Drunk Logan
Chapter 39

DISCLAIMER: I reference a Mac line, although I use it for V.

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When Veronica woke up, she had a pounding headache and it took a couple of minutes for her vision to clear enough to take in her surroundings. The lights were dimmed with only a couple of small lights shining in the room.

'Okay, definitely a hospital room. Got that much, but why? Was I in a car accident? No, I don't think so.' She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath as she was trying to remember what events had led her to waking up in that hospital room.

"Hey, Supafly, you're awake." Wallace was speaking softly, which Veronica's head greatly appreciated.

"Yeah, I'm awake, but why wasn't I?" She was surprised at how dry her throat was and she tried to clear it.

Wallace poured a cup of water from a jug that had been placed on the tray next to her bed. He held it up to her mouth and let Veronica drink from the straw. She motioned to let him know that she was done and then nodded her head to show her gratefulness.

"Well, you were in the pool house at Logan's..." he didn't get any further before Veronica interrupted him.

"Logan, where's Logan?" She panicked and sprung into a sitting position. Or, at least she tried to. Her head was throbbing and pain shot through it at the sudden motion. Her body went limp and she fell back into her bed as she whimpered.

"Are you okay?!" Wallace was worried. He'd never seen Veronica Mars show signs of weakness in any form. Even if most people wouldn't consider this weakness, he knew she would.

Veronica just groaned in response while she held her head with both hands.

"Logan." It was one softly-spoken word, but Wallace knew she was asking where he was and if he was alright. He understood why she would be asking considering everything that had happened.

"Actually...if you'd look to your right, you'd see him." Veronica turned her head quickly, surprised that Logan had just stood there silently while she wondered where he was.

She frowned when she didn't see him standing by her bed. Then, just before she asked Wallace, again, where Logan was, she saw him. Tears filled her eyes when she realized that he was the other patient in her room.
"Oh, no." She whispered. "Is he going to be okay?"

"Yeah, he was beaten up pretty badly, but he'll be okay." Wallace reached down and hugged Veronica gently in an attempt to comfort, but not cause any additional pain.

"Well, what happened? The last thing I remember is jumping on Aaron's back because he was going after Logan."

"So, he is the one who beat Logan up, huh? We kind of thought so, but we weren't sure." Wallace slowly shook his head, confirming a piece of the puzzle that they had not been able to put together yet.

"Well, who did you think did it? Me?" Veronica asked sarcastically. The last thing she remembered, the pool house only consisted of her, Logan and Aaron. If Aaron didn't beat Logan up, then it would have to have been her.

"We didn't know if something had happened and your dad had beaten him up. We didn't know if something had happened between you and Logan that your dad walked in on and what role Aaron played exactly." Wallace was not a wealth of information. In fact, no one was at that point. They'd had very little to go on and just had to piece information together as they went along and waited for everyone to wake up to fill in the missing information.

"Dad? He was there? When did he get there? And you thought he beat up Logan? Geez, what did you think that Logan had done to me? Sheesh. Anyway, if dad was there, why didn't he tell you what happened?" Her head was hurting even more now. It seemed like it should have been very simple. They shouldn't be guessing at a whole lot of information. Sure, her and Logan were out, but obviously Aaron and her dad had been there. Even if Aaron had lawyered up, her dad should have been able to fill in a lot of the information they were looking for.

"Uh, yeah. Your dad was there. He didn't really have a chance to tell the authorities what happened." Wallace's gaze shifted away from Veronica's and she couldn't understand why he seemed so uncomfortable all of the sudden.

"That makes sense. I'm sure there were probably police and aide personnel and media all buzzing around. He must be down at the Sheriff's Department sorting it all out. Otherwise, I know he'd be perched on the edge of my bed waiting for me to wake up." She smiled a little to herself. Normally she, at least, would have chuckled at her own comments, but a smile was all she could manage.

"Actually, V..." Wallace started, but stopped when the quiet of the room was interrupted by a groan.

"Ronnie," Logan mumbled, then groaned again. Veronica's eyes got huge as she tried to get into a position to see him better.

