Authors Note: So, the last chapter was pretty dark and its a bit dark for this one as well but much less. I hope that everyone likes it but I'm a bit stuck now. I'm not fully sure where to take this so I hope to keep going soon. I've hit a bit of writers block so any ideas would be a big help and apricated. Thank you for reading 3 it means more then you all know.
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It would be another couple of hours before Logan would return back to the cabin. When he stepped out of the truck he right away could smell blood. It was like the strong scent of pennies in the air. His stomach dropped and he went inside quickly. "Laura?" he called loudly. He rushed to look around the cabin and not seeing her right away he called again. "Laura!?" Still no answer. The smell of blood had been stronger when he was outside. Fear swelled deep in his gut, making it lurch as he started to the back door, fearing why she wasn't responding or calling to him back. His instincts were screaming that something was terribly wrong.
As soon as he stepped out onto the back deck he could see just at the tree-line the thick red stain in the white snow. His eyes went wide and his heart began to pound. He rushed to where the pool of blood had settled and frozen in the snow. He could clearly see the dragging streaks in two directions. One coming from the woods, the other headed to the creek. He could smell the blood fresher towards the creek and began to run that way. It didn't take long to see Laura's body, clothes frozen with ice, even her hair as she laid face down in the shallow water.
"Laura!" he yelled as he ran to her and pulled her out of the water. "Oh no.. no! Laura, baby wake up.." He was shaking, head to toe as he was yanking his jacket off to wrap it around her. But as he turned her over he saw the gash to her throat and to her gut as his eyes widened. He hadn't expected such a horror scene.
Stomach in his throat he was careful to lift Laura out of the freezing water. She didn't move, she didn't respond, she was just limp. Logan remembered her telling him about the accident, he remembered that she had tried to kill herself, but these thoughts in the moment brought little comfort. Even the damage he had done to her with his claws was cleaner and less damaging then this.
No blood even dropped down as he lifted her into his arms, carrying her bridal style back towards the cabin. He laid her on the floor by the fireplace which only had burning embers left. He quickly threw Logan in as they caught fire quickly he was using his jacket to rub her arms and back. "Common Laura… please open your eyes…" he said with a bit of desperation in his tone. He kept her laying on her side, his dark eyes scanning over her again, her skin so pale it almost seemed see-through. Her hair still had ice all in it frozen almost solid in a few places. "Laura wake up.. please.." he begged, feeling himself getting more and more upset the longer she went unresponsive.
Fear swelled deep in his gut as he gave her a bit of a shake. "Wake up damn it!" He half cried out starting to rub her back rather hard to get anything moving, to get her to stir at all but it wasn't working. Sitting there on his knees by her, his face pressed down to her head, holding it as he felt tears burn his eyes. He had been in this spot before. He had seen someone he loved die just like this and anger burned now as he started to sit up.
Laura's face looked unusually peaceful, unnaturally peaceful. She was still not responding and her body was so damaged, he didn't know how to even tell if she was alive. Then suddenly she twitched. First her fingers then her eyes. Like out of a horror film her eyes popped open as she opened her mouth to gasp or gag but instead she convulsed. Her chest heaving as she tried to roll to her stomach. She was still unable to move but she convulsed again, her chest trying to heave as her mouth opened.
There was a mix of relief and horror that Logan felt in this moment. Watching her body heave like she was trying to breathe was a horror of its own. But that's when he realized why she was doing this. There was water still in her lungs. Grabbing her gently he helped roll her into her stomach and with a bit of force patted her back. This bothered him to even do so if she was already in any pain. Her body was ice in his hands, he could feel that she even felt a bit stiff as her chest heaved again.
The gurgling sound got louder from the back of Laura's throat. Seconds passed but to Logan it felt like minutes as her chest heaved and finally the water began to expel from her lungs. She gave a gurgled gasp and then expelled again. This time Logan could see more blood splattering the ground as from her throat she had also drowned in her own blood at some point.
