LIGHTNING (3 page)

Logan

I lay in bed and watched my team on TV as they lost the game. An anger ripped through me as I threw the remote across the room.

“Emily!” I screamed.

“Yes, Mr. Jackson.” She walked in.

“I need my pain meds. Get me my fucking pain meds!”

“You just had a pill a couple of hours ago. It’s not time yet. I’m sorry.” The look on her face made me want to rip her fucking head off.

“I DON’T CARE IF IT’S NOT TIME YET! YOU BETTER GET ME MY FUCKING PILLS OR ELSE, YOU STUPID BITCH!”

She stomped away, and a few moments later, she stood in the doorway and threw the bottle of pills at me.

“Do what you want. I’ve taken your abuse for the last time. I quit. Good luck to you, Mr. Jackson.” She walked away and the front door slammed.

“Stupid bitch.” I grabbed my phone from my nightstand and called my brother, Owen.

“Hey, bro. How are you?”

“You know how I am, so stop asking me. Emily quit.”

I heard a long sigh. “She’s only been there two days, Logan.”

“And?”

“I’ll be over soon.”

“Where’s Brandon?” I asked because I hadn’t seen him in a few days.

“He had some business in California. He told you.”

“No he didn’t,” I snapped.

“Yes he did. I was standing right there. You just don’t remember. I’ll be over soon.”

“Bring some food with you.”

I hung up on him and set my phone down. I couldn’t change the channel because the remote was across the room and I wasn’t getting out of bed to get it. As I lay there shaking my head, my phone rang. It was my agent, Bruce.

“Yeah, Bruce,” I answered.

“How are you doing, Logan?”

“Like shit. The same I’ve been doing over the past couple of months.”

“Words out about what the doctors said about you never being able to play hockey again. Your endorsements are concerned and Nike dropped you. I’m sorry, but I had to tell you. Believe me, I did everything I could.”

“I’m in a contract. I’ll sue those motherfuckers.”

“The contract is only valid as long as you’re playing on the team.”

“So they’re just giving up on me?”

“It’s all about the mighty dollar, Logan. You know that. Get some rest and I’ll talk to you later.”

The burning anger that was already inside me erupted like a volcano. I tightly held the bottle of pills in my hand. I had hit rock bottom and I couldn’t climb back up. There was no use living anymore. I lived for hockey and now that it was taken away from me, I felt an emptiness inside that was more than I could handle. I’d fought my whole life to get to where I was and now that it was gone, the fight in me was gone. There was nothing left to fight for. I needed to end my pain and the pain of my family. They’d get over it. They’d move on and I would no longer be forced to live in the pain and misery that consumed my life.

Opening the bottle of pills, I heard the front door open and Owen calling out my name. I quickly put the cap back on and threw the bottle on my nightstand.

“Hey. I brought burgers.” He held up the brown bag.

“Thanks.”

“How about you come and sit at the table and eat?” he spoke.

“Nah. I don’t want to. I’m fine here.”

“You haven’t left this bed in two months, bro. You need to start moving around. You’ll feel better.”

“What the fuck do you know, Owen?” I snapped. “You think if I move to the kitchen, I’d somehow feel better? You’re wrong. My days of feeling great are gone. The only thing I have to look forward to is sitting in that fucking wheelchair or walking with a cane for the rest of my life like some eighty-year-old man. No thanks.”

“Dude, do you hear yourself? So what are you going to do, just give up? Dad is worried about you. Aunt Vanessa is worried about you. If you don’t want to do it for yourself, do it for her. We owe her after everything she’s done for us. Do you think Mom would want you to just give up?”

“Don’t you dare mention her!” I yelled as I pointed at him.

“Whatever, bro. I’m going out there to eat.”

****

Finishing the last bite of my burger, I heard the front door open and thought that Owen had left, but I heard my brother Brandon and a female voice coming from the other room. Did he actually bring one of his girls here? Because if he did, I was going to kill him.