"Go over there please, Wallace. I don't want him to feel alone when he wakes up and doesn't see anyone by his bedside." Wallace did as she said and rounded her bed. He stood between the two hospital beds so that Logan could see him when he finally did open his eyes.

Wallace watched as Logan's eyes slowly fluttered open. He blinked several times and tried to focus on any one thing.

Logan felt stiff all over as he tried to wake up and figure out where he was. Then, as his vision cleared, he saw Wallace standing next to him in the darkened room. He lifted an eyebrow questioningly.

"How ya doing, Logan?" Wallace asked just as softly as when he'd first spoken to Veronica. The confusion written across both of their faces when they woke up hinted at the fact that he should take it easy with them.

Logan swallowed hard, trying to get past the feeling of cotton in his mouth. "Veronica?"

He was almost afraid to ask the question. He knew that he must have passed out. When he did, Aaron was still going strong with a very defenseless Veronica unconscious in the room.

"I'm right here, Logan. Are you okay?" Logan tilted his head to see past Wallace and his gaze landed on Veronica laying in another hospital bed. He was relieved and terrified all at the same time. Relieved that she was actually there and talking to him. Terrified of what could have happened and of what injuries she might have, given the fact that she was also in the hospital.

"Oh, Logan!" Veronica gasped when she saw his face straight on.

"Are you okay?" She asked again, allowing the tears already present in her eyes to fall freely.

"Oh, Baby, I'm fine." It wasn't completely true. In the couple of minutes he'd been awake, he'd already started to notice that the feeling of stiffness was rapidly being replaced by that of pain everywhere. He knew from experience that the more his body woke up, the more pain he'd feel.

Logan wanted nothing more at that moment than to comfort his girlfriend. Nothing was going to stop him, either. He pulled back the thin hospital blanket and tried to sit up.

"No, Logan, don't!" Veronica was so worried about him being hurt more. "You need your rest!"

"No, actually, I need my Ronnie." He tried to plaster a lecherous smirk over the pain that showered his face.

"Wallace, mind helping a guy out?" Wallace reached over to him and let Logan steady himself by grabbing onto Wallace's arm.

He was moving excruciatingly slowly, but he finally made it to Veronica. She had moved herself over and was holding open her blanket for him to climb in.

Wallace was amazed at watching them. They had become so comfortable with each other in such a short amount of time, both physically and emotionally.

Logan had ignored his own pain because he could tell that she needed his comfort. Veronica, in turn, had opened her bed to him, no questions asked, ready to give and receive the comfort she knew they both needed. Wallace watched as they melted into one another, not in a sexual way, but in such an emotionally intimate manner. Wallace actually wondered if he should leave. Just as he was going to walk out and give them some privacy, Logan cleared his throat.

"So, what happened, Wallace? The last thing I remember is my dad hitting Veronica and her crashing into a bunch of shelves and getting knocked out. Then, in the middle of my fight with my da...Aaron, he sent me flying into Mr. Mars. I think he was just coming into the pool house. I don't remember anything else." Logan felt Veronica tense at the mention of her crashing into the shelves and passing out. He just held her tighter, letting her know that they were both there, both okay.

"Well, like I was telling V before you woke up, the authorities don't know a whole lot yet. Or, at least they didn't when I last heard. It's been a little while since then, though. They may know more by now, I can go call if you'd like." Logan thought that it seemed like a good idea. He wanted to know everything he could about what had happened after he was out.

Veronica, on the other hand, pinned Wallace with her stare. "Hold it right there, buddy."

She noticed the way that Wallace tensed and shifted his gaze from her again before he spoke, "Uh, yeah?"

"You know more than you are letting on. What is it?" She may not have known Wallace for all that long, but they'd spent a lot of time together. They were each other's only real friend until Logan came along and basketball practice started up. Veronica could tell that he was hiding something.

"Tell us everything you know. What happened to Aaron, where's Lynn...and why didn't my dad set everyone straight about who hit Logan?" Logan's eyebrows knitted together. He knew he'd missed something while he was still out, he just didn't know what.

"Well, Lynn is at the Sheriff's Department, answering as many questions as she can for them." Wallace figured he'd start with the safest of the questions.

"Why? What does my mom have to do with anything? She wasn't even there." Wallace should have known that there were no safe questions when it came to the events of the night."

