Bleeding Color

21. Future

I inch myself closer to Logan the moment she says my name. I muster out a shy hello and manage to tell her that Laurel just left to bring Lukas in. Logan's eyes close and she stirs one more time, attempting to sit up slightly, but she fails. Logan manages to shake her head in disbelief, "No, no. Lukas is in Greece right now." Logan's eyes open with amazement asking, "Are we in Europe?" I can't help but chuckle at her groggy, painkiller induced excitement. I shake my head no and her excitement disappears, "Damn." She says disappointed. "I've always wanted to go to Europe. Let me take you to Europe."

"I'm fine right where I am." I assure her with a smile. Despite my attempts to hold back any emotion, my eyes begin to water following my conversation with Logan. "Just promise never to scare me like that again." Logan looks guilty, and I attempt to ease the mood. "You're lucky you're cute. It makes it harder to be mad at you," I tease. The fear of losing Logan is what forces my feelings for her to register properly. No matter how much I want to ignore whatever it is I feel for her, I can't stop myself from falling for Logan.

The sounds of the hospital – the nurses talking in the hallway, the complaints of patients, the sounds of ambulances approaching – all of the sounds around me don't disappear in this moment, but I suddenly don't mind the sound of them. The coldness of the hospital room somehow welcomes me with warmth I can't explain. The harsh lighting of the fluorescence above me becomes soft and comforting. No matter how much strength and effort I put into forcing myself not to smile like a fool, my body fights back and a smile forces its way out.

Chloe stands from the corner in order for Logan to see that she's here. "Sorry," Chloe shyly interjects, "I didn't want to ruin the moment, but I realized I also didn't want to have to witness it going any further."

I excuse myself to let Chloe and Logan speak and suggest that I find the Spencers and tell them that Logan is awake. I round a corner leaving Logan's room and nearly miss running into a real life Flynn Rider doppelgänger. I instantly recognize him as Lukas, Logan's older brother. Lukas has a look of determined panic. It's that same look a mom has when she storms into a school after hearing her son is suspended for initiating a fight on school grounds. Laurel lightly stops Lukas from completely blowing past me and turns to me for an update. I inform them that Logan is awake, and Lukas is even more determined to get to his younger sister.

As they walk away from me, I can hear Lukas lean to Laurel to ask her, "Who was that?"

"Cammie." Laurel answers matter-of-factly.

Lukas glances back at me with a cocked eyebrow, "That's Cammie?" I don't hear Laurel's response, and I don't know what Lukas knows about me – if he knows anything at all – but the thought of mattering to Logan enough for her to tell her brother about me doesn't help my matter of wanting to get over Logan. Although I suppose I've thrown that idea completely out of the window.

I reach the lobby of the hospital where I spot Bristol arguing with a man nearly a foot taller than her. The man with neat blonde hair and a square face appears intimidating, but Bristol holds her own in her argument with him. The man runs his hand over his scruffy face irritably, and both he and Bristol become more heated the more they argue. Bristol notices me patiently waiting to interrupt, and composes herself in order to introduce me. "Cammie, this is Samuel. He's-"

"Mr. Spencer. Logan's father." The robust man reaches his hand out to shake mine, his grip more aggressive than his demeanor. "Pleasure to meet you." I return a smile, but know the pleasure isn't mutual.

Bristol sighs and asks me what I wanted to tell her. I tell them both that Logan is awake and Lukas has already gone back to see her. Mr. Spencer immediately storms past me, mumbling under his breath about Lukas. Bristol sends me a comforting smile and sincerely thanks me for coming to let her know.

I follow her back to Logan's room and stay with Chloe and the Spencers for a while until Chloe suggests that we leave because all the Spencers have started arguing with one another. Mr. Spencer is arguing with Bristol because he believes she's somehow responsible for Logan needing immediate surgery. Bristol is arguing her own points that if Mr. Spencer actually had a good relationship with his children, then he wouldn't be left in the dark on everything. Laurel is arguing with Lukas about him needing to get his life together, and he's complaining that she doesn't actually care about him and only ever cares about herself. Meanwhile, Logan is in the middle of every argument, defending herself and her mother and trying to calm her family members down enough to be civil with one another for five minutes.

I don't want to leave Logan, especially in this condition. I'm not so much worried about her heart as I am about her dealing with her family. I agree to leave, however, out of respect for her and the rest of the Spencers. Their issues deserve privacy like everyone else. Chloe and I say goodbye to Logan and make our escape out of the Spencer battlefield. On our way to Chloe's car, I can't help but ask her, "Why would Logan push me away because she was afraid of hurting me? I mean what does her heart condition have to do with me getting hurt?"

Chloe takes a moment to gather a response. "I know that Logan is okay physically. Her heart is a little beat up, but she's still here and for the most part, healthy. I can't honestly tell you her reasoning without talking about Emily, and Logan would kill me if I did that." Chloe notices my frustration and tries to tell me something slightly more positive. "Trust me, Logan will tell you everything when she's ready. Especially since you were the first one she saw when she woke up. You may not realize it, but you mean something to Logan. She'll come around with time."

Time is the worst barrier two people can have between them. Other obstacles people can work around. Distance, for instance, can be worked through, but time? Time can't be worked around. The best remedy I have for time is distractions, and I know those never last. Time is the one thing I wish I didn't have to face. Time feels like a wall, slowly lowering to allow two people to finally unite. Hopefully that wall crumbles soon. I don't want to wait for Logan, but I hate the idea of losing her entirely more than I hate the idea of waiting. At least there's still hope she'll come around if I wait – I just hope I'm not waiting too long.

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Chapter song: "How Will I Know" by Sam Smith

My apologies for the shorter chapter on this one. I may post the next chapter later today in order to make up for it if you want (:

Until next time,
Adrienne c: