Chapter 25 Nina
NINA
Thankfully, the hospital was efficient, and it wasn’t long before we were playing the incredibly tense waiting room waiting game while Noah went through testing and X-rays.
At this hour, the waiting room was mainly empty. I imagined most people were outside, enjoying the gorgeous summer morning. The warm-weather roller skating and hiking injuries would probably fill the space later in the day.
For now, it was just an older couple on the far side of the room and then Logan and me, trying to lean as far away from each other as the chairs would allow. The sound of a decorative water wall filled the silence between us.
The drive to the hospital had been awful, mainly because Noah kept alternating between crying and whimpering, and there was nothing I could do to make it better—which made me feel like the most useless excuse of a human being who had ever lived.
The cherry on top had been the waves of sheer fury coming off of Logan from the front seat.
This is your fault.
You should’ve kept a closer eye on him.
You’re not fit to watch him.
I suppose he was at least partially justified because I couldn’t stop thinking the same things about myself.
But at the same time, I knew I wasn’t solely to blame.
The entire reason why I was more focused on Logan than his son in that horribly crucial moment was thanks to the reaming out he’d been giving me about the camp idea.
His over-the-top reaction to what I thought was a darn good summer activity made zero sense to me, so of course I’d shifted my focus to him, to try to figure out what the hell was going on and what about it had set him off so badly.
After all, before all of the fake marriage drama, he’d hired me to help Noah blossom, and I was trying my best to do exactly that. Shame he couldn’t see it as well, current hospital waiting room scenario notwithstanding.
A doctor with a kind face and little stuffed animals hanging off her lanyard walked straight over to us. We braced for the news.
“Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Ashford,” she began. “I’m Doctor Halligan.”
Logan’s jaw tightened at the name. I felt farther away from being Mrs. Ashford than ever.
“I’ve got good news and bad news,” the doctor continued. “The bad is little Noah had a typical impact injury—a distal radius fracture. It happens when you try to brace for a fall. Hands out, then impact.” She demonstrated what she meant.
“Damn it,” Logan muttered.
“The good news is that it could’ve been so much worse. Catching himself like that meant he didn’t hit his head, which is always to be avoided, and the break itself is a simple fracture that won’t impact the growth plates or require special monitoring.”
“What are we looking at, recovery wise?” Logan asked, all business.
The doctor smiled as if she appreciated the question.
“He’s going to be in a cast for the next month, then you’ll need to limit his activity for a few weeks afterward.
But other than that, he’ll be in great shape.
” She glanced at me, and her smile grew even warmer, more comforting.
“And what a trooper! He told us all about how it happened, and how it was his second time trying rock climbing. We told him that he had to take a break for a while, and his first question was how long he’d have to wait before he could try it again.
I think you’ve got a little adventurer on your hands! ”
Logan finally smiled, though it looked strained. “Thank you for your help. Glad to hear he’s okay. When will he be out?”
“They’re just finishing up with the cast. A couple more minutes, then you can head home.”
“Thank you,” I finally said. “We appreciate your help.”
Logan started pacing. He was justifiably worried and upset, but I didn’t like the little glares he was sending my way, making it clear that all his ire was directed at me. He had to know that I always kept Noah’s best interest at heart. And that accidents happen.
Hell, he was there too.
But then again, maybe that was part of what was eating at him. The fact that he was now a full-time solo parent, and this sort of accident could happen at any moment. My heart softened a little.
Until he turned to me abruptly, like he could feel the weight of my stare. I gave him a tight smile, and he pivoted away just as abruptly.
Now that we had a diagnosis that was nothing to stress about, his anger was all about me.
I wanted to talk to him about what was going on, but the waiting room wasn’t the place, especially with Noah about to come out. We needed to fake being okay until we were back home and could hash out the whole situation in private.
I didn’t need to be told that the last thing an Ashford wanted was a public scene. I’d heard all about what Emilia and Gwen had gone through with the brothers.
The double doors whooshed open slowly, and my heart fractured into a million pieces at the sight of tiny, pale Noah in a wheelchair. But he was smiling, looking around like he was hoping for a bigger audience.
“Hi, you guys! Look at my go-cart.” Noah gestured to the wheelchair with his good hand. The nurse wheeling him out laughed.