"Okay, back up a second. First things, first. You two are going to be fine. They said that they are going to release you tomorrow morning. They just needed to wait until you woke up and they'll do a quick check up. They said that V had a nice little concussion going for her and Logan, you've got some bruised ribs and are just nice and sore all over. You've also got a couple stitches on that cut above your eye, but you should be feeling better in a couple of weeks."

"In fact, you two would have spent the night in beds in the E.R., if it hadn't been for the paparazzi. The hospital had to move you into a private room in order to calm the chaos."

"Huh, I thought that feeling was familiar," Logan said as he rubbed his side gingerly. "Now, Wallace...what about my mom."

Wallace took a deep breath and knew that he couldn't avoid the topic any longer. "Look, I don't know how to tell you this and I was hoping I wouldn't have to. I was hoping Mrs. Echolls would be here before I had to explain any of this."

He had a hopeless look on his face as he looked into Logan and Veronica's eyes. "It's bad, guys, really bad."

"Suspense effectively built here, Wallace. Spill it." Veronica wasn't being curt, she just knew that they needed to know what was happening.

Wallace took another deep breath and spoke as quietly and quickly as he could. "Your dad came into the pool house in the middle of Aaron and Logan fighting, he started fighting with Aaron, Lynn grabbed your dad's gun off the floor and shot Aaron, he died in surgery." Wallace had shifted his gaze away from the stares that were boring holes into him.

He looked back at his best friend and her boyfriend, a boy who was quickly becoming his friend, also. He could see them trying to process what he'd said and he watched as realization washed over them. "Sorry, man."

"Oh, Logan," Veronica had tears in her eyes as she turned to comfort him. She caressed the side of his face softly.

"Your Dad." It came out as a whisper. She didn't really know what else to say. So much had been revealed about Aaron Echolls in the last few hours and it was all too much to understand.

It would have been difficult just dealing with one new fact about him. Knowing that Aaron had sex with underage girls would have sent them reeling. Instead, things just kept piling up. It just so happened that at least one of those underage girls was his son's girlfriend. Then, as icing on the cake, Aaron recorded his sexcapades in the family pool house. Not to be topped, he then decided to kill Lilly, girlfriend and best friend extraordinaire. Lastly, the display of violence that he turned on Veronica and Logan had shown that his actions against Lilly were not some sort of twisted accident.

Veronica watched as Logan's eyes misted over, but he wouldn't let the tears fall. She laced her fingers with his and squeezed, trying to give him her strength.

"What about my mom? Is she ok?" Aaron was up for "Worst Husband of The Year"Award, yet Logan knew that shooting and killing someone, especially your own husband, had to have been difficult for his mother.

"Yeah, no, she's fine," Wallace said quickly, then added, "She just had to give her statement to the cops and answer their questions.

"Actually, that's why I'm here. Your mom arranged for me to be. She didn't want you two waking up alone, wondering what had happened. She made sure that you two were kept together no matter what."

"Lamb let her arrange all of that with her one phone call?" Veronica knew that she shouldn't be surprised. They were talking about the Lynn Echolls.

"Yeah, she's not under arrest. She drove herself to the station and made her calls on the way there. Her attorney is the one who arranged most of the details, anyway. She called him first and he met her at the Sheriff's Department.

Wallace was hoping that would be enough information for the moment. He didn't want to continue the discussion because he knew that it was only going to get worse.

"Well, you two look exhausted and this is a lot to take in right now. Why don't you guys get some rest and I'll pick you up in the morning and take you home," he said hopefully.

He turned to leave, although he knew he wouldn't actually being going anywhere. He needed to make sure that they fell asleep. If they turned on the television, there was too much of a chance that they would hear all of the details that Wallace was keeping close to the vest.

Unfortunately, it wasn't Wallace's lucky night. He was stopped by the one thing he was truly hoping to avoid.

"What about my dad? Is he with Lynn?" He heard his best friend's voice.

Although Veronica knew that wild horses wouldn't keep her father away from her bedside, she also knew that he would want to take care of Lynn after such an ordeal. Since Veronica was in the capable hands of the hospital, Wallace and Logan, he would feel better about being away in order to watch over Lynn. She loved her dad for his decency and his chivalrous ways.

Veronica had never seen a black person pale. She'd never actually thought about it until she watched her best friend's face do just that.

At that exact moment, she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up and then looked down to see the goose bumps forming on her arms. There was a lump in her throat large enough to choke on and she lost the ability to speak.

Veronica took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment, hoping that when she saw Wallace again, she would realize that she'd completely misread him. Unfortunately, that isn't what she saw when she reopened her eyes. She wasn't comforted by his warm smile, and she wasn't reassured by the laughter usually present in his eyes.

Then she remembered something he'd said. "Wait, why isn't Lynn under arrest? She killed Aaron because of a fight with my dad? Isn't that excessive force just for a fight? It doesn't make sense that she wasn't arrested. It was just a fight, right?" Veronica wasn't wishing Lynn was arrested, she was actually very grateful to Lynn, but she didn't understand.

"What's going on, Wallace?" It was Logan's deep, concerned voice that cut through the confusion.

Wallace looked at the floor for a moment. He didn't know how to continue. How do you break your best friend's heart?

He had to fight back his own tears, but he knew he had to stay strong for what was coming and for Veronica. He lifted his head and held Veronica's gaze. He looked at her with a strange combination of fierce strength, determination and gentle compassion.

"V, your dad isn't with Mrs. Echolls right now. The reason that she shot Logan's dad was because of a little more than a fight. He was trying to kill your dad." Wallace knew that Veronica's natural instinct was to ask questions and he could see them written all over her face. "Aaron was drowning and choking him at the same time."

"Uhm," Veronica whimpered. There were so many thoughts flying through her already aching head, but there was one repeating thought that she finally voiced.

"Where. Is. He?" She was staring at Wallace with an intensity that let him know she would not be put off any longer. She wasn't mad at him, she knew that he was trying to save her feelings, but she was irritated. She just needed the bottom line, no more slow-bleeding the wound. Her father had been and still was the biggest part of her life and she needed real answers about him.

"He's here. He..." Wallace was cut off by Veronica's abrupt interruption.

"He's here? Where? Take me to him." She began to get out of the bed, holding her head through the throbbing and wincing in pain. She didn't care though, she was going to see her dad.

"Whoa, wait a sec," Wallace had wanted to be gentle with Veronica, but he panicked. He just wanted to stop her and he blurted out the truth she'd been wanting.

"He's in a coma, V!"

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09nerLoVer: You covered all of the highlights! I'm glad that you enjoyed it. Hope you like the way this thing get wrapped up. 8 chapters left!

Adja: See, I thought that since you'd gotten a good night's sleep the other night after my chapter, then you'd be okay with a little less sleep last night. lol I don't know if I'm a great writer, but the mean part? Just something that resides deep inside of me. I have no choice, but to let it shine. :-)

Oh, I loved your comment about Madison not shutting up...that was hilarious.

AJzkitten69: I tell you what. During S1, I had so many guesses about who the murderer could be. I was wrong on all accounts. They totally got me with the Aaron thing. I loved it! Yeah, Lynn was too fakey in canon for me. I just wanted to write what was a little deeper than the fakey airhead that was portrayed in the show. Bad Aaron, Bad!

alecygoodness22: ok, well the update is a little earlier this morning. Hope you're still hanging in there. :-) did you have a chance to figure it all out during the day break? I think that the detail can be good, too. It just depends on how the story it built. I like stories that even go episode by episode when they have their own twists and turns to them. With my stuff, I just like spending too much time on V and Logan. Everything else is only used to support their story line.

beatlechicksteph: Well, look at you. The one and only fan of cliffie's. heeheehee. Glad you enjoyed the reveal!

copperboom321: breathe, breathe, breathe. It's okay...kind of.

hulahula551: thank you! I love hero Logan, but I also like the idea that when he saw Keith, he had faith that everything would be ok.

jennaml2709: ok, look. What kind of an author would I be if I made it totally predictable and easy for you? At least you don't have to wait a week or more for the update, right? So, Lamb was a good idea. Sorry about the whole Aaron thing. I know you were pulling for it to be anyone else.

kylie144: I hope you AND your chair have recovered! Ok, so I wrote that, then I went to my e-mail and saw your next review. ROTFL!!! What is wrong with me? Well, that is a question that many people have been asking for years. Sorry, can't help you. I'm just plain twisted. :-)

ladylove5: Well, thank you...I think. Guess it depends on how you feel about cliff hangers, huh:-)

lagurlroks: whoopsie...no Lynn...sorry!

