Page 14 of Whenever You Call

Breathe in, breathe out.

Breathe in, breathe out.

In… out.

In…

Out…

In…

My head rolled forward, but then a strong pair of arms curled around me until I was hoisted up as though I weighed nothing. I curled into the unknown body, resting my head against a strong and fast heartbeat as my hand clung onto a damp shirt.

Da dum… da dum… da dum.

“Take control of your breathing, Hannah,” the man said above me, his breath falling softly against my hair. “You’re in charge now; the panic isn’t.”

By the time I was carefully laid down onto something soft and padded, the sensation began to return to my fingers and toes. My heart slowed. The cool sweat at the back of my neck warmed. The heat of the sun settled on my face as someone lifted my arm and began to press their thumb against the pulse in my wrist.

“Her pulse is slowing,” he said, though it sounded as though he was talking to someone else. “No, we don’t need to bag her. She’s already coming around. You guys take off. I won’t be far behind. I’ve got everything I need here.”

Another voice said something in response, but I couldn’t quite make it out.

My head rolled on the gurney while my chest rose and fell heavily.

“Hannah?”

His voice had me opening my eyes and staring up at the cloudless sky.

“Take a deep breath in, and then let it out slowly,” he said. “That’s it. Just like that.”

I did as I was told, one breath after the other until my body slowly began to calm, and then Logan leaned over me, his face blocking out the sun until his dark shaggy hair and his concerned brown eyes were all I could see. Framed against the bright blue sky, he looked like a work of art—one you’d find hanging in a museum for millions of tourists to stare at, each of them dumbfounded that someone like him could ever have been painted, let alone existed. His strong, stubbled jaw created a flawless structure that housed a perfectly angular nose and those warm, deep, soul-searching eyes that somehow sucked a person in, refusing to ever let go.

“You,” I whispered.

“Hey,” he said with a half-smile.

“You’re here. Again…”

“Some women get all the luck.” The way he looked at me should have knocked the wind out of me had it not already deserted my entire being.

I willed myself to picture Cole. Only Cole. I closed my eyes for just a second before I opened them again, but there Logan stayed. I hadn’t been dreaming. He was really here, seeing me having yet another breakdown.

Embarrassment tore through me, and I tried to sit up too quickly, only for my head to spin out of control again and for Logan to gently push me back down, his hand on my chest.

“Easy now. We’ve got a few checks to run on you yet.”

“No. Those people… in the crash…”

“They’re all taken care of and on their way to the hospital as we speak.”

“But—”

“And that’s where I’m taking you right now.”

“Oh, no.” I tried to sit up again, but his hand on my chest wouldn’t allow it, and I flopped back onto the gurney in defeat, my breaths pouring out of me.

I couldn’t go to the hospital. Not yet. Not so soon after Cole…

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