I wasn’t sure how much longer I sat there, but it must have been a while because I was completely numb. It finally registered in my brain that if I didn’t get down from this roof, I would probably freeze to death up here.
I made my way over to the ladder and started to climb down. It took me a long time because I had to concentrate to get my fingers to wrap around the rungs and to make sure my foot was actually on the step. I was about five feet from the ground when my foot slipped on the rung and I lost my grip. I fell to the ground and pain shot up my leg. I couldn’t tell what had happened because my mind was in such a fog. I just knew I needed to get someplace safe. I hobbled down the street until I came to a cross street that had a few cars. I hurried over and waved down a few cars, but none of them stopped.
Finally, I was able to flag down a cab. The driver was older and had a kind face. He got out of his car and came to my side.
“Ma’am, are you okay?”
“No,” I managed to whisper. “I need to go to the hospital. Can you take me?”
The cabbie didn’t say another word. He ushered me quickly into the front seat and got back in the car, speeding off to the hospital. I knew that if Vira had been shot, she would have been taken in, so I would start there. I needed to make sure she was okay.
The cabbie cranked up the heat and ten minutes later, we were pulling up to the emergency room entrance. He got out of his side and came around to help me out. I gripped on to his arm as we walked through the doors. I wasn’t sure how much longer my legs would hold me up, but I was hoping it would be long enough to find Vira.
There was a flurry of activity as we walked further into the ER. People in scrubs came running towards me and started asking me questions. When they started grabbing at me, my heartbeat picked up and I started to scream. I didn’t want anyone touching me. I just wanted to find my friend.
“Cece! Cece!” Logan’s voice broke through the chaos and I sighed in relief when I saw him running towards me. When he wrapped his arms around me, I finally broke, collapsing into his body. My legs wouldn’t hold me up any more, so I let Logan pick me up and carry me over and set me down on something. The ceiling was moving above me as I felt myself being wheeled down a hallway. Logan stayed by me and held my hand, concern marring his handsome face. I had never been so happy to see anyone in all my life. Tears spilled down my cheeks at the realization that I might never have seen his face again if I hadn’t gotten away.
As we went through some doors, I heard someone tell Logan he wasn’t allowed back with me. He started arguing with the nurse, but she told him she would call security if he didn’t go to the waiting room. I wanted to fight for him to stay, but exhaustion was pulling me under and my eyes slid shut.
✯✯✯✯✯
When I woke, the first thing I noticed was that I was warm again. The second thing I noticed was that my body hurt everywhere. Opening my eyes, I was grateful that the room was dark. Even the small light in the corner burned my retinas. I closed my eyes and mentally took stock of my body. My hands hurt and I could feel some kind of wrap or gauze on them. My whole right side hurt and I tried to think back to what caused it. It must have been when I jumped from the car. I didn’t feel anything at the time, but I most likely didn’t escape that jump unscathed. My right thigh felt tight, like it should hurt, but that was all I felt. As far as I could tell, that was all as far as injuries, but my whole body ached, like I needed a lot of rest.
I opened my eyes once again and looked around the room. Logan was sitting in the chair next to my bed with his eyes closed. I should probably let him sleep, but I needed to find out about Vira. Moving felt like it was too difficult, so I had to use my voice.
“Logan.” My voice came out raspy and low, so I cleared my throat and tried again.
“Logan.”
His gorgeous eyes opened and looked right at me. I had never been so happy to see him in all my life. We stared at each other for a moment before he leaned forward and grabbed my hand, blowing out a long breath.
“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”
“How’s Vira?”
“She’s doing okay. He shot her in the shoulder.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, staring at the ceiling. It could have been so much worse. I had seen him pointing that gun at her and all I could think was that my best friend was dead and it was all my fault. Tears filled my eyes, but I took a deep breath, willing my body not to break down right now.
“How are you feeling?”
“My body aches, but I think in a few days I’ll be fine.”
Logan stood up and leaned over my bed, his eyes finding mine and forcing me to look at him. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there. We thought you would be safe in there together.”
“Please don’t blame yourself. We’re both okay and that’s what I want to focus on.”
He sat down on the edge of my bed and held my hand, brushing his fingers over my wrist. It was awkward because I didn’t know what we were doing. I mean, we had been fighting, but then something happened in the club and I felt like things had changed, but now? Now I had no clue if he wanted me back or if he was just helping me to stay calm in the club. Part of me didn’t want to know. I liked the idea that I could imagine that he wanted me back because if he didn’t, I’m not sure my heart could handle that right now.
We sat in silence for a few minutes and I felt myself dropping off to sleep again. I wanted to stay awake and look at Logan some more, to see for myself that I was really back here where I was safe. I was afraid that the next time I woke up, I would be back on that roof or worse, in my attacker’s presence again. I fought to keep my eyes open, but they kept drifting shut, only for me to jerk them back open.
“Go back to sleep. I promise I won’t leave.”
“Will you lie down with me?”
“I don’t think I’ll fit in this bed.”
“I’ll scoot over.”
I tried sitting up to move over, but pain shot through my body and I moaned at the movement.
