Fighting Fate (Granton University #1)(95)

Mrs. Xander reached out and clutched Paige’s hand, and Paige held on to her for dear life as she whispered, “Yes.”





Paige held her hands against her chest as she cautiously trailed Logan’s parents and brothers down the hall to his recovery room. The doctor might have told them he’d come out of surgery very well and was awake and cognizant, but she couldn’t actually believe it until she saw him.

Holding back as his parents, then his brothers, went in first, she remained just outside the doorway, eager to catch a glimpse of him.

When his mother whispered his name as she crept close, the figure lying on the hospital bed moved his head to the side and opened his eyes.

“Mom?”

Tears flooded Paige’s cheeks as she watched his mother grasp his hands and weep over him. “We were so worried. We’d thought we’d lost you for good, that it was too late.”

His dad and brother corralled around his bed, chipping in their own greetings of deep regret, and then thanksgiving that he was alive.

Pressing her back against the hall wall inches from the doorway, Paige listened to the family reunion, so very glad they’d found their way back together. The Xanders didn’t do a whole lot of clarifying as to why they’d suddenly let Logan back into the fold, and Logan didn’t demand an explanation. All that would no doubt come later, after the shock had worn off. For now, they simply seemed happy to be together again, and Paige was happy they were happy.

“So how many stitches do you have?” one of the brothers asked a couple minutes later.

“Actually, I don’t know if they’re staples or stitches,” Logan said, “and I didn’t ask how many. I don’t think I want to know.”

Paige grinned, thinking that sounded like the perfect Logan answer. Relieved she could listen to his voice and hear him give a Logan kind of response, she closed her eyes and pressed her hand to her heart, sending up a prayer of thanks. She’d come so close to losing him forever.

“I didn’t think puncture wounds like a gunshot needed stitches,” Mr. Xander mused aloud.

Logan gave a weak chuckle. “Yeah. Well, I guess they had to open me up a little more to operate on a couple things that had gotten nicked.”

“Nicked?” Paige echoed aloud. More worried than concerned about privacy and family time, she whirled from the hallway to gape at him through the threshold. “Where did you get nicked?”

Was it serious? An important organ he could never use again? Would he have lasting damage, or could it get worse later on?

He glanced up and immediately sucked in a gasp. “You’re here.” His voice was breathless, his blue eyes alive with emotion. “When you passed out, I didn’t know if the bullet had gone through me and hit you or what.”

She blanched, pretty sure she never wanted him to learn that’s exactly what had happened.

“You were there too?” One of his brothers glanced at her with wide, curious eyes as she slowly edged into the room. “Sweet. What happened?”

Logan shook his head. “Trust me. It was not sweet.”

“So what happened?” the other brother repeated. He looked like the older of the two. Caleb, Paige decided, remembering his name.

“He saved my life,” she spoke up, her eyes only for Logan. “That’s what happened. We were hiding in this alley away from…from…” Einstein. Her insides wrenched with misery just thinking about Einstein. “…the gunman, when he found us. Logan lunged in front of me and shielded me with his body.”

“Dude.” Jake, the younger brother, gawked at Logan in awe. “You’re, like, a hero.”

Logan shook his head again and winced. “No.”

“Yes,” Paige countered. “You kept me trapped behind you.” She shuddered, remembering those helpless horrifying moments. “You protected me with your own body.”

“And you were talking him down until I opened my big mouth,” he countered.

She hugged herself. “I don’t think so. He was so unstable he would’ve shot us both.” The dull dead look in Einstein’s eyes the moment before he’d pulled the trigger would haunt her for the rest of her life.

“Well, however it happened,” Logan’s mom spoke up, cuddling reassuringly close to her son, “I’m just glad it’s over and you’re both okay.”

“Me too,” Logan echoed, his gaze sliding to Paige. She felt warm and cherished under his inspection.

When a soft knock came from behind her, everyone in the room glanced up to see two more people hovering hesitantly in the doorway.

Her father made eye contact with her and moaned out a sound like a wounded animal. “My baby.” He charged forward and enveloped her into a large bear hug. “I’m so glad, I’m so glad,” he chanted into her hair as he hugged her tight.

Unable to remember the last time she’d touched Paul Zukowski, Paige clung to him, noticing he didn’t feel as full in her arms as he used to. He’d lost a great deal of weight over the last few years.

Skinny or not, he was holding her now, and she was glad to be in his arms. She buried her face in his neck and shuddered. “Daddy.”

“That was too close,” he said as he pulled back to look her over. “Too close. I can’t lose my little girl. I just…can’t.” When he cupped her cheeks in his hands, his face went red as he began to cry. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry for the way I’ve treated you. I’ll change. I swear to God. Just don’t leave me too.”