“How are you, Logan?” he asked as he walked into my room.

“Just peachy, bro. Living the life. Can’t complain,” I spoke in a sarcastic tone as I turned my head and looked the other way.

“There’s someone here I would like you to meet.”

“I’m not meeting anyone, so you and your girl can get the fuck out.”

“That wasn’t very nice,” I heard a female voice say as she entered my room.

Turning my head, I saw this beautiful woman who stood approximately five foot seven with long brown hair and bright blue eyes standing two feet from my bed, staring at me.

“I’m not a nice person. I’m sure my brother filled you in.”

“I’m Brooke Alexander. It’s nice to meet you, Logan.” She held out her slender hand.

I didn’t extend mine. I just wanted everyone to leave me the hell alone.

“Okay,” she spoke as she put her hand down. “You may leave now, Brandon and Owen. I can take it from here.”

“Are you sure?” Brandon asked.

“What the fuck are you talking about, lady?” I yelled. “You better get your ass out of my apartment with them.”

As she walked out of my room with my brothers, I heard the front door open and close. Good. They all left. I reached over and grabbed my pills from the nightstand. Shaking them into my hand, I looked up and saw Brooke staring at me from the doorway.

“What are you going to do? Kill yourself?” she asked with her arms folded.

“I thought I told you to get the fuck out of my apartment. Who the hell are you anyway?”

“I’m the person who was hired to help you, and just to be clear, I don’t scare off that easy. So you can throw things at me, belittle me, swear at me, and scream all you want, but I’m not going anywhere.”

Who the hell did this girl think she was? Even though she was incredibly sexy, I didn’t want her here.

“This is my apartment and I want you out. I don’t want, and I certainly don’t need your help.”

“I don’t care what you want. I’m here and I’m staying. Now which bedroom should I take?” She cocked her head and glared at me.

“What? There’s no way in hell you’re staying here! Now get the fuck out before I call the police!”

“Nope. Sorry. Call the police. I’ll take those pills right from your hand, flush them down the toilet, and then we’ll see how long you last without your pain medication.”

“You come near me and I’ll hurt you.”

A small smile crossed her lips. “You can’t. From what I understand, you haven’t left this bed in two months, only to go to the bathroom, correct? You know why you can’t hurt me, Logan? Because you’re scared. In order to hurt me, you’d have to leave that very spot you’re lying in. You’re afraid if you leave this bed, this room, that you’ll have to face the real world and the scariness of not being the man you were before the accident. You’ll have to deal with things in life you never imagined you would have to and that right there is what keeps you in that bed.”

“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” I scowled.

“Give me the pills.” She walked over to the bed with her hand held out.

“I could hurt you right now with you standing so close to me.” I glared at her.

“But you won’t because you’re not that guy.”

I laughed. “You don’t know fuck about me, bitch.”

“I know enough to know that you wouldn’t hurt me. Now, hand me the pills, please.”

Brooke

This wasn’t the man I saw on the internet. His hair was longer and messy. It looked like it hadn’t been washed in weeks. The sexy stubble on his face had grown into a bushy beard covering his chiseled cheekbones and his strong masculine jaw. He looked like a homeless man that hadn’t bathed in months and the brightness of his brown eyes that his picture displayed was gone, leaving darkness and rage in its place. Logan Jackson was self-destructing and I knew damn well he was trying to end his life.

He scowled as he opened his fist and dropped the pills into my hand.

“You want the fucking pills, take them. Just get the hell out of here and leave me alone.” He looked away.

“Which bedroom should I take?” I asked.

“Take any one you want. I don’t give a fuck. My brother is wasting your time and his money. There is nothing you can do to help me.”

I looked down at the remote that sat on the floor. Walking over, I picked it up and handed it to him.

“Did you throw this?”

“Yeah. I threw it.”

“Why?”

“What are you? Some shrink or something?” He looked at me.

