CHAPTER 30: The Waiting Game
"So, what you're saying is that you're worried it wasn't an accident... That you think Logan's accident was deliberate?"
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"Deliberate? You think he meant for the accident to happen?" Honor clarifies once again, looking to Rory to confirm her suspicions with her mouth gaping open in shock.
After having a moment to process what Rory has just told her, she immediately jumps into defense of her younger brother. Without waiting for an answer from Rory, Honor continues to speak.
"No, no... He wouldn't. Logan's never been suicidal. He wouldn't... Sure he has made some stupid decisions in the past, but he's never done any of that with self-harm in mind. Especially not now that Elleigh's in his life. He can't stop talking about her. "
Rory nods at the other woman's answer.
"I hope you're right, Honor. Just the thought of that... It was killing me... But, I just couldn't sideline the idea, given the timing of it all and considering I haven't known him for the last ten years."
"It was just an accident. A freak accident, but, still, just an accident..." Honor reiterates earnestly. There is not a smidgen of doubt in her voice.
This reassures Rory a little, but she still feels like she cannot be completely saved from her guilt until she speaks to the man himself and until she can hear Logan's side of the account...
During the moment of silence, the two women are interrupted by the ding of the nearby elevator. It has been moving and dinging the entire time that they have been waiting in the hospital, yet, both girls looks up almost instinctively as though they are expecting the arrival and the presence of the blonde, business suit-clad man with a receding hairline.
Immediately upon catching sight of the two women, Mitchum slips his mobile phone into his pocket and joins the duo.
"Honor, Rory... Good to see you both" he greets, briefly wrapping his daughter in a hug before shaking hands with the other woman. "Have you heard anymore about how he's doing? I've got my secretary on it, but no one knows anything. Or, at least, that's what everyone's saying."
After the greetings, the group of three fade to a silence. They each take a seat and they each fidget uncomfortably until Honor's phone begins to vibrate; a distraction that all three of them welcome.
"I'm really sorry. I've got to take this. It's Josh... I told him to only call me if it's important. Sorry."
Honor gives Rory an extra apologetic look, far sorrier for leaving her with Mitchum than she is for the other way around.
"So..." Mitchum eventually says, trying to warm up and talk to Rory in the hopes of breaking the awkward silence between the two of them. "Where's my beautiful granddaughter today? I would have thought that she would want to be with her dad."
"She was here, but I was a little worried that a hospital waiting room isn't exactly the best place for a nine-year-old. So, Colin and Finn have just taken her out to get ice-cream until we hear something."
Mitchum nods in understanding before glancing at Rory a couple of times, as if trying to decide whether or not to reply and continue speaking or whether he should just leave them to their silence. He decides the latter.
Having appreciated Mitchum's interest in her daughter, his granddaughter, Rory tries to repay the favour and effort that he put in with her own attempts to break the silence and thaw the ice in the uncomfortable quiet.
"It's really good that you're here this time... Not to mention that you came of your own accord."
As she glances over to the man that is her daughter's grandfather, the two of them share a little smile, both knowing that she is referring to the last time she phoned him at the hospital to tell him that he should have been there, too, but not in the most polite manner.
However, what Mitchum doesn't say is how much he respected her for pulling him into line that day.
After Rory's remark, the two of them fall to another silence. After all, apart from their brief work-based relationship, Mitchum and Rory never really knew each other that well and a lot of time has passed since the few weeks that she spent interning for him. Consequently, it doesn't really leave them with many topics for discussion and much gossip to catch up on.
However, after a few minutes of silence and a few minutes of pretending to look distracted so that the silence does not become too uncomfortable, Mitchum raises one question that he has been meaning to raise and wanting to ask Rory.
"Rory, about Elleigh, I've been meaning to ask you whether you would mind if I, well, tell people about her? I would like to... Now I hope I'm not being intrusive, but I know that you kept her from Logan for many years, however I don't really know if you were keeping her from him or from the Huntzberger name."
"Well, the reason why she was kept from Logan is a whole other conversation in itself... But, no, I have no issue with her being affiliated with both Logan and the Huntzberger name. It's part of who she is, after all."
Mitchum nods in understanding, a smile spreading over his face.
"Good... I'm glad. I've wanted to tell people about her, boast about her even, but I thought I should check on that with you first."
"That's fine" Rory says, giving the older man a completely genuine, completely unforced, smile back in response. "Tell the world, if you really want." Rory chuckles at her own exaggeration and as she looks over to the man beside her, she notices the smile on his own face.
Minutes later, the two are interrupted by another ding on the elevator revealing Elleigh and her two companions. As they leave the elevator, all three of them take more notice of one person in particular despite the fact that there are two people sitting there in that waiting room.
"Mr. Huntzberger" Colin greets politely, holding out his own hand to shake his friends fathers'.
"Dark Lord. You're looking well" Finn says bluntly, not adjusting his nickname for the man despite his presence.
"Grandad!" Elle exclaims, by far the most excited of the three as she doesn't hesitate in giving her grandfather a hug that he is just as enthusiastic to exchange.
As soon as they separate, the youngest in the group of five in the waiting room looks to her mother and grandfather.
"Uncle Finn and Uncle Colin took me to get ice-creams. They got me THREE flavours and caramel sauce on top!"
