TWO
LOGAN MONROE
I rolledmy head right to left.
I hated hospitals.
They weren’t my favorite place to be. No matter which one you went to, and I’d been to a bunch thanks to my job, they were all the same. They smelled like the millions of gallons of antiseptics they used through the years that had somehow found a way to cling to the beige walls.
Not to mention that no matter what, the food and coffee were always shit.
“You’re still here?” My buddy and paramedic Ron stood at the doorway of Violet’s room.
“Yeah.” I stood up and stepped out into the hall.
“How is she?” he asked. I turned to look at the woman who had stolen my breath with one look.
“Doc said she’s fine. Resting,” I shared.
“She hasn’t woken up yet?” I shook my head. “Thatmean you’ve been here since we brought her in?” I could see the concern in his gaze.
“Ron,” I groaned. Not that it stopped him from reacting. His brows rose to his hairline, and if I weren’t so damn worriedabout the woman in the bed, I would have snapped a picture because it looked hilarious.
“How long have we been friends?” he asked. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.
“For way too fucking long,” I mumbled under my breath.
“Come on, humor me.” He bumped my shoulder with his playfully. We were about the same height and build.
“I don’t know, twenty years?”
“So… in those twenty years, how many people’s bedside have you sat by?”
“Ron—“ He didn’t let me say another word as he chuckled.
“That’s what I thought.” His lips twitched.
“She doesn’t have anyone,” I shared.
I didn’t try to hide what I was feeling. My eyes left my buddy and went back to the still sleeping woman. Her dark hair was a wild mess, and her face had been wiped clean of the makeup that had been run through by sweat, blood, and tears while she’d bravely waited for us to get her out.
And I had never seen anyone more beautiful.
“How does someone not…” I started to ask, but emotions got the better of me. I shook my head and glanced at Ron.
“It happens.” He shrugged. I knew he’d say that.
We had each met our fair share of people who didn’t have anyone. Cases where people had lost everything. But it’d never hit me this hard.This deep.There was something about Violet that wouldn’t let me leave. I couldn’t believe a woman like her, one who looked like a princess and an angel all wrapped up in a pretty bow, could be walking through life all alone. No emergency contact. My buddy at the station had called her selfish roommate, who couldn’t be bothered to show up. She’d simply said that sucked because, and I quote, “This totally ruined my day. Now I’m going to need to find a new roommate if she dies.”
“She’s pretty,” he noted.
“She’s fucking gorgeous,” I mumbled and found myself adding. “But that’s not why?—“
“I know.” Now my brows rose as I stared at him. “Don’t look shocked. We’ve known one another for fucking ever. I’ve seen and been around the kinds of women you’ve dated and, well…” He was too much of a gentleman to call me a fuckboy, which I had been when we were younger. “I’ve never seen you like this with anyone.Ever.Just don’t stay too late and don’t be weird.”
“Weird?” I growled.
“Obsessive?”
