Logan

54. Breathing Again, Part 2

*Natalie POV*

I felt so groggy.

I might have dreamed, but I only remember bits and pieces, not anything whole.

The first one to come inside my room was someone named Detective Bohannon, he sat with me and began asking me a series of questions about Victoria. Questions that I wasn't sure if I could even answer. He sat heavily in the chair next to me, the shape of his face seemed familiar, and I swore I'd seen him before... but it may have been the numerous drugs they were pumping into me.

I scribbled onto the paper, 'have you ever worked on the railroad?'

He shook his head, a smirk crossing over his lips. "Miss Koughlin, I need to ask, what is your relationship like with Miss Lancaster?"

I could scoff, but then I'd end up choking. Instead, I answered, 'started out as a friend, came between my boyfriend and I several times and, recently, went through with trying to kill me. As you know.'

He nodded, "What about your boyfriend?" He looked at the file he was holding, "Logan Grey, has he ever taken part in any criminal activity with Victoria?"

'How can you ask that?' I could feel the tension in my chest rise, and I had to breathe calmly and slowly to regain myself.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry if I upset you. It's a question I have to ask, we're planning on interviewing Mr. Grey as well, but I'm here to ask you."

'I don't know anything about her criminal activities.' I sighed, dropping the pen into the crease of the notebook.

He nodded, rising to his feet, and reached out his arm to shake my hand. "We'll be in touch, Miss Koughlin, I hope you get some rest. I'm sorry this happened to you." The palms of his hand were rough against mine, and looking into his eyes I noticed the way they looked almost gray, with hints of green and blue. He noticed the awkward silence and let go of my hand, nodding before leaving the room.

I leaned back against my pillow, breathing softly and slowly. My mom came in, and talked to me for a little bit. I honestly couldn't understand most of it inbetween her starting to cry and her trying to answer phone calls from our relatives. She finally excused herself, and Kellan came in the room.

I felt a peaceful calm rush over me, and he sat down, instantly linking his fingers through mine.

"You scared us for a minute," his face seemed pale, his eyes were tired and a bit red, it was evidence he'd been crying.

'I scared myself'

"I thought..." He squeezed my hand, "I thought I... I thought we were going to lose you." He gave a small chuckle before sniffling. "But you're a tough cookie, Natalie."

I noticed a hospital bracelet wrapped around his wrist, and I pulled my hand away from him, steadying the notepad and grabbing the pen as I furiously wrote 'what happened?!"

"Don't worry doll."

'no, Kellan. what happened?'

He sighed, leaning back in the chair and running his hand through his hair, his tired eyes looking directly into mine "Don't worry about me."

'fine. don't tell me.' My eyes watered, partially from the frustration, but mostly from the dull pain that was blanketing my entire body, and I tapped against the paper to get his attention 'I haven't talked to Damien yet. I'll just ask him.'

"Just... signs I'm getting old." He sighed and reached into his pocket, and held up an orange pill bottle, shaking it slightly "It's taken care of." I nodded, and reached for his hand again, my fingers shakily tracing across his "Please... don't stress over me. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself..." He sighed, "I'm more worried about you, love."

"I'm okay, Kellan." My words were quiet, but he smiled as he heard them. He leaned on my arm, his face buried into the bed, and I could hear him sobbing, his shoulders bobbing up and down, and the occasional short breath between sobs. I wanted to reach for the tissues, but I lay there, this broken man in front of me, slowly caressing his hair, and whispered, "I'm okay, I promise."

-

-

-

*Logan's POV*

The air was heavy with emotion, I'd seen almost everyone crying, even Bohannon shed a few tears when he was leaving, after talking to me.

My emotion wasn't sadness, it was anger. I felt angry that Victoria hurt Natalie over and over again, to the point where she almost killed her.

After Kellan was done visiting her, I was allowed to go in. Betty was still talking with relatives, and I was glad for it. She'd been hovering ever since she came back.

I walked inside to see Natalie trying to work the tv remote, looking for a movie, no doubt.

"There aren't any good ones on tonight, I checked the TV guide online."

She sighed, tossing the remote back onto the end table. Then she picked up her pen, scribbled, and held up her note. 'the silence is killing me'

I held up my phone, "I could give you my phone and you could listen to some music," she scrunched her fingers into the 'give me' gesture and I handed it to her. She instantly scrolled to a song called 'Wild Child' by The Brevet. 'I love these guys' she wrote, while her fingers tapped along the edge of the notebook to the rhythm of the song.

"They're cool. Listen, so I was thinking, that maybe we could have a movie night or something? I could get some dvds since the movie choices suck, and you could order some hospital food or something, and I could bring you a shake from your favorite place, right?"

She nodded, pure happiness in her face. She motioned for me to come closer, until I was bent down, my face close to hers.

She softly whispered, "Kiss me."

Kissing her after all of this, the way her lips felt on mine, I never wanted it to end.