Trust (Temptation #3)(52)
He picked the phone up and checked the notifications pinging across the screen. There were texts and voicemails, one every minute or so, that had started around thirty minutes ago until finally they stopped coming in.
Not one of them was from Tate though; these were from his brother.
What the hell, Cole?
Opening the texts first, he read the three that were several seconds apart.
Cole: As soon as you get this, call me.
Cole: Logan, you need to call me.
Cole: PICK UP YOUR PHONE
Frowning, he checked his voicemails and saw two in there, also from his brother.
Jesus. Is it Rachel?
He hit the first, and put the phone on speaker and held his breath as Cole’s usually calm voice came through sounding unsteady. “Christ, Logan, why aren’t you answering your phone? As soon as you get this, call me.”
There was a second one, and before he called Cole back, he hit play.
“It’s Tate. You need to call me. NOW.”
As Cole’s voice filled the empty space inside his car, Logan felt his heart skip and stutter. He replayed the message just to be sure he’d heard it right.
“It’s Tate. You need to call me. NOW.”
What the… What about Tate?
His heart was racing in his chest as he hit redial and waited—still as a statue. He didn’t dare move, and he wasn’t sure he’d taken a breath in the last several seconds. As soon as the phone connected, he closed his eyes.
“Logan?” Cole said into the phone.
But Logan couldn’t seem to find his voice to greet him. He was too busy trying not to jump to any kind of conclusion.
“Thank God. Where are you?”
Knowing he needed to actually speak, Logan managed, “What the fuck is going on, Cole? Your messages are freaking me out.”
The silence that stretched across the line wasn’t helping to calm him. Cole was never stuck for words, but whatever this was, whatever had happened, he was having trouble relaying it.
“Spit it out,” he finally demanded, his anxiety hitting the breaking point.
“It’s Tate.”
“So you said in your message. What about him?”
“I need you to try to stay calm—”
“Fuck you and calm. Tell me what’s going on.” Logan could hear people talking in the background of wherever Cole was, but he couldn’t quite make out what was being said.
“There was an accident. Tate… He was hit when he was leaving one of the places he and Rachel were looking at this afternoon.”
Cole kept talking but his words all started to jumble together. All Logan kept hearing was, Tate… He was hit…hit…hit. And before he knew he was going to ask, the words just tumbled out.
“Is he dead, Cole?”
Cole cursed through the phone, and Logan held his breath.
“No. No. He was just taken into surgery. But you need to get down to University Hospital now. The ER.”
Biting his bottom lip to hold back the cry that was threatening to leave his chest, Logan remained silent.
“Logan? Can you drive? Do you need me to come down—”
“No,” burst free of his lips, and then he placed a fist to his mouth.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I’m on my way,” he said and then hung up before he totally lost it.
As he gazed blankly out his front windshield, Logan’s hands started to shake. He couldn’t seem to remember how to put his car into gear, and he sure as fuck couldn’t see through the tears welling in his eyes.
He swiped a hand over them and gulped in some air. He needed to pull his shit together and get over to the hospital. He just hoped he made it in time.
* * *
By the time Logan got across town, parked his car, and rushed through the doors of the emergency room, his state of mind was in complete chaos.
The entire way over, he’d berated himself for not asking more questions like, Why is Tate in surgery? What did he come in with? What time did this all happen? He’d been such a fucking head case when Cole had called that all of the important questions had disappeared from his mind.
After he’d marched through the automatic sliding doors, Cole was standing there to greet him. His face was strained, and his hair was a mess, as though he’d been worrying it all afternoon with his hands. But he took him in a hug and squeezed him tight.
Logan didn’t have the will to do anything other than stand there as his eyes scanned the busy waiting area. It was a miracle in itself that he’d been able to function enough to get himself through the traffic and over here.
“You made it,” Cole murmured in his ear, and when he released him, Logan merely looked at him. “Hey, why don’t you come and sit down. Rachel’s right over here.”