“Shit. Cece, let me help you.” He walked around to the other side of the bed and worked his hands under my body and gently pulled me over to the side of the bed. Then he walked back around and kicked off his shoes before climbing into the bed with me. He moved his arm behind my body and pulled me in close. I rested my head on his chest and let my eyes drift closed. I needed him more than I was willing to admit at the moment. The only question was, would he still want me once he found out who I really was?
✯✯✯✯✯
We were waiting for my release papers and Logan was fussing over me, making sure I was warm enough. He had gone to my apartment and gotten me some sweatpants, a sweatshirt, and some warm, fuzzy socks. It wasn’t exactly stylish, but at the moment, I was fine with comfort. We had fought over where I was going to be staying over the next few days. I wanted to go to my apartment and be with Vira, but when Logan figured out that was the reason, he started laughing. Apparently, Sean had plans to take Vira back to his place so he could watch over her, so there was no reason for me not to go with Logan.
I was discharged after being in the hospital for a day and a half. I had been out of it for the first day and luckily, my injuries weren’t enough to warrant a longer stay in the hospital. I ached all over, but what I really needed was rest. When I went to get dressed before I was discharged, I took a good look at myself in the mirror and saw that my entire right side was covered in bruises. I also had a deep puncture wound in my thigh from when I fell off the fire escape. I had fallen on a piece of metal and it had torn a deep hole, but luckily didn’t cause much damage. I was on antibiotics for the next ten days and they gave me some pain pills which I gladly took. I wasn’t into that kind of pain. If something hurt, I wanted to feel better.
Logan brought in the wheelchair for me and took me down to his truck where my luggage was waiting. He had already planned to take me home with him and had packed accordingly. An officer had stopped by my hospital room this morni
ng, but Logan told the officer he could find me at his place later today. I was happy with the interference because I didn’t want to make a trip down to the station. In fact, I mostly wanted to stay indoors, away from prying eyes.
When we got to his house, I insisted on walking, which I regretted once we got inside. My leg was killing me and I needed to sit down before I fell down. It wasn’t just my leg, it was the combination of my whole body hurting and my leg wound. Plopping down on the couch, I sighed in relief, knowing it would have been easier to accept help.
“I think you need to call in to your boss and take a few days off work.”
“I don’t think I can. I’ve already taken off time and I’m still the new employee. I don’t want to give them a reason to fire me.”
“That’s bullshit. You were attacked at the office. It’s not like this is all happening outside of work. Call them and request some time off.” I gave him a stern look that said I wasn’t going to do what he said. “I’m serious. You call now and do it, or I’ll chain you to the bed and call myself.”
“Logan, I don’t need you to tell me what to do. I’m perfectly capable..”
I didn’t get to finish my sentence because he covered my mouth with his hand, stopping me from saying what I wanted to. His eyes darkened as he brought his whole body in closer to mine. I could feel his breath on my face as he practically sat on top of me.
“I don’t want to hear one more time about how you are capable of taking care of yourself. You proved that the other night. Please. Do this for me. I need to take care of you and make sure you have everything you need. Stop running from me and just go with whatever’s happening here.”
My throat constricted and I had a hard time getting anything to come out, so I nodded my agreement. “Does this mean I’m forgiven?”
“There was never anything to forgive. I’ll admit, my ego was a little damaged, but nothing I can’t recover from.”
“I’m so sorry that I did that to you. When I was on the roof, waiting for him to leave, all I could think of was how much I regretted pushing you away. I was afraid that I would never see you again.” We hadn’t really talked yet about all that happened, but I had given him a general idea. The police had to come by this afternoon, so he would hear everything then.
“I’m not going anywhere.” His hand ran down my face, caressing the bruises from my fall. He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on my lips. I needed more from him, but he was trying to be gentle until I was healed. He pulled back and sat down next to me on the couch, linking his hand in mine and pulling me down to lie on his lap. We laid in silence with me drifting in and out for most of the morning. I looked around his house, noticing that there was a lot of new stuff.
“Why did you get new furniture?”
“The old stuff was damaged when the house flooded. It might have been okay, but I didn’t want to risk getting mold. I got new carpeting also because the other stuff had a weird smell, but the wood was able to be dried out and salvaged.”
I felt horrible. I was an evil person. My need for revenge had taken me too far over the edge. I didn’t even recognize myself anymore. Sure I had changed over the years, but I used to be a sweet girl that took into consideration everyone else before myself. Now I was destroying Logan’s life all in the name of revenge. I was about to tell Logan who I really was when there was a knock on the door, which was no doubt the police coming to take my statement. Logan eased me into a sitting position and got up to answer the door.
Two officers were standing in the doorway glaring at Logan like he was a murderer.
“Logan Walker?”
“Yes.”
“You are under arrest for destruction of property at Disco Fever last night. Officer Calloway, cuff him and read him his rights.”
The officer yanked Logan’s arms behind his back and started reading him his rights, while the other officer smirked at him. I could see the anger pouring off Logan. I didn’t understand what was going on. I got off the couch as quickly as I could and walked over to the door trying to figure out what was going on.
