Just Breathe

Chapter Thirty-Five Bailey

“You are nothing to me! You killed my wife!” I had to run. If he caught me, he’d kill me this time…

"Bailey, you just stay with me, okay! Don't you dare close your eyes on me! Stay with me!" Gavin? Gavin! Save Logan, please! … Why can’t I hear my own voice? What is going on?

“Logan isn’t your son…” I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you… Please forgive me… I never meant to hurt you…

“…I asked you outright where Logan’s father was, and you deliberately lied to me!” I know… I should never have lied to you… I was going to tell you… everything just got so crazy, so fast… Please… Don’t leave me…

“I thought we were on the same page when it came to us, but clearly, I was really fuckin off.” No! That’s not true. I feel the same way. Please, don’t leave. I… I love you…

“…Zeus and I are at our happiest when with the both of you.” I have never felt this way about anyone in my entire life…

“If I’m gonna die, you’re going to die too!” NO! LOGAN!

I force my eyes to open, but my right eye doesn’t cooperate, and my left one, only ever so slightly. Oh my god! It feels like wildfire inside of my body, coursing through my veins, burning me from the inside out. Please, make it stop! I try and make out my surroundings, but it’s too dark. He’s probably hiding. I gotta get up and find Logan. I try and lift myself up but pain like I have never experienced before, something between glass cuts and explosives, spread through me, and I can’t breathe. I can barely hear the faint sounds of beeping, but as I struggle to catch my breath, the louder they become. Then, as if out of thin air, he appears… my angel in the dark… I try to reach for him, but as fast as he appeared, he’s gone and in his place, a young woman and older gentleman in a white coat appear at my side and begin shoving a flashing light in my face, and adjusting wires and tubes that I did not notice before.

“Try and calm down a bit. I’m Dr. Michaels. You’re at Watermount Hospital in the ICU. Just try and take some calming breaths and I’ll explain everything.” He begins to breathe with me, in and out, in and out, until the struggle is less, but the pain and wildfire are still there. I try and ask for Logan, but the struggle to breathe is back, and my throat, my damn, I just want to rip it out, it hurts so bad.

“Don’t try to speak. I have a whiteboard, so you are able to communicate. Now, lets calm that breathing down again.” He begins breathing again with me and the struggle eases a little.

“I know you must be in a lot of pain, and in just a few minutes I’ll give you something that will ease it, and help you rest. I just want to go over a few things with you, and I’m sure you have some questions for me.” He smiles down at me while he takes my blood pressure and listens to my heartbeat. He needs to get on with the updates and tell me where Logan is so he can give me something for this excruciating pain that is about to knock me out again.

“Alright, let’s start with your name.” He hands me the whiteboard and helps place the black marker in my hand. My hands are shaking and I have no strength, but I manage to jot down my name, Bailey Peterson.

“Good. Can you tell me the last thing you remember? Tell me in point form.” I jot down briefly that my father showed up and attacked me. I remember calling out for Logan so he could hide, and my father beating me until everything went quiet and dark.

“That’s good. What is your father's name?” He questions. I write down Frank Silverthorne.

“Good. And who is Logan to you?” He waits for my answer. I write down that he is my son. Because he is, and I don’t care what anyone says. He is mine, and no one is taking him from me.