Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
Logan
The beeping noise coming from one of the machines attached to Sebastian is hypnotic. The longer I listen to it, the more it blocks the outside world. It is peaceful in the strangest way.
I jump when someone touches my arm. I look up only to find Sebastian’s Aunt Kathy hovering over me.
“I got you a sandwich, honey,” she tells me. “And a cup of coffee.”
She places both items on the small table by my side, giving me a sympathetic smile when I nod in thanks.
I stand up from the uncomfortable chair, then take a few moments to stretch my back, letting out a sigh of relief when I feel it cracking.
“Sebastian used to do that all the time when he lived with me,” Aunt Kathy chuckles. “I hated it. It sounded like his back would crack in half.”
I start laughing, the sound way too loud for our setting. I immediately stop, worried that I would wake him up. But then I remember that it would be a miracle at this point if he did wake up at all.
“You’ve been here for two days straight,” she continues. “Maybe you should go get some rest, Logan.”
My eyes go back to my friend’s face. His mouth is wide open, a ventilator stuck down his throat.
There is so much more going on as far as medical equipment goes, I can’t even process it.
He has ice packs on his torso and legs, and every so often, his arms come up, like he is a puppet.
The first time I witnessed it, I freaked out, but then they explained to me that it was just a natural reaction of his body, and that it had nothing to do with him actually moving because he wanted to.
“He was so excited to come back to New York,” I tell his aunt. “All he talked about was this party, and how he wanted to visit with you after.”
Aunt Kathy pats me on the leg. “I know, honey. He called me so often about it, I about told him to leave me alone,” she chuckles.
Smiling, I grab the cup of coffee she brought for me and take a sip. It’s hot, and it feels amazing going down my throat. I sit back down, ready for a few more hours of just staring at Sebastian’s lifeless body.
“He was my only friend when I moved to Texas,” I say out of nowhere. “I didn’t even think he’d want to talk to me,” I snort. “After all, he is a first line player. I was a third stringer for the Sliders…”
“Psh,” Aunt Kathy waves me off. “He never cares about things like that!”
I nod and take another sip from the coffee cup.
“He actually called me on the night he found out you were going there,” she tells me, and I turn surprised eyes her way.
“He’s always been outgoing and made friends easily,” she adds.
“But when he learned you would be there with him, he felt a sense of home… I hope that makes sense,” she chuckles in self-deprecation.
With my ankle now over the opposite knee, I bounce it with nervousness.
“He called me when you were having trouble with that girl,” Aunt Kathy says in a casual tone.
My foot moves faster against my knee.
“He asked what I thought about it, and I told him. Then, a couple of days later, he called me back to say he used what I told him, and that he thought you were impressed with his advice.”
I turn to face her, my face a mask of surprise. “Are you telling me that all that didn’t come from him?”
“He most likely added his own spin to it,” she laughs. “He always had to put his two cents, even when it wasn’t necessary.”
The way she says it makes me laugh. She does know him very well.
“Is that why he doesn’t have a girlfriend?” I tease.
Aunt Kathy looks at me over her glasses. Whatever she has to tell me, I am here for it.
“Do you know how hard I tried to get this boy a girlfriend?” she asks.
Throwing my head back, I laugh at the obvious frustration in her voice.
“He told me that you set him up with a girl who had a boyfriend.”
She rolls her eyes at that. “I didn’t know she had one. I don’t even think they were together. And,” she puts a finger up, “if she had a boyfriend, what was she doing saying yes to a date with my boy?”
“Yes,” I nod in agreement. “That’s not right.”
“I knew that girl since she’d been in diapers,” she continues as if I never said anything. She crosses her arms and huffs. “But I will say that she and her boyfriend do make a very cute couple.”
We remain in silence for a while, done talking about Sebastian’s love life anymore. The machines make their noises at a steady pace, and we are content just sitting in silence for a while.
“It’s nice not to have any visitors today,” Aunt Kathy says. “I’m happy they all care to visit, but it’s exhausting to try and entertain guests for hours on end.”