Mitchum chuckles at her excitement and enthusiasm. Elle is just the distraction that they all need as they wait for information on the same man, who despite all their differences, their concern for Logan is the one common denominator between them that they can all agree on.
"What flavours did you choose?" Mitchum asks in his attempt to pay an interest in his granddaughter.
"I had cookies and cream, choc chip and vanilla" Elleigh recounts with an excited grin. A typical Gilmore, the mention of food is exactly what she needs to take her mind off her worries about her father for a moment.
However, before the doting grandfather has a chance to respond to her, Mitchum is interrupted along with Rory who is checking up with the other two boys, ensuring that her daughter had been okay for them on their little outing. The group are interrupted by a doctor strolling over to them; each one of them trying to read his blank expression as they wait for him to speak, impatiently waiting to hear any news. Honor, too, reenters the waiting room, throwing her phone in her bag as she races over to the group who are surrounding her brother's doctor.
"Are you all here for Logan Huntzberger?"
There is a cluster of nods from the group and the doctor nods in understanding. "And you're all family?"
Mitchum speaks up, introducing himself as Mitchum Huntzberger, his father, along with pointing out Logan's sister, daughter, the mother of his child and then falling to a silence upon reaching his two friends.
Finn jumps in and points to Colin firstly, then himself, picking up from where Mitchum left off. "That's Colin and I'm Finnegan. We're Sir Huntzberger's brothers... Blood brothers..."
Finn's excuse elicits an eye roll from the eldest Huntzberger in the waiting room. However, the doctor just skips over the fact, not debating the technicalities of family-versus-friends any longer.
"Mr. Huntzberger has just come out of surgery. He is very lucky... Now, we have no answers as to how the accident happened, only the extent of it. Our greatest concern was Logan's head injury from the collision. At this stage, there has been no internal bleeding or excessive swelling, but we will be monitoring that closely until he's out of the woods. There has been no haemorrhaging, but we will be monitoring for a subdural hematoma."
The seriousness of the situation along with the medical jargon flies well over Elleigh's head. So, instead, she just looks up and watches the expressions of the adults in her life... She notes the solemness of her grandfather, the watering eyes of her aunt, the fear in her mother and the sudden seriousness of the two jovial boys that had just taken her out for ice-cream...
While she might not understand what the doctor's saying, she can see what impact it is having on the shifting attitude of the adults that are standing around her... That's what worries her.
"In addition to his head injury, he has two broken ribs from the airbag and a fractured wrist, but they will heal. Like I said, he's been very lucky so far, but he's not out of the woods yet. He's still unconscious and in an induced coma for the head injury, but we hope that he should wake up on his own within the next few days."
Elleigh looks up and around at the adults surrounding her, she feels her mother's touch as she comfortingly rests her hand on her shoulder supportively.
"So, is my dad going to be okay?" Elleigh asks, looking up to the adults, seeking the doctor or just anyone else who will answer her question.
"We hope so. I can't promise anything, but he's doing well so far."
Elleigh nods at the doctor's words, with Rory's hand that's on her shoulder stroking back and forth comfortingly.
"He's still unconscious, but you can go in and see him now. Only two at a time in his room, thank you."
"I'll go first, I have to leave shortly –I'll be back tomorrow- but I'd like to see him before I leave" Mitchum comments, with no objection from the others in the group.
As the Huntzberger patriarch disappears into his son's hospital room, Rory catches a glimpse of Logan, lying on the bed, bruised and battered with machines and cords and gauzes in every direction. Her breath hitches in her throat, giving her awful flashbacks to seeing him in the hospital after his failed BASE jump in South America.
She quickly tries to distract herself by looking down to their daughter, pressing a kiss to her golden locks. "Are you okay sweetheart? Is this all upsetting for you? Do you want me to call someone to pick you up?"
Elleigh looks to her mother with sad eyes, but a definitive head-shake. "No. I want to stay here. I want to be with my dad."
The child with them proves to be a fantastic distraction for all the adults as they all continue waiting in the waiting room. Rory and Colin take seats either side of the young blonde girl as Finn crouches down in front of her.
"You okay, darling? Where's that Huntzberger smile of yours gone? 'Cause, I know for a fact that that smile is the very first thing that your dad is going to want to see when he wakes up. In fact, I promise you that, my darling."
At Finn's charming reasoning, a little smile begins to crack on the small girl's face.
"That's better! Now keep it that way. Your dad is going to be just fine. He's going to have so much fun teasing us all for being worried! He'll be fine..."
As much as the adults are saying the words to comfort the younger girl among hem, they are saying those words just as much for their own sake, telling themselves that it'll be okay and that the man that they are all here for will be okay. They hope.
I'm so sorry for the unanticipated hiatus! My work and personal life have been just ridiculously crazy of late. I hope you liked this one nonetheless.
Big, big thank yous go out to nightnovice, Felizia00X, lucylulu, loonymarauder, vickstick, LC42, Rori Potter, suessekathi, soulkissage, oc-journey06, Legolas' Girl 31, Droolia, jldp3, lilkathra and jordana60 for reviewing the last chapter. I really appreciate the last chapter. Thank you so much for supporting me. I hope you're still out there despite my being AWOL! Sorry again.
Next chapter: There's a big change in Logan's condition. Is it for better or worse? By the end of the chapter, life is looking pretty different for Rory.