Logan was at a loss of words. He couldn't believe how much she had taken and yet here she was moving in his arms. Coughing loudly she was trying her best to give gasps of air but the damage done to her throat was proving hard to breathe through. The open wound wasn't actively bleeding though it didn't seem too old. He couldn't tell with her healing ability just how fresh it might be. But, he knew he needed to get her inside. He remembered a gash to the head took her overnight to heal; he didn't know just how long this might take her to recover. Slowly and carefully he rolled her back into his arms. Lifting her up carrying her bridal style he started back to the cabin.
Getting her inside he took her to the bathroom, holding her close as he started warm water in the bath, knowing he needed to try and get her warm at the very least. Trying to make sure the water wasn't too hot he laid her in the tub clothes still on. He cupped her face with one hand, blood smearing from his hands to her cheek. "Don't talk.." he said softly as he turned her to look at him trying to see life in her eyes. But slowly she blinked and he could see her eyes move slightly and it gave him a bit of a relief to see. The relief didn't last long as he watched tears flow down her cheeks. This caused his stomach to lurch as he stroked his thumb to brush her tears away. "It's alright…" he whispered as his face showed the pain he felt for her and the anger from letting this happen. "You're going to be alright…" he said quietly, trying his best to keep himself calm.
Laura didn't make a sound. Her breathing was shallow but made a quiet whistle sound with each breath. Her eyes moved and was looking at Logan's face. Her whole body felt like it was on fire. She hadn't felt this much pain in her life and that was with her ability dulling most of it. She tried to move her fingers again but could only manage a twitch as she laid limp in the bath, the water up to her waist now. It was just warm and not even hot to not hurt further. But the water was beginning to turn a soft pink with her stomach still in ribbons from the man's attack. The man who called himself Logan's brother. She couldn't speak yet though to tell him.
Carefully Logan was now undressing Laura. He was doing this to get her out of the frozen and blood covered clothes. He got a better look at her stomach and the damage done was so deep it had ripped through muscle and into her guts that were on the verge of being exposed. Looking at her he felt such empathy. He had been through unimaginable pain in his life, but his blessing was healing quickly. Laura had less pain but her ability was much slower. How much slower he wasn't entirely sure.
Once she was naked he turned off the water. Her clothes and shoes were all dumped in a pile, too bloody to ever use again. He could see the bruises on her body from struggling. This caused his blood to boil, all the damage that had been done all to leave for a few hours. Guilt was ripping through his body as he gently cleaned her body of blood and mud. The rip to her throat he carefully wrapped in medical gauze to cover the open wound. He would wait till she was warmer before wrapping her stomach.
It took almost 35 minutes for Laura to start to move. She had felt like her body was thawing in the warm water. Which really was the case; she had partially frozen in the freezing water of the creek. One of her hands had moved, gripping his that had been resting on the side of the tub waiting for any kind of movement. He watched her open her mouth and she tried to talk but words failed her. She could feel that pain, trying to speak made it feel like someone took a razor blade to her vocal cords.
"Hay.. don't try to talk right now. Just nod, are you in pain?" He asked quietly.
Laura nodded slowly, her eyes lifting to meet his own. They had more life in them now then before.
"I'm sorry.. I need to get you dry and warmer, can you handle me getting you out, you think?"
She paused just looking at him. Her body was uncomfortable sitting there in the bath, warmer then she was, but still felt ice cold. Nodding again she closed her eyes. The thought of being lifted up and moved was unnerving. She knew damn good and well that it would hurt and after feeling so little pain for so long this was hell.
"Alright…" he sighed. He didn't want to do this to her just as much as she didn't want it. But, it was a necessary evil. Quickly he started to drain the bath and went to get towels. Coming back over to her he had laid a few towels down on the floor and had one in his arms. As he picked her up carefully he wrapped her in the towel he had been holding. A loud whine came from Laura's throat and he felt her hands trying to grab his arms tightly but she had little grip.
"I've got you.. I'm sorry I'll be quick.." he stated as he was gently drying her and sat her against the side of the tub on the floor. He did this so he could bandage her stomach and wrap it. He couldn't just leave her wound open, even if it would heal. After she was dry and her stomach wrapped he was gingerly lifting her back into his arms. This time she was able to wrap one of her arms around his shoulders as he carried her bridal style again. Placing her softly into the bed he pulled the blankets up over her. He watched as she was able to adjust herself slightly before she settled.