Literati and naley forever: Yeah, I know that Keith will still see the times that Logan hurt Veronica (in canon), but of everyone, Logan is fiercely protective and a constant for V.

Lorelei Candice Black: Yes. It was Aaron coming into the room. See, and you had no faith that I would answer you. (Wink)

LoVeElle: I love that you saw that about Aaron taping over Logan's childhood video. That is exactly what I was trying to get across. The fact that he had so little, I don't know, respect? for his family. He's willing to tape over once in a life time memories for his sick little game of deflate the balloon in the female child? Yeah, no good. Glad you liked the costumes. I drove myself crazy trying to figure out what the perfect costumes would be. And, yes, Keith making Logan nervous AND enjoying it. Too funny. Keith has an evil streak himself. Thanks!!

Nicole Therese: So glad that you're enjoying it. You never know what my odd little brain will come up with. I try to make everything as realistic as possible (you know, given that it's set in a tv show with extreme situations like murder by celebrities, incest, rape, molestation, bus crashes, etc, etc, etc). The idea that Aaron could be easily taken out by Veronica...not so much. That was proven when she went against him in S1 finale. Logan, although having a better chance, still more used to the beat down from his dad, rather than beating his dad down. So, yeah...Keith was the last option and in S1 finale, he didn't do so hot either. He finally won their battle, but it wasn't easy for him.

RBDFAN: How'd you like that?

RedBrick: I like the things you commented about after ch. 37. First, Veronica. Yeah, I really wanted her to have some of her spunk back. She really has started recovering from the Troy and Duncan thing, when she really needed to lean on Logan. The question is...how far will she go back into her old self? How self-reliant will she be? And...how far is too far? Oh, and glad you liked the costumes. I fretted and fretted over that one for a while!

SaraLyleth: Well, I'll concede that, had the show grown, Dick could have, too. As for Aaron and where he thought he was headed. I have know idea. I thought the same thing. What are you thinking? How are you going to explain 3 dead bodies? (That is if he'd gotten the chance to go back and finish the job.) I think he was just in an angry rage and wasn't thinking it through. And, hey, I never mind longer reviews.

sarca666: I can't help the cliffie's. The story wrote itself. See, not my fault.

ShmexyShmexyHinny: Now, now, now. Hate? Whew! I think we need to work on our relationship. I will take the first step in showing you that I wasn't lying about the code. Here is what I told you way back in chapter 33:

KKKKK WWWW BB PPP II A CCCC BB AAAAA...And what happened:

KEITH WILL BE PUT II A CCCC BB AARON. I had to leave some blanks for those who are reading my responses before reading Chapter 39. But see, I wasn't lying. I gave you a BIG spoiler 6 chapters ago. Okay, there is my olive branch. :-)

Vmfan387: Thanks! Hope you like. I'm glad so many of you liked their costumes. I can't tell you how long I agonized over those.

VMLoVeR87: Ah, don't count your chickens before they hatch! Lilly still made her appearance.

xosummerxo: Well, your questions should have been answered here. How did you like the answers? I'm glad it was exciting for you. It's good to know that I can really get you all going because that's what I'm trying to do in the story. Glad it's coming through. I'm glad you liked the Lynn/Veronica stuff, too. I have had things, like miscarriages, in my life that I can speak about in a completely different way to another woman than I can to a man, even my husband. I really think that V needs Lynn.

XXspuffster101XX: Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of the whole V turning on L because of his alibi and such. I'm glad that you liked the way the Aaron thing turned out. I love that my story has convinced you that I wouldn't have done anything predictable like have Aaron show up. I'm thinking there's a compliment in there. lol Anyway, glad I could still surprise you in the scene. Hope you enjoy the reveal of what happened.