Chapter 9
POV: Suzy
Izzy didn’t hesitate. “Suzy.”
I felt her words in my chest like a punch and a blessing at the same time. My heart was pounding. I knew what was coming before it happened. I could feel the tension building, humming in the walls, rising in Izzy’s little chest like a storm about to break.
Elizabeth turned her head toward me, eyes narrowing just slightly. “And you’re Suzy?”
I swallowed. “Yes. I’m Suzanne. Lily’s aunt.”
Her brows pinched, like the words didn’t quite compute. “Who’s Lily?”
“I’m Lily,” she said from the side of the hospital bed, small but firm.
“Izzy’s best friend,” I added gently. “They’ve known each other since they were toddlers.”
Elizabeth tilted her head. “Oh. Just a friend, then. I don’t really know all of Izzy’s friends.”
That was it.
That was the spark.
Izzy sat up straighter, her voice sharp, clear, and ringing through the room like glass shattering.
“She’s not just a friend,” she snapped. “Lily’s my best friend. Since I was three. I spend more time with her than I ever did with you.”
Elizabeth blinked, caught off guard.
But Izzy wasn’t done.
Her cheeks were flushed, her voice trembling—but her spine was steel.
“I saw you more on TV than in real life. You were never there. You didn’t come to my competitions. You missed my birthdays—last year, the year before that. You didn’t call when I was sick. You didn’t even text when I won Regionals. You were just… gone.”
Elizabeth’s mouth opened—maybe to defend herself, maybe to deny it—but Izzy didn’t let her.
“I started gymnastics because of you. I thought if I loved what you loved, maybe you’d notice me. Maybe we’d have something in common. Maybe you’d actually want me around.”
She paused—and in that pause, the whole world held its breath.
“But the more I trained, the more I realized I don’t want to be like you. I want to be the opposite of you. I want to show up. I want to care about people. I want to be there.”
Tears stung my eyes.
Elizabeth stood frozen, her mouth slightly parted. A legend silenced by the child she’d left behind.
Izzy’s voice cracked as she added, “You don’t get to come back now and act like you missed me. You don’t know me.”
I stepped closer, crouching by her bed. Izzy leaned into me without a word, pressing her forehead to my shoulder, her breaths coming fast and uneven.
I wrapped my arms around her, holding tight.
“It’s okay, honey,” I whispered. “I’m here. And I am so proud of you. So proud, Izzy.”
Then the door opened again.
Logan.
He paused in the doorway, eyes scanning the scene in a heartbeat—Izzy in my arms, Elizabeth standing stiff and hollow by the bed, the air still vibrating with Izzy’s truth.
He moved across the room in three strides.
“You need to go,” he said, voice like a blade wrapped in velvet—quiet, sharp, lethal.
“Logan—please. We need to talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about,” he replied, not even flinching. “If you have something to say, call my lawyer.”
He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t need to. The finality in his tone made the walls feel colder.
Elizabeth hesitated, lips twitching like she might argue.
“Now,” he said again.
She didn’t speak. She turned and walked out.
Logan exhaled hard through his nose, then circled to the other side of Izzy’s bed. His hand found hers, and she clung to him without hesitation.
He looked up at me, eyes meeting mine over their daughter’s head.
And something passed between us—grief, fury, tenderness, love. All tangled. All too much.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
I just nodded. My throat was too tight to speak.
Izzy rested her head on his shoulder. “I wanna go home.”
“I know, baby,” Logan murmured, brushing her hair back gently. “We’re getting out of here.”
“I’m already taking care of the discharge paperwork. We’ll leave soon,” he said again, more to himself now, his protective instincts on full throttle.
“I’m hungry,” Izzy mumbled.
“Okay.” He stood. “I’ll grab some potato chips from the vending machine. You too, Lily?” he added, glancing at her with a soft smile.
Lily’s eyes lit up. “Yes, please!”
He left and returned a minute later with three crinkling bags in hand. He handed one to each girl, then held the last one out to me.
“I knew I’d be buying you a meal today,” he said, smirking. “I just didn’t think it’d be a bag of chips in a hospital.”
I laughed, nudging him with my shoulder. “Well, you do know how to impress a girl.”
He chuckled low, the sound curling in my chest like warmth.
The storm had passed.
But everything had changed.
Logan ran his hand over Izzy’s hair, then looked at her, calm and full of care.
“You wanna go home tonight, baby, or stay one more night in the hotel and we drive back tomorrow?”
Izzy didn’t hesitate. “Can Lily sleep with us if we stay?”
I looked at Logan. He didn’t even blink before nodding.
“If her aunt says yes.”
I made a mock-serious face. “Well, technically, our room flooded, so we don’t even have a room anymore.”
Lily burst out laughing. “So we have no choice, Aunt Suzy!”
Logan smiled. “Perfect. It’s settled then.”
But before he started the car, he turned the wheel gently and pulled into the parking lot by the gymnasium.
“Forgot something?” I asked.
He looked in the rearview mirror at Lily. “I think someone needs to check if they won anything.”
Lily blinked. “But I didn’t go to the ceremony.”
“You were brave,” he said. “You chose your friend. That’s worth something. Come on.”
My heart cracked a little at that. That quiet, thoughtful Logan was… so soft.
And Lily—her little lip trembling—just nodded.
We walked in together, and most of the place was already being torn down. Folded mats, empty bleachers, glittery ribbons limp on the floor.
One of the judges spotted us and lit up. “Our golden star!” he said to Lily.
“Me?” she squeaked.
“We understood you left because of an emergency. The panel still voted—you won gold. Vault and beam. You deserve this.”
He handed her the medal, and Lily just stared at it like it might disappear if she blinked.
Then she threw her arms around me, and I spun her in a circle, both of us laughing like idiots.
By the time we got back, the girls were buzzing. Izzy’s crutches clicked across the hallway tiles. Lily waved her medal in the air like she was presenting it to the world.
Logan held the hotel room door open for us. “Okay, team, what’s for dinner?”
“Pizza!” Izzy shouted.
I tilted my head. “Well, pizza has cheese. Cheese has calcium. She did break a bone today, so it’s practically medicinal.”
Logan looked at me like I’d just invented pizza. “You can make anything sound like a health food.”
“I’m talented like that.”
He chuckled, pulled out his phone. “Pepperoni? Cheese? Veggie?”
“Just lots,” I said. “We’ve earned it.”
While we waited, Logan put on what he called “official Olympic ceremony music” from his phone, and I stood behind Lily like I was on a podium.
“Ladies and gentlemen…” I said grandly. “Our vault champion…”
Izzy clapped enthusiastically, grinning so wide I could see every dimple. I placed the medal over Lily’s head like I was knighting her.
Lily turned, bowed, and we all laughed.
I hadn’t laughed like that—really laughed—since... God, I didn’t even know.