Auctioned By The Ceo

Chapter 36

That voice again, rough, gravelly, with that deep command which sent a flurry of activity around her.

The hairs on her arms rose in response to the air displacement around her. Maybe she was in heaven,

and she was floating? She flinched as something cool touched her forehead, and tried to turn away, but

that just made her head thump even more.

“Hush, little dove, lie still. Let the nurse take care of you. You’ll feel better soon.”

That sounded like Logan, but that made even less sense. If it was him, he didn’t sound like himself at

all, all choked up and just, well odd, as though he cared, and she knew he didn’t. Not in the way she

cared about him, not in the way she needed him to. Tears rose behind her closed eyelids, as she

drifted back off to sleep. Every time she struggled back to consciousness that crushing weight on her

chest got heavier, as she recalled what led up to her being here, in this hospital bed. She finally

realized that’s where she was, hooked up to machines and with oxygen tracks under her nose. Hospital

made so much more sense than dying. If only she could remember why she was here. She’d been ill,

she remembered that. Rhia’s virus, the visit by the social worker. Logan’s fury at hearing his brother

had to all intents and purposes abandoned Rhia, and his utter bafflement when she’d said he loved

Rhia.

Hannah woke up with a start, silent tears running down her face. That horrible weight on her chest had

gone, at last, but her heart was breaking in two.

With a clear mind came the realization what she had to do. To stay in this marriage, when Logan would

never return her love, it hurt too damn much. Rhia was getting too attached to her as it was. That

moment she called her Mummy…

Priceless and yet so painful, because she could never be her mummy. She would have to end this

charade. Oh, as far as the courts were concerned, they would stay married. There was no way she

would jeopardize his chances of gaining full custody of Rhia, but she couldn’t and wouldn’t live with him

anymore. More useless tears spilled out of her eyes, and she made an ineffective swipe at them with

her hand. Hard to do with the cannula stuck in the back of it. She followed the line leading out of it and

forgot to breathe a moment. There slumped in a chair sat Logan. Head at an awkward angle he was

fast asleep, and he looked…

Wow, he looked awful. Was that the suit he’d worn the day of the home visit? Why was he still in that,

however many days later? It had to have been days, because he sported an almost full beard on his

jaw. Deep purple smudges marred his usually even complexion, and … she sniffed. There was a

definite not so pleasant odor in the room. She struggled to sit up, to see him better when a cool hand

on her shoulder stopped her.

“Easy there, now, let me help you.” The whispered words came from a Health Care Assistant, Lucy,

according to her nametag. The young redhead smiled at her, grabbed the button to work her bed, and

Hannah slowly rose in a more upright position. The shift in position made the room spin, and she

closed her eyes until the dizziness passed.

“There, is that better? I’ll check with the nurse to see if we can get rid of these.” She touched the tracks

under Hannah’s nose and smiled. “The drip will have to stay in for a while until you’re strong enough.”

She glanced across at still sleeping Logan.

“You had that man of yours worried. He hasn’t left your side since you were brought in, and at times I

thought he’d get himself thrown out. He’s got a bit of a temper, hasn’t he?” She winked at her, and

Hannah croaked a weak confirmation.

“Here, slow sips, lubricate those vocal cords. You’ve been out of it for days now.” She held up a cup

with a straw, and Hannah managed a few sucks. Lukewarm water had never tasted so good.

“Days?” she asked. “But I can’t have been. I had a cough and sore throat, that’s all. This doesn’t make

sense.”

Lucy sobered, picked up her medical chart at the end of her bed, and ticked something off.

“Well, it might have started off like that, but it developed into pneumonia, and that brought on sepsis.

Had your husband not brought you in when he did, it could have been really nasty. As it was, it took a

rather aggressive cocktail of drugs to get the sepsis under control, but you’ve been on the mend for the

last twenty-four hours or so. Still, he—” She hooked a thumb over her shoulder at Logan. “He still

refused to leave, and you know I’m really glad you’re awake, ‘cause he’s starting to smell a bit ripe, if

you catch my drift.”

She grinned at her, and clipped the notes back to Hannah’s bed.

“A nurse will be in to assess you properly soon.”

With that she left to let Hannah digest this information overload. At least she now knew why she felt as

weak a kitten who’d been run over by a truck and lost eight of her nine lives in the process. It didn’t

explain Logan’s continued presence though.

His foot slipped, and Logan jerked awake. Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“Fuck, what … you’re awake?” He shot to his feet as though he’d been fired from a cannonball, but that

wasn’t what made her heart turn over in her chest. It was the tears in his eyes, and the careful way he

grasped hold of her hand, raised it up to his lips and pressed a lingering kiss to it that did her in. His

beard felt rough against her skin, and tickled at the same time. A completely inappropriate giggle rose

from her chest. Okay, so it sounded more like the squeaky wheel of the janitor’s bucket, currently

passing by outside her open door, but Hannah was glad she could produce that much of a sound.

Logan lifted his head and regarded her through narrowed eyes.

“And she giggles. Giggles.” He growled low in his throat, and Hanna

h’s heart missed a few beats, especially as he didn’t look angry. His eyes softened as he looked down

on her, and then he perched his butt on the side of her bed, dipped his head and kissed her. It was a

mere brush of his lips over hers, gentle, yet oh so tender, as he breathed words she never thought she

would hear him say.