Just stay still. The ambulance is
on the way.”

“What happened?”  The pain in my chest was brutal.

“You were blindsided off the line by a truck. Just stay still. Don’t try to talk, man. You’re pretty banged up. Just focus on breathing.”

That was easy for him to say.
My chest crackled with every breath.

“Where’s my brother?”

“Your brother?”

“Yeah, he was in the car with me.”

“Let’s just focus on your situation, okay?”

I could feel the anxiety building. “Where is my brother?” I asked again. I didn’t like how whoever I was talking to was diverting my questions.

“He’s pretty banged up too.”

I wanted to call out to Scott, but I was scared I wouldn’t get an answer. The fact that he wasn’t by my side made me incredibly nervous.

I heard sirens, then other people approaching.

“We’re going to roll you onto the board now so we can get you to the hospital,” another voice said as I felt different hands on my body. I didn’t even have the strength to respond. My body was beginning to feel numb.

“What’s your name?” the stranger asked.

“My name is Logan Colton”

‘Okay, Logan. Try not to expend yourself. Your injuries are pretty bad.”

I felt my body being lifted again. This time I felt my back being rested on a hard surface. Not like the pavement I’d been lying on. Then everything went black again.

“Sir? Sir? Can you hear me?” Who was yelling so loudly? Didn’t she know I was trying to sleep?

“Sir, you’re at Saint Magdalena’s. We’re going to help you.”

I didn’t respond. I was finding it hard to fight the immense desire to sleep. I could feel my body being propelled forward, but I had no control of where I was going.

“We need to get him on the operating table, stat,” I heard the lady say. Operating table? What was going on?

I felt something cold running up my leg, and then air breezing against my exposed skin.

“Sedate him now! We need to get him sewn up.”

Brooklyn

I felt around on my nightstand for my cell. It was Thursday and I was still lying in bed. One of the perks of being my own boss was that I could sleep in as late as I wanted.

I picked up the phone but didn’t recognize the number. It had
been so hot the night before it took me forever to fall asleep. Plus, I didn’t have Logan to cuddle with. He’d stayed at home last night since he and Scott had a client meeting this morning.

“Hello?” I mumbled into the receiver.

“Brooklyn?”

“Yeah, this is Brooklyn” I said, turning over in bed. I shook off the sheet I’d been sleeping under. Even with AC, the August humidity was almost unbearable
. 

“Brooklyn. It’s Trevor.”

“Trevor?” Immediately my heart stopped. There was only one reason why he’d be calling me.
Logan.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Brooklyn…shit.” He murmured. My stomach was officially in knots.

“What’s
wrong? Tell me.” I clutched the phone with my clammy hands as I waited for him to answer me.

“
Shit…okay…Logan and Scott were in a car accident.” I bolted upright in bed. Suddenly I had an urge to vomit.

“Accident? Where? Where are they? What happened?” All my questions came out in a flurry.  

“They are both at Saint Magdalena’s. I can come and pick you up. We can ride to the hospital together.”

My heart stopped completely in my chest.

“Come now!” I rattled off my address as I hopped out of bed and bolted into the bathroom. This was not happening.

Trying to bury my fear, I splashed water on my face and rushed back into my room to find something to wear. As I rummaged through my closet, it was all I could do to hold myself together. I raced back to my bed and dialed Alex’s work phone.

“Alex Cartwright speaking,” she sang into the phone. Her happy greeting wasn’t able to pull my heart out of the dark room it was locked in. If something happened to Logan….

Don’t think like that
.

“Alex,” I choked out. It was too hard for me to speak. Tears were streaming down my face.

“B? What’s wrong?” I could hear the panic in her voice. I knew I didn’t sound like myself.

“Lo…Logan is in the hospital.” My sorrow drowned out my words.

“What?” She gasped.

“Logan and Scott were in an accident” I repeated. “Alex…I need you.”

“Text me where I need to meet you. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

I tried my hardest to pull myself together after we hung up, but my efforts were useless. Every possible scenario ran through my mind as I threw on a dress and some sandals. Logan had become a huge part of my life in such a short time. I wasn’t ready to let him go. Not now. Not ever.

Forty five minutes later, Trev and I were on our way to Saint Magdalena’s. Neither one of us tried to make small talk because there was nothing worth talking about. The only person that we both had in common was lying in a hospital fighting for his life.

We only silently prayed it was a fight Logan would win.

Trev dropped me off at the
hospital entrance. “I’ll be back after I park the truck.”

“Okay,” I said, climbing out and slamming the door.

I walked up to the visitor counter. I’d walked so fast from the car that I was out of breath.

“Hi, I’m here to see a patient—
Logan Colton.” I grabbed the pen to write my name in the visitor’s log.

“Doctors have requested family only visitation. Are you related to the patient?”

“No, I am his girl…wife” I lied. I cleared my throat. “He’s been in an accident.” I discreetly slid the silver ring I was wearing from my right hand to my left.

“Print and sign your name,” she ordered. To stay consistent with my story, I printed in big bold letters, Brooklyn Colton. For a brief moment I imagine
d what it would be like to actually become Brooklyn Colton. But before that could ever happen, Logan needed to walk out of this hospital as soon as humanly possible.

The volunteer passed me an adhesive name tag. Again I wrote out my new name in girly cursive.

“He is in room,” she flipped through some pages in a binder, “4-143.”

I set down the pen on the clipboard, “Great, thank you.” I headed towards the elevator and pressed the up button. I watched the dial as the elevator stopped on the first floor. When the elevator arrived I stepped in and rode it to the fourth floor. A twinge of fear settled in my stomach. All of a sudden my feet felt like they were
being dragged down by quick-sand.

I walked underneath the fluorescent lights, looking at the door numbers mounted to the wall as I passed. By the time I made it to the end of the hallway, I still hadn’t reached my destination. The ball of nerves in my stomach grew with every step. When I turned the corner, Olivia and Logan Sr. were standing outside of Logan’s room. Unlike the other times
I’d seen Olivia; she was dressed casually in yoga pants and a fitted t-shirt with sneakers. Even in grunge gear, she still looked well put together in her hot pink and black ensemble.

“Olivia?” My voice came out in a whisper.

Logan’s mom immediately turned to me, “Brooklyn, thank goodness you’re here.” She stepped forward and enveloped me in a warm hug. As she held me, I caught a whiff of her gardenia perfume.

We pulled away from one another. “How is he doing?” I asked.

“He’s alright, for now. It was touch and go for a while. The doctors want to keep him to make sure he doesn’t have any more black
-outs or internal bleeding they didn’t catch already. He’s sleeping right now, though. The nurse gave him something for the pain. He banged his head and scrapped his arms up pretty badly. His leg is broken in two places.”

I took a deep breath. I didn’t know what to expect when I walked into his room.

“He was asking for you a while ago,” she continued. “Laura is in the room with him. Slip on in there before they piece together that Logan doesn’t have a Mrs. Colton,” she said warmly.