“No. I’m not a shrink. But I would like to know why you threw the remote to your TV across the room when you knew damn well you wouldn’t get up and get it.”

“I threw it because I was pissed off.”

“Pissed off at what?”

“My team lost the game. They lost because I wasn’t there to help them win it.”

“Okay.” I nodded my head. “I’ll be out there if you need anything.”

“I don’t need nothing from you, lady.” His eyes burned into mine.

“If you say so, but I’ll be out there making myself comfortable in your home.” I smiled as I walked out the door with the pills in my hand. Suddenly, I felt something hit my back. I turned around and saw the pill bottle lying on the floor. “You can throw whatever you want at me, but you cannot hurt me.”

I walked into the living room of the apartment and looked around. The walls were painted in a taupe color with dark wood flooring. Area rugs in a dark gray sat under the cream-colored couch that was displayed in front of the dark wood-trimmed picture window. A beautiful wood encased gas fireplace sat across from the couch with an eighty-inch large-screen TV that hung on the wall above it. The rectangular glass table that sat in front of the couch displayed hardcover books about hockey and it looked like it hadn’t been dusted in months. Walking into the kitchen, I took note of the light oak cabinets with the dirty black concrete countertops that were in desperate need of polishing. A round table that seated six sat on the opposite side in front of a large window, which captured the view of the Hudson River. I decided to take the first bedroom on the left. It was bigger than the other two guestrooms. I had my work cut out for me because I could tell that Logan Jackson was definitely going to be a challenge.

After scrubbing down the kitchen and putting things in their proper place, I heard Logan yell out to me.

“Hey. What the hell are you doing? What’s all that noise?”

“Cleaning up this mess in the kitchen. It looks like a grenade went off in here.”

“Nobody asked you to fucking clean. By the way, I need a pain pill. It’s time and I want to go to sleep.”

“If you want a pain pill, then you’re going to have to ask nicely for it.”

“Jesus Christ. Just bring me my fucking pill!” he yelled.

“No. You can either ask nicely or you can get your lazy ass out of bed and get it yourself.”

He mumbled something, but I couldn’t understand what he said.

“Can you please bring me a pain pill and some water?”

I smiled as I took a pill from the bottle and poured him a glass of water. Walking into his bedroom, I handed both to him.

“Was that so bad to ask nicely?”

“I’m warning you, Brooke.” He scowled as he shoved the pill in his mouth and chased it down with water.

“Well, at least you’re not calling me ‘lady’ anymore. That’s a start.”

He lay there, shaking his head with an angry look on his face. I’d give him three days. Three days to start helping himself, and if he didn’t, he was in for a rude awakening.

After I took a shower and changed into my nightshirt, my phone rang. It was Brandon.

“Hello.”

“How are things going?”

“Things are going just fine. He’s reacting and lashing out like I expected he would. Listen, I need you to do me a favor.”

“Anything.”

“I need you, Owen, and the rest of your family to stay away from Logan for a while. Do not call him, answer his calls, or come visit him.”

“Why?” he asked with concern.

“Do you know the story of Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan?”

“Umm. Just bits and pieces.”

“Watch the movie tonight and you’ll understand why I asked you and your family to keep away from him for a while.”

“That’s ridiculous, Brooke.”

“Just do it, Brandon. You’re paying me to help your brother and that’s what I’m trying to do. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

The next morning, I climbed out of bed and went to check on Logan. He was still asleep. Making my way to the kitchen, I made a pot of coffee and took down a mug from the cabinet. Hearing a moan come from his room, I went back to check on him.

“Good morning.” I smiled as I leaned up against the doorway with my arms crossed.

“I need a pill.”

“No you don’t.”

“What do you mean ‘No you don’t’? I said I need a fucking pill. I’m in serious pain.”

“Starting today, you won’t be needing your pills anymore. I’m starting you on something that will help you just as effectively without the dependency factor.”

He laughed. “You can’t do that.