He was clearly on some good pain meds. Fine by me—anything that made this easier for him.
“Hey, bud,” Logan said as he strode over. “How are you feeling?”
I joined them tentatively, like an outsider fighting for a spot. But my heart warmed and some of my fear faded at the way Noah’s eyes lit up when he saw me.
“Nina, will you draw a picture on my cast?”
I laughed despite the ugly emotions twisting in my belly. “Of course. Anything you want.”
“Should I, uh, wheel him out or—” Logan asked the nurse.
“Go get your car and pull up out front,” she instructed like she was used to delegating tasks to nervous parents. “I’ll bring him out to you.”
“I’ll stay with Noah,” I offered.
Logan gave me a terse nod and strode out to the parking lot. He was pulling up out front mere seconds later, but then again, he’d parked haphazardly in a no-parking zone upon our arrival because he was so sick with worry, so it wasn’t like he had to go far.
The drive back to the house was saved from more icy awkwardness by Noah’s chatter about everything he’d endured in the hospital. He rested his head against my shoulder.
“The shot hurt a little,” he said. “But then nothing hurt anymore! Not my arm, or my shoulder, or even where I scraped my knee a little. And they let me pick what color cast I got. I almost picked red, but I like this one better. Can we draw when we get home, Nina?”
I refrained from reminding him that his drawing hand was currently encased in a neon-green cast. “I think it would be best if we all took a little break today. I don’t know about you, but I could sure use a nap. We’ve had a big morning.”
“The doctor said you need to take it easy,” Logan added, his eyes scanning us in the rearview mirror.
“I’m not tired,” Noah insisted as a yawn slipped out.
He was dozing against my arm by the time we pulled into the driveway. Logan eased him out of the back seat, scooping the boy up into his arms. Noah’s eyes barely fluttered. The stress and drugs were doing their thing, so he took Noah to his room for what was bound to be a long nap.
I paced around the family room where we’d normally hang out, trying to hold on to hope even as I was worried Logan and I were about to have a discussion that could change everything. There was no way we could sweep this scenario under the rug.
We were headed toward something. What, exactly, I couldn’t say.
My pulse cranked up when I heard him approaching. He walked into the room wearing an expression I couldn’t read. I thought I’d seen every version of Logan Ashford, but this one?
It made him unrecognizable to me. He came to a stop a few feet away from me, arms crossed and every bit of softness or tenderness hidden away.
“This isn’t working.”
Three words with infinite translation possibilities. I waited silently for him to continue, my heart hammering away in my chest.
“When I hired you—rashly, I might add—I was convinced that you would be good for my son. That you’d always put him first and would watch out for him. But everything that’s happened today has proven to me that that isn’t the case.”
It was one of the most painful things he could’ve said to me.
“Logan, that’s not true and you know it!” I blurted out. “Noah has become the center of my world. It feels like I’m never not thinking about him.”
Logan shifted, and I could swear he rolled his eyes as he shook his head.
“Then what just happened at the park?”
His cold, unemotional tone made me feel like I was on a witness stand.
“I was fighting for my life at the park, if you want the truth,” I blurted out.
“You were upset with me about the camp stuff, which I still don’t understand, and I had to try to make sense of how you were reacting to get us back on the same page.
So sure, my focus was drawn away from Noah for a minute—”
“And there’s the issue,” Logan interrupted. “You’re paid to make sure my son stays safe. And today, you failed.”
The reminder was a dagger to my heart, because I did feel like a failure in this scenario, but worse than that was Logan’s way of drawing a line between us.
You’re paid to make sure my son stays safe. What a way to remind me that I was nothing more than the hired help playing wifey. If that was truly how he saw me, then that meant what we’d shared wasn’t real, no matter what my heart kept insisting.
“In fact, I’m starting to question your motives for this position,” Logan said, his voice turning even chillier.
Anger started to seep over the sadness as I processed what he was actually saying. “My motives?” He offered me the job, not the other way around.
He shrugged. “You’ve gotten very…comfortable here.”
I stormed closer to him. “What exactly are you insinuating here?”
“Your camp idea made it clear to me. You’re trying to get Noah out of the picture so you can secure your position in the Ashford family.”