Of Loss & Betrayal (Madison & Logan 2)

“You can come in,” Emily said. “We’re all done.”

Mack strolled in with the coffees and pulled another chair over for Emily. She gave him a curt thank you as she took the proffered coffee and sat down. In another situation, I would have laughed at how discomfited she was by Mack. She definitely had an instant crush on him, and was pissed and trying to fight it. Later, when Logan was awake and okay, I would warn her about his womanizing ways.

Both Mack and Emily stayed until the afternoon, despite my insistence that they go to work. I knew how heavy Emily’s workload was right now, and Mack undoubtedly had a lot of things he was ignoring since he had come to Chicago for work.

Doctors and nurses were in and out throughout the day, but there were no new updates. Thankfully, the previous robotic nurse had been replaced with one who actually seemed human. Mack went out and got us lunch, and we silently ate our sandwiches until Emily turned on the TV so that there were other sounds besides us chewing. Through it all, Logan just lay there, still as death.

Emily checked her watch and sighed. “I hate to leave but Lola needs to go out.”

“Please go,” I insisted. “I’m grateful for you staying today, but I know you have so much going on. And the poor dog needs to pee and eat.” I turned to Mack. “You too. I know you have work to do. I really appreciate you staying, but I’m okay. I’ll look after Logan.”

After some protests from Mack, they both finally left, and then it was just Logan and me. I started talking to him, hoping that he could hear me on some level. I talked about nothing of significance. Just things that popped into my head, or comments about whatever was coming on the TV that had been left on. Hours passed, and I talked until my throat was dry, willing a response from Logan, but he just lay there, silent.

It was getting dark and I stared out the window into the night. I was lost in my thoughts when I heard the door open. I was surprised to see Mack walk in. He smiled and held up a bag of takeout. “Both of us have to eat dinner. I figured it was better not to eat alone.”

Despite my earlier insistence that he leave, I was glad Mack was back. My stomach grumbled at the smell of food. “Thanks,” I said simply, not fighting his kindness. “I appreciate it.”

We dug into the Thai food, not saying much. The TV was still on but it was just background noise, neither of us paying attention to it. After we were both done eating, Mack turned to a sports channel and leaned back, propping his feet up. I didn’t ask him why he was staying. I was happy for the company.

I didn’t know how much time had passed, but I felt myself dozing off. I kept catching myself and waking up, but the fatigue was hard to fight. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up.

“You really need to get some sleep,” Mack said with a concerned look. “You’re going to make yourself sick.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but before I could say anything, his eyes widened. He wasn’t looking at me anymore. He was looking at Logan. I shot my head around to look at him, and my heart almost burst out of my chest in happiness. He was awake! Logan was awake!

“Logan,” I said softly, not wanting to startle him. His eyes shifted from Mack’s face to mine. “You’re in the hospital. We were in an accident. But you’re okay.”

His expression turned confused and when he spoke, his voice was hoarse from disuse. “Accident? What kind of accident?”

“A car accident,” I explained. “A drunk driver hit us last night when we were driving home from dinner with Mack. You don’t remember any of it?”

Logan shook his head and then winced in pain. I heard Mack behind me paging the doctor but I kept my attention on Logan. “You don’t remember the accident or you don’t remember us going to dinner with Mack?”

“I don’t remember either,” Logan croaked. “We went to dinner together?”

I frowned at him. It was an odd question to ask. “Yes. We went to meet Mack since he’s in town for work.”

“Who’s Mack?”

I swallowed hard, taken aback by his answer. “Your friend, Mack. You guys went to law school together.” Logan expression still remained confused. He pulled his hand out of mine.

I turned to Mack, panic rising. Did Logan have brain damage? “He doesn’t remember you. He doesn’t know who you are.” I heard my voice rising in fear and paused, trying to rein in my emotions. Logan needed me to stay calm.

“Let’s wait for the doctor to get here,” Mack said, although he looked just as worried.

It seemed forever until a doctor came in. He checked Logan over, and then asked him a few questions about current events, such as who the President of the Unite

d States was. I let out a breath of relief when he answered them all correctly. I was even more relieved when he was able to state where he worked and his address and phone number.

“It’s so weird that he remembers all of that but he doesn’t remember you,” I commented, looking at Mack.

“It’s not uncommon for a person to lose memory from only certain parts of their life while retaining the memory of others,” the doctor said. He turned back to Logan, gesturing towards Mack. “Do you know this man?”

Logan shook his head. “No.” He grimaced at Mack. “Sorry.”

“What about her?” the doctor asked, nodding towards me. I opened my mouth to protest. Of course he knew who I was. It was Mack he couldn’t remember. Whatever I had been about to say died on my lips when I saw him shake his head.

“I don’t know who she is, either.”