“They grabbed her keys and were gone before I knew what happened. I would have taken them myself, but I can’t leave until a deputy arrives and takes my statement about what happened.”
“Christ, you’re the one who found her?”
“I’d taken Max for a walk. When we got back . . . Max freaked out and attacked the guy before I knew what was happening.” She lost it again and began crying uncontrollably. “Oh, God, Logan, what if she doesn’t make it?”
“Jamie,” Logan said her name gently, but she didn’t respond. Seconds later the phone was pulled from his hand and Ty began murmuring softly as they climbed inside his cab and took off.
Logan spent the first half hour praying while Ty calmed Jamie down. Once he was done and hung up the phone, neither man spoke, and the silence in the cab was deafening. Neither would say the words they were thinking: what if Skylar dies?
The landscape passed them by in a blur. He neither noted nor cared that the stark contrast between the snow and the deep green of the pines was beautiful as the rolling hills and mountains gave way to flatter pastureland the closer they got to Bozeman. All Logan could think about was it had taken him twenty-eight years to finally be where he was supposed to be. To find who God had designed specifically for him, and it could all be taken away from him.
It took just over an hour to reach the hospital. Logan had broken the speed limit by twenty miles per hour the whole way and hadn’t encountered a single trooper. When he rolled to a stop in front of the emergency room, he’d barely put the truck in park before he barreled out of it and ran inside. You needed a number to speak with the admitting nurse, but Logan ignored the instructions and rushed to the window, demanding, “Take me to Skylar James.”
“Sir, you’ll have to take a seat and wait your—”
He didn’t have time for red tape. He needed to see for himself Skylar was still alive, so he put both hands on the counter and dove through the opening as the nurse cried out and dodged his body. He hit the ground and rolled then got to his feet. He began searching frantically for the tiny woman who had come to mean everything to him. Techs and doctors moved aside as he prowled the hallway like a caged animal, throwing back curtains as he went, ignoring surprised patients’ gasps. Security showed within minutes with their hands resting on their weapons. Logan ignored them both and turned his attention to one of the doctors watching him.
“Where is Skylar James?”
“Sir, you need to come with us,” a security officer stated.
“Take me . . . to Skylar James,” he ordered on a growl, whipping out his badge from his hip pocket. “NOW!”
A middle-aged nurse with kind eyes stepped forward, while the rest stared at him in fear. She said, “Follow me,” and Logan moved, glaring at the rest of the staff as he left. “She’s in surgery for a lacerated spleen. You can wait in the surgical waiting room with the rest of her family. The doctor will be out to speak with you once the surgery is complete.”
The adrenaline that kept him going crashed the moment he knew Skylar was still alive. He followed the nurse on sluggish legs as he rapid-fired questions at her.
“Will she lose her spleen?”
“It depends on how bad the tear is.”
“Did she ever regain consciousness?”
“No. I’m sorry.”
“What is her prognosis?”
“We’ll have to wait and see if she wakes up after surgery. She’s on a ventilator until the swelling in her throat reduces and she can breathe on her own. We won’t know if there is damage to her larynx until we extubate her after she wakes up. It’s a waiting game at this point. We’ll know more once she’s out of surgery.”
They entered a waiting room with muted colors and stiff furniture meant to hold up to years of wear and tear as families waited for news about their loved ones. Jake and Josh were both sitting next to each other when Logan entered. Josh stood first and then Jake followed. Logan made his way over to them on swift feet. Josh looked ready to crumble and Jake looked ready to explode. And he did the second Logan was close enough. Logan