She’s talking about all of our former teammates from the Sliders who popped in since they were allowed to visit. I was happy that I got to see everyone, with the exception of those who were in the crash with Sebastian. They are either in the hospital themselves or home on bedrest.
“He told me the girl moved in with you.”
She speaks in the corner of her mouth, like she’s worried that her nephew would hear her and be upset that I know he’s been spilling my entire life to his aunt.
“She…” I clear my throat a few times. “Yes, Elizabeth moved in with me. He helped me with it,” I point toward the bed.
“Oh, I heard all about it,” she rolls her eyes. “The furniture was heavy, the moving truck was clunky, the ride from her place to yours was terrible.”
I laugh at the reminder. “Yeah, he complained a lot.”
The laughter dies on my lips when I remember how worried he was that we would get into a crash.
I am getting choked up at the memories from that day.
I have no idea if he was actually worried about it or if he was just trying to be funny, but given what happened to him mere weeks later, it’s like he foreshadowed what was to come.
“I like her name,” Aunt Kathy interrupts my inner thoughts. “Does she go by Betty or something like that?”
“Uh, no,” I chuckle, then take a moment to press my thumb and forefinger against my eyes in an attempt to wipe the tears that I don’t want her to see. “She just goes by Elizabeth.”
Aunt Kathy crosses her arms over her ample chest as she mulls things over.
“Hmm, I would expect something shorter. Betty is the always obvious one,” she shrugs. “But she’d sound like she was eighty-two.” She snaps her head to look at me. “How old is she anyway?”
“Not eighty-two,” I snort in laughter but get serious when she gives me a look. “Twenty-five,” I clarify. “Elizabeth is twenty-five years old. Or she will be when her birthday rolls around soon.”
“Okay,” she bobs her heard up and down. “Does she like Liz?” she asks. “Or Lizzie?”
I swallow hard, a sudden lump in the back of my throat blocking my airwaves.
“I call her Lizzie sometimes,” I croak out.
Aunt Kathy gives me a nod of approval. “I like Lizzie, too. Betty is old, Liz is fancy, and Elizabeth is too much of a mouthful.”
Unsure of how to respond to that, I remain quiet and wait for her to fire her next oddball question.
“And she paints?”
I nod to confirm. Apparently, Sebastian really gave her the rundown about everything that had something to do with Elizabeth.
“Then why would she have a job to tell people how to eat?” she asks.
Shrugging, I try to come up with a good explanation. “She needed money to pay her bills. Art doesn’t sell when you’re just starting out.”
“But she got fired from it?” I nod again. “Why? Did someone get poisoned while eating what she told them to?”
My eyes bug out of my head. “Nobody died,” I assure her. “And nobody got poisoned.”
What I tell her only seems to spur her on. She is nosy, and she’s not scared to show it.
“Why then?”
I take a moment to think whether there’s any chance that Elizabeth would ever meet Sebastian’s aunt in person. I’m pretty sure she would make her cry with all these questions.
“She needed to work on her time management skills,” I reply.
Aunt Kathy frowns in confusion. “Time management skills?” She thinks it over. “Oh, she was late all the time…”
She goes back to running over things in her head. I can see her every emotion reflected on her wrinkled face as she figures things out, one at a time. But then something else confuses her, and she starts over.
She grabs her purse and takes out some candy. She offers me some, which I decline.
“You should eat your sandwich first anyway,” she tells me. “No candy before food. Make sure to teach your kids that, too.”
The corner of my mouth lifts in a smile that I’m not really feeling. I’ve never thought of having children, and now that I basically broke up with Elizabeth, I doubt I’d suddenly get the itch to have a family with someone else.
The thought of never seeing her again is ripping me apart, though, making me wonder if what I did was actually a good idea. But then I have to remind myself that I don’t have anything to offer to her.
My cell phone suddenly buzzes in the pocket of my jeans, distracting me from the random thoughts about Elizabeth. I shouldn’t be thinking about her anyway.
“I’ll take this outside,” I tell Aunt Kathy when I see that it is the Sliders’ head of PR calling me.
Stepping over the chair, I don’t wait for Aunt Kathy to say anything before I open the door and walk out in the hallway.
