Page 84 of A Summer Mismatch
Sure, that’s what he meant. She folded her arms in an attempt to protect herself from her hurt at the thought of him avoiding her.
“We’ve been worried we might lose Adia,” Kai continued.
Julia dropped her arms and swiveled toward Kai. “What?” She knew Adia wasn’t feeling well, that Logan was keeping a close watch on her, but not that things had been so bad.
“A virus entered her bloodstream,” he explained. “She’s been dehydrated and listless, and Logan’s been working with her around the clock since Friday.”
“Friday? But I was with him Friday night!”
“He got the test results in Friday night. He came straight over from the gala, in his suit and everything. He didn’t tell you?”
She shook her head. “There was a lot going on that night, and he left before we could talk. And he hasn’t answered my calls.”
Kai leaned his back against the railing, facing her. “His phone has alternated between being dead and being charged, but still turned off because he forgot it died, over the last three days. Then when he’s here, he’s working tirelessly with Adia. And in the six hours I can convince him to go home, he’s sleeping. There’s a really good chance he doesn’t even realize you’ve called.”
All the air left her lungs. “I had no idea.”
Kai gave her a grim smile. “You must not follow us on social media. Our PR person has been posting about it nonstop. It’s been bringing in a lot of donations, though, which is nice.”
“I’m not on social media much,” she admitted. Her sister, Eliana, was an influencer, and though Julia was proud of her hard work in gaining so many followers, all the platforms had a way of magnifying her own inadequacies, so other than updating her author page every few weeks, she stayed off. “How’s Logan doing?”
“Honestly, not great.” He glanced over his shoulder to where Lulu half-heartedly swung her trunk back and forth before turning back to Julia. “An elephant we worked with in Africa died a few months ago, and it hit him really hard. And I know this brings back memories of his mom too. He’s just trying to do everything he can to save her.”
”Is it going to work?” she whispered.
“I hope so. If anyone can help Adia, it’s Logan.” He cracked his knuckles in a worried way. “But if something does happen to her, it will not be his fault, and I’m worried he won’t see it that way.”
Suddenly all her concerns about the Watermelon Gala didn’t seem quite so terrible. “Is he home, sleeping right now?” she asked.
“Yeah. I dropped him off after lunch. He was here all night, and he’ll be back tonight.”
“Don’t you have other vets that can help?”
“We do. And a vet from the Orlando Zoo is on-call as well, but Logan is determined to be at her side as much as possible.”
Julia’s heart swelled at the thought of Logan’s generous soul. She was not going to give up on him, and she sure hoped she could convince him not to give up on her either.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Logan
Loganhadnoideawhat day it was. Wednesday? Thursday? The sun was setting, so at least he could still tell the difference between morning and night.
He yawned so wide it cracked his jaw. He needed more than six hours of sleep at a time. He needed to call his sister and check on her. He needed to see Julia.
He needed Adia to get better.
She had started to improve on Tuesday night, and had steadily gotten more energy as the days went on. Logan grabbed an apple and went to the elephant stall.
“Adia. Hello, sweet girl.”
Adia ambled over, a word he never thought he’d use to characterize an elephant’s walk, but there was no other way to describe it. He dropped the apple onto the ground and she picked it up eagerly, her ears flapping back and forth in happiness. It seemed as though her appetite was coming back as well, which was a positive sign.
Her vitals were within normal limits.
Her bloodwork was showing decreasing signs of the virus still in her system.
She was gaining more energy and being more interactive with Logan and her keepers.