"Laura… I'm so sorry.. I'm sorry I let this happen to you…" he said quietly as he sat on the bed next to her.
Shaking her head she frowned. Her eyes moved around a bit as she thought. Lifting one weak hand from under the sheet she pointed to the nightstand. Her phone was laying where she pointed and she glanced at him and kept her hand pointed that way.
Looking to where she was pointing he quickly realized what she wanted. Taking her phone he passed it to her. "Can you tell me what happened?" He asked quickly, seeing her idea.
Watching as she took it and she weakly held it in both of her hands now. After a few moments she held the phone up, texting out a message.
I'm in a lot more pain then I thought I could feel, but I can manage… And he called himself your brother. I was in the woods walking around and he was just kinda there, like he had been following me. Fucker used claw nails to get me like a fish and bit my neck like some creep. Honestly, I'm honestly glad that's all the bastard did.
Logan took her phone to read the message as she turned it to him. "I'm sorry… Laura I'm so very sorry. Victor Creed; he says he's my brother but I don't remember him. He wants to make me suffer for not being more like him. He must have been watching us for some time…" He explained gently before handing her back the phone. He watched her take a few seconds to type again before passing it back again.
He said you never learn…?
Logan's stomach lurched and he frowned, his eyes lowered and he became more sullen. She could see it on his face that this struck something. She turned the phone back again and typed another message to put where he could see.
I'm not the first?
Logan gently moved the phone away out of his face and set it back on the nightstand. He took her hand and looked at her sadly. "No… No you're not…" he said softly. "Victor had killed someone else I was close to, another woman who I loved." He spoke quietly. This was a painful memory for Logan. A part of him always still loved the people he lost, Jean had been the worst of all for a very long time. But that was a distant memory and he was realizing, as he explained what happened before, Laura almost was that again.
He told her about Kayla Silverfox and how Victor killed her while he was away working while they lived in Canada. He took the time to tell her about the weapons X program, about being a mercenary before that. Though those memories were the cloudiest. He couldn't give her all the details he wanted to, but he gave her everything he had. He even told her about Jean and how he was in love with her and everything that followed. "It's been years now… almost a decade now that I've been alone, too afraid to bring anyone in close." He started as he was wrapping up. "I met you and it was just fun but then getting to know you…" he trailed off.
Laura had been laying here in some pain, taking in all of his words just waiting for her body to recover. She took his hand weakly, she didn't have much of a grip still and pointed to her phone again. Her face was a bit blank, but that was just out of exhaustion and a bit of pain. Thankfully the pain was already subsiding now that she was getting warm. When he did hand it to her again she wrote out.
You've been around a long time. Been around a few times, I get it. Thanks for telling me, but I wish you would have sooner. You know, mention that you have an evil stalker who kills girlfriends, that's something someone should know, dumbass.
Logan couldn't help but give a single quiet laugh when she had called him a dumbass. Slowly he smiled and set the phone aside again as he kissed her forehead. "I am, I'm sorry," he said quietly and rubbed her head, pushing her damp hair out of her face. "Try to rest. I need to make a call," he said standing up.
Nodding in response Laura moved and got more comfortable again. She figured he would be calling Xavier or someone from the school. This was what she figured might qualify as X-Men business. Especially seeing as the man who attacked her healed like Logan could when she tried to gouge his eye out. Finally relaxing in a warm bed she could feel her toes again, her legs still felt sore, and her chest still burned. Her hand touched over her stomach and she couldn't feel the pain of where her stomach had been torn with the man's claws. She knew the damage was still there, but just like when Logan had stabbed her, the pain was minimal. What hurt now was her pride, she felt like a coward. Half of her was putting on the show to save her ass when she begged to not be hurt. The other half meant it. She had been terrified and even knowing she couldn't die she still felt fear. Never before had she been afraid of death. But before she didn't feel like she had anything to live for. It was different now, she felt a reason to live and it was a strange feeling to realize. Before anything that came she had a small hope that it would work. The thought of outliving everyone she would ever meet had terrified her till meeting Logan. Meeting someone she could know for as long as they lived in eternity. Closing her eyes she felt herself relax more. Breathing was feeling easier and the pain was almost gone now that she was still. Without realizing she blacked out once again.