“Leyla,” I greet the caller. “What’s going on?”
First, she sighs.
“Logan Mantei,” she starts, “I don’t know how it happened that you became so problematic in my life.”
“Me?” My voice comes out unintentionally high-pitched.
“Yes,” she sighs again. “Just when I think we have it all squared away with you, something happens, and you remind me why the high salary I get paid is actually a must. You are stressing me out.”
Feeling more confused than ever, I blink at the wall, unable to come up with any explanation for whatever it is that she’s mad at me for.
“What did I do?” I finally ask.
She lets out a low laugh that drips with sarcasm.
“What did he do, he asks… Let’s see here…”
There’s some shuffling echoing from her end, and I wonder if she’s looking for an actual list of all my faults.
“Let’s start in chronological order, shall we?”
She sounds way too happy for my liking. Nothing good can come out of this, I decide.
“First, you start a relationship with a woman who just so happens to be the daughter of the one person who can make or break you…”
My stomach is suddenly in knots. I start walking down the long hospital hallway, hoping to find a more private spot for this call, just in case I actually have to speak once Leyla is finished with me.
“You then go ahead and hide this relationship from her father…”
“Not on purpose,” I protest.
“Once you were found, did it matter whether it had been on purpose or not?” she asks in a sharp tone.
“No,” I admit.
“Okay then, moving right along. Let’s see here, what’s next… Oh yes,” she laughs, but I’m not laughing with her. “You get caught having sex with her in the locker room!” She slams a hand on her desk, I’m guessing. “The locker room, Logan! And you get caught by her father!”
I am grateful that no one can hear this ass chewing that she’s giving me. I worry that she might be too loud and people can hear her from my phone even though I don’t have her on speaker.
“You end up surviving this disaster,” she continues. “You score a great deal with the Austin Aces,” she adds.
I finally find a spot for families to gather, I suppose, as they wait on news of their loved ones.
Grateful that it’s empty, I go in, then start pacing by the large windows, continuing to listen to Leyla as she gives me hell.
Every so often, I get distracted by the bright lights shining in the dark New York City sky.
This hospital has great views, I think to myself.
“Are you listening to me, Logan?” Leyla snaps at me, and I jump.
“Yes, of course,” I assure her.
“Okay, good, because I have so much more that I need to discuss with you!”
There’s no wonder she is known as a force to be reckoned with. She sounds like an army general, and I am pretty sure all the players are scared of her.
“This girl follows you to Austin. She has no clue about life, but she trusts you enough to take care of her…”
Okay, now the conversation is taking an even more personal tone. I have to admit that I am surprised by how much she actually knows about my relationship with Elizabeth.
“And you break up with her?”
That is a hit I was not expecting. I press the heel of my free hand to my chest and stare out the window. I don’t know what to say. I don’t even know how to react. I’ve been trying not to think about Elizabeth, but between Aunt Kathy and now Leyla, I can’t get away from this subject.
“I think it’s for the best,” I mumble into the phone.
“I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard you,” Leyla raises her voice at me. “Best for who?”
“For her,” I yell back, not caring anymore if the entire hospital hears me.
“Her father hates my guts. I have nothing to offer her. I’m just holding her back!
” I feel out of breath, but I continue. “I want her to do what she loves. She loves art. She can’t even focus and paint because she’s all depressed as fuck about her life! ”
When I stop talking, the surrounding silence is deafening. Someone’s shoes squeak on the floor of the hospital, but farther down the hallway.
“I know that her father meddled…” Leyla speaks in a much gentler tone now. “He was wrong to do that. But he now understands that she is a grown adult who is allowed to make her own choices.” She pauses for a second. “And you, Logan Mantei, are her choice.”
Sighing, I kick my foot against the frame of the floor to ceiling window.
“I already told her to leave, Leyla.”
“You are her choice, Logan,” she repeats. “Don’t disappoint me again.”
She hangs up, leaving me to stare out the window once again. I realize that I’ve been hiding myself in Sebastian’s room for the last few days, trying to avoid the stupid shit I said to Elizabeth before we flew out here.
I don’t know if I can save it.