Page 3 of Until You Found Me

“I am. I promise, I am. Have a seat right over there. I’ll come get you when I know more.”

The gurney is wheeled toward a pair of double doors that say no admittance, but he trails behind anyway, desperate to see what they’re doing. He can’t abandon her now. What if she needs something? What if she wakes up and she’s confused? What if—

“Logan?” Audrey stops him with a hand on his chest. “You’ve done everything you can right now. She’s in good hands. Go get some coffee and dry off.”

And then the gurney rolls past those doors and around a curve until he’s left alone with nothing but the beep of heart monitors in another room and the smell of stale coffee.

* * *

He drinks two cups of acid that curdles his already rolling stomach and bangs on the vending machine to release the chips he paid for. Washes a stranger’s blood off his hands and down the drain in the sort of shock that he rarely feelsunless he’s been off insulin for too long. It’s only then that he realizes he looks straight out of a murder scene. Her blood is encrusted into his clothes and skin. He scrubs his palms raw until the water runs clear, but it still doesn’t feel like enough.

He’s fetched a spare shirt from the truck and gone through two episodes of mind-numbing talk shows in the waiting room before Audrey shows up again.

His heart sinks at her grim frown. “Is she…”

“She’s alive.”

He lets out an exhale of relief. “What the hell happened to her?”

“Other than blunt force trauma to the head, it’s hard to say. No ID on her, either, and even if I had more info, I can’t exactly share it with you.”

“Right. Okay. Can I see her?”

“She’s not awake yet and you’re not family.”

Logically, Audrey is right. He doesn’t know this person and he’s got no business hanging around, but leaving her here alone feels wrong, too. He needs to see her awake and know she’ll be okay before he can wash his hands of this and move on. “Please? Just lemme sit with her?”

“Logan, it’s against the rules.”

“Rules? Come on, since when do we care about those?” He remembers all the times he sold weed to Audrey in high school behind the bleachers and all the joints she’s bought from him even now. “I won’t do anything but sit there. If she wakes up, I’ll hit the call button right away. There’s only three people here anyway.”

She rubs her temples with a slight growl under her breath. “Okay, but if anyone asks that isn’t me, you tell them you’re family. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“And if she wakes up, hit the button first. Don’t have a whole conversation and scare the daylights out of her.”

“Why do you think I’d scare her?” He huffs, following Audrey down the hall.

“Not you specifically. We don’t know how she’s going to react. She’s been through the wringer. She needs it quiet and calm.”

“Quiet and calm. I can do that.”

She pauses in front of the door with her hand on the knob. “And I would like a discount next time I see you. I’m running low.”

He snorts in amusement. “Deal.”

“This is only because I know you, Logan. Because I’ve known you since we were both in diapers. Anyone else wouldn’t get within five feet of her. I hope you understand the kind of trust this takes. Don’t make me regret it.”

“I won’t. I promise.”

And with that, she opens the door to reveal a small bed with stark white sheets and a freshly clean woman that hardly resembles the one he found.

“Might be good for her to wake up with someone here,” Audrey says quietly. “She’ll probably be scared. Quiet and calm, remember?”

He nods. He barely says ten words a day anyway unless he’s forced to go into town. Won’t have any trouble being quiet. When the door clicks shut and all he can hear is the rhythmic beeping of her heart monitor, he pulls a chair up to her bedside, remaining a safe distance away.

There are still traces of dirt under her fingernails, but the rest is gone along with the blood on her skin and in her hair.It’s the prettiest shade of red he’s ever seen now, shimmering even in this crappy fluorescent light. There’s a little bandage nestled past her ear before it curves around to the back of her head, showing him where all that blood came from.

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