“Excuse me, what are you arresting him for? He was trying to rescue me last night.”
“Ma’am, you need to step back before we arrest you for interfering in an arrest. Now stand back.”
He put his hands on me and pushed me backwards on my bad leg. Pain shot through me and I teetered falling into the officer putting cuffs on Logan. I tried to grab his arm so I wouldn’t fall down, but I wasn’t fast enough and I fell into him, knocking him to the ground. In a flash, the second officer had me on my stomach and was wrenching my arms behind my back. Logan lost it and was struggling against the cuffs, screaming at the officers not to touch me. I heard Officer Sawyer get on his mic and request backup for two suspects resisting arrest.
Everything went by in a flurry after that. Police officers showed up at the house, Sean being one of them, and Logan and I were hauled into separate police cars. We were taken to the station, but Sean had us out before we could be processed. I was terrified the whole time and I didn’t have a clue what was happening. Nobody would talk to me. We had been brought into separate holding rooms to wait for the chief to sort out what had happened. I could hear a flurry of activity in the hallway, shouting and loud bangs. Sean came into the holding room after fifteen minutes and had another officer take the cuffs off me. He told me not to speak until we were outside. I limped along behind him as he guided me out of the holding cell and over to the chief’s office.
The chief asked me a few questions about what happened and then apologized for what happened, telling me both officers were being placed on suspension. Apparently, they had done this to other people as well, a friend of Sean’s being one of them. They were also the officers that had been harassing Logan, something that I knew to be my fault. I was pretty sure these were the officers that Vira had an in with and I couldn’t say anything without getting her in trouble. I needed to talk to her as soon as possible to see why this was still going on. After I was attacked, I asked Vira to talk to her friend, Eric, who I now know as Officer Eric Sawyer, and we agreed to put an end to this. I didn’t understand why this was still going on. I had to be missing something here.
Sean led me out of the police station where Logan was waiting for me. I walked into his waiting arms, but guilt took over as he comforted me because I knew the truth. Everything crappy that had happened to him in the past month was my fault and if I had any hope of having a future with him, I was going to have to tell him the truth. I would talk to Vira and we would try to figure this out, but one thing was certain, I was either telling him the truth or walking out of his life forever.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Logan
I couldn’t figure it out. For some reason, these assholes had it out for me. All the other officers in the police department were great cops, but these two seemed to have it out for any citizen they didn’t like. Harper had been on the receiving end of their anger also. If Sean hadn’t heard the call, I’m not sure how long we would have been stuck there. Not to mention, Cece had already had a shit couple of days and then she got manhandled by two asshole cops. I could tell she was hurting when she walked out of the police station with Sean. She was limping pretty badly and Sean looked like he was ready to pick her up and carry her.
When she collapsed in my arms, it took everything in me to not walk back into the police station and beat the crap out of Sawyer. He was the one that cuffed her like a criminal after he pushed her. I needed to get her home and getting thrown in jail was not the answer right now. I just wanted to lie down in bed with her and hold her in my arms. Once we got home though, Sean had to get her statement about what happened the other night.
Sean and I had already filed a report about what happened that night. We had walked back with the girls to the bathroom and we’d assumed all was clear. Big mistake. No one had seen the guy all night and we let our guard down. When Sean tried to open the door and we realized it was locked, I went
ballistic. It took a few tries, but I broke the door down. It had been too late though. We heard the gunshot a minute before I got us in and the fear I felt was indescribable. I felt even worse when I saw that it was Vira that had been shot because I was relieved that it wasn’t Cece. What kind of person did that make me? Cece was long gone by the time we got in there and a new kind of fear took over. Fear that I would never see her again, and not because I chose to walk away, but because a psychopath had her and I had let her slip through my fingers.
I spent an hour driving around looking for her, but I didn’t even know where to go. We had no leads to look into. No one had seen anything. I went back to the hospital in case she showed up there. Hours passed when finally she walked through the ER doors. She looked almost blue and she had blood running down her leg. When they wouldn’t let me back with her, Sean had to restrain me to keep me from getting thrown out of the hospital. When they finally let me in to see her, they said she had minor injuries and she could be released when she woke up. I stayed with her the whole day and that night. They had tried to make me leave, but Sean convinced them it would be best for me to stay considering she was a kidnap victim.
Guilt ate at me the longer she stayed asleep. The doctors told me her body was recovering and she would wake up when she was ready, but all I saw was that I let her down. I had promised to protect her in that club and I made a huge error in judgment, one I would never forgive myself for.
When we got back to the house from the police station, I helped Cece inside, taking her to the couch and wrapping her in a blanket. I didn’t know if she was cold, but I wanted her to be comforted and a blanket was comforting. I went into the kitchen to grab some coffee for her and I grabbed snacks for her also. I’d make dinner later. I carried everything in on a tray and set it on the coffee table in front of her. Sean was standing in the doorway watching me, but I couldn’t look at either of them. I needed to take care of Cece right now. That’s what needed to be done. Looking at the tray, I saw there was no cream or sugar. I started towards the kitchen when Cece stopped me.
Logan Page 15
