Page 150 of Resisting Isaac

“Wyatt,” I plead. “I’m dying here.”

He nods in a quick jerky motion as if amping himself up to speak. “He’s in a coma. That was his boss’s daughter. She’s been trying to reach you since she found his phone. Bull stomped on his head and neck at semi-finals last night.” His voice breaks on the last word.

My vision goes tunnel-tight.

I call him before every single fucking ride. He didn’t answer last night. He’d never not answered. I should’ve known something was wrong.

“I should’ve?—”

He interrupts me. “There’s nothing anyone could’ve done. Caleb drew a fucking nightmare of a bull that was supposed to be banned from the circuit. He still chose to ride.”

He stares at his phone as if it’s going to give him answers.

I glance back at the door with my soon-to-be wife and daughter on the other side.

Feels like my heart is being ripped in half.

“I can’t leave them. I can’t . . . fuck.”

Wyatt nods. “I know. I’m going to go. Mom will want to go too. I’ll wait to tell her until after she holds her first grandchild. I’ll let you know as soon as I know anything more.”

“I’ll fly out there as soon as I can,” I tell him.

He does something so out of character, it stuns me. He grabs me by the shoulders and pulls me into a bear hug I desperately need.

“What the fuck are we going to do?” I choke out.

I can’t lose a sibling. I won’t survive it.

We’d barely survived losing Dad.

“We’re going to do what we’ve always done,” he assures me, stepping back but remaining at arm’s length. “What Logans have always done. We’re going to get through this. Together.”

I nod, wiping the moisture from my eyes. “If I find out someone is responsible for what happened to him, anyone, I’m choking the fucking life out of them myself.”

A nurse flinches at my harsh words as she passes by.

Wyatt nods. “Only if you beat me to it.”

When I turn and open the door to my future, I stop for a minute and stare at the women in my life. My entire world.

I get it now.

What I never understood before. Why I never took anyone seriously, including myself.

I never thought I’d have what my parents did. Never thought I’d be worthy of it. Thought I’d always just be the second son, the wisecracking sidekick to my broody main character brother.

But I was wrong. And it took seeing myself the way she sees me to realize it.

The most beautiful brown eyes meet mine and I see everything in them. The past. The present. The future.

In this moment, I understand why Jimmy Peterson looks like a walking dead man. Because the day this woman leaves the world will be the day my life ceases to matter.

I can only pray I go before her.

Elena tilts her head and gives me a questioning look. I smile the best that I can, knowing that whatever else happens, we have each other. I know without question what I have to do for the rest of my days: love this woman better than anyone ever could.

“You okay, cowboy?”