Page 135 of Whenever You Call

“He’s fighting like hell to get back to you.”

“He’d better be.”

Two more days had passed since I first begged him to open his eyes, but he remained in the same condition. Thankfully, being able to be close to him had given me enough strength to finally eat and drink something—to take care of myself for all of us, because when he did wake, he’d need me. It was only a matter of time.

I felt it in my very soul.

Kate had been on the phone constantly, hating that she couldn’t be by my side, but somewhat reassured when I told her I had everything I needed in Livia and my daughter. Kate’s life had to go on, even when ours had come to a standstill again.

Bella stared at her iPad while sitting on the chair beside me, lost in another movie Liv had downloaded to make the time pass quicker because she refused to go home.

“She’s so brave,” I said quietly. “So strong and determined all the time.”

“She takes after her parents,” Livia said, bringing my attention back to her.

“More like Cole, you mean.”

Livia raised a brow and sipped her coffee. “Cole isn’t the one to spend eight days in a hospital, uncomfortable, hungry, and exhausted, just to make sure the one he loves keeps breathing.” Reaching up, she rubbed at my arm. “Take the time to recognize your own strengths, Hannah. You may be surprised what you find when you do.”

I didn’t have time to respond when Dr. Young came around the corner, her white coat like a kite behind her, catching my attention. Her movements were fast—no trace of a confident smile on her face as she drew closer.

My blood chilled, and the icy fear of bad news made goosebumps spread over every part of me.

No. No, no, no, no. Don’t let this be it. Please don’t let this be it.

“Hannah,” she said in a hurry, coming to a stop in front of us. “We need you.”

I handed my hot coffee to Livia before I turned to give the doctor my full attention. “Wh-what’s going on?”

“Come with me,” she said, breathlessly.

Livia and Bella looked at me with fear in their eyes before I turned and followed Dr. Young blindly. I was too afraid to ask what had happened again. Too scared that this was the end, and I was about to say another goodbye I’d never recover from, but when we came to a stop outside Logan’s room, where the door was open and several nurses dashed in and out, the doctor turned to me with her now-familiar smile, and those goosebumps on my skin meant something else entirely.

“It’s good news,” she finally said.

All I could hear was the constant beeping of machinery and the background voices of those who fought every day to save lives when what I wanted to hear the most was:He’s back, Hannah. He’s alive.

“There’s been a slight change in some of Mr. Thomas’s stats. Positive ones. We’ve been monitoring them for a few hours, and the last time the nurse went in to check on him, she saw something.”

“What?” I breathed.

“Movement of his eyes. It was only small, but it was there, and then Mr. Thomas’s hand twitched.”

“Could that be a muscle spasm, or—?”

“Let’s see, shall we?” She tipped her head to the side. “Want to go and see if he’s finally ready to answer your call?”

The fact she knew how important that saying was to me now should have made me feel embarrassed. Instead, it made my heart swell with love and hope and thoughts of an ever after I craved so badly, I physically ached. Without even waiting for her instruction, I walked into the room and over to Logan’s bed.

The nurses continued to test wires around him, stare at the monitors, and fiddle with more equipment as they let me slide in by his side, the same way I’d done for the last two days. Once there, I brought his hand up to my mouth as carefully as I could.

Leaning closer so he could hear me, I let his knuckles brush against my cheek the way he’d always done whenever he’d tried to comfort me.

“Logan,” I pushed out roughly before swallowing the thick lump of pain in my throat. “Is it true? Is this the day you come back to me?”

Nothing happened.

With my free hand, I ran my fingertips over his jaw, his cheeks, his brow, his nose, letting him feel me there beside him.

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