Of Loss & Betrayal (Madison & Logan 2)

I looked at her, confused. “A note?”

Emily bit her lip. “You said you were unhappy and didn’t want to live anymore. You were tired of pretending.” She dropped her eyes, staring at her hands. “You said you couldn’t keep pretending that you loved Logan when you were really staying wit

h him because you felt sorry for him because he lost his memory. You said you wanted to escape him and your miserable life.” She looked up again, tears in her eyes. “You should have told me, Madison. You should have told me how unhappy you were. You didn’t have to do this.”

I shook my head. “No, that isn’t right.” I tried to concentrate, and then suddenly it came flooding back to me. “Kristina made me take them,” I exclaimed. “She said she would shoot me if I didn’t take the sleeping pills and then she would kill Logan too. She probably forged the suicide note. I heard shuffling before she came into my room. She was probably looking for something with my handwriting so she could copy it.”

Emily looked uneasy. “I think you’re just confused. Maybe you dreamed that’s what happened.”

“It’s true,” I insisted, growing desperate that she believe me. “I would never try to kill myself. Not after Cassie.”

My room door swung open and Logan walked in. There were dark circles under his eyes and he looked like he had aged ten years. His expression brightened when he saw me.

“You’re awake!” He moved quickly to my bed, glancing at Emily. “You should have gotten me.”

“I just found her awake,” Emily said. She hesitated before continuing. “She’s a little confused about what happened.”

Logan’s expression sobered. The corners of his mouth turned down as he looked at me. “What do you remember?”

They needed to stop talking to me like I was a child who didn’t understand what was going on. “I didn’t try to kill myself,” I said emphatically. “Kristina wanted to get rid of me so she made it seem like I committed suicide.”

Logan raised a disbelievingly eyebrow, so I continued to spill everything that had happened, willing for him to believe me.

I made a sound of frustration as both Emily and Logan just continued to watch with me worried looks after I was done. “Where’s Kristina? She’s probably upset that she didn’t succeed in getting rid of me. We need to tell the police so she’s arrested.”

“Kristina’s back in L.A.,” Logan said gently. “She left a couple of days ago. Before you took the pills.”

I shook my head. “No, that’s not true. How do you know she went back to L.A. a couple of days ago? Did you check her ticket?”

Logan frowned. “No, but I didn’t see her before she left. She called me to tell me she was leaving.”

Why would no one believe me? I wanted to scream in frustration. Just then, a nurse walked in. When she saw that I was awake, she paged a doctor and ushered Emily and Logan out so that they could check my vitals.

After being poked and prodded and asked a million questions, they left. Logan came back in.

“Where’s Emily?” I asked.

“She went to get some food for dinner.” Logan sat down in the chair next to my bed. He was silent as he looked down at his hands. When he looked up, his eyes were anguished. “You should have told me how you felt. I never would have wanted you to stay with me out of obligation and guilt.” He closed his eyes for a few moments, looking pained, and then opened them again. “Yes, it would have hurt me, but more than anything, I want you to be happy. Even if it means us being apart.”

“I am happy with you,” I cried. “Kristina told me about what she did before she made me take the pills. She told me about how she set you up. I’m so sorry for not believing you.”

Logan hesitated before speaking. “I’m glad you believe me. I just don’t know what to think about Kristina. I know she was upset, but to try to kill you…are you sure you’re not just confused?”

I wanted to scream at him. Instead, I forced myself to stay calm because I didn’t want him to think I was being hysterical. “Logan, listen to me. I remember what happened. Please. I need you to believe me.” My voice grew urgent. “Kristina could still be here in Chicago, just waiting for an opportunity to finish me off.”

Logan took out his cell phone. “I’ll call Mack and ask him to check up on Kristina. He called me a few days ago to tell me he was sorry about everything that happened and that he was going back L.A. today.”

I was silent as Logan made the call. At least he was making the effort to see if Kristina was still in Chicago. I frowned when Logan disconnected the call without speaking.

“It went straight to voicemail. He’s probably on the flight back to California now. I’ll try him again in a little bit.”

I felt like I was going crazy. No one would believe me. What could I do?

Emily came back with food, and she and Logan tried to pretend like everything was okay, keeping the conversation upbeat. The last thing I wanted to do was eat, but I did it to get my strength back. I didn’t say much because I was upset that no one would believe me.

“Aren’t you supposed to be going to New York today?” I asked, finally contributing to the conversation.

Emily gave me an incredulous look. “Do you think I would leave with you in the hospital? I told Sylvia that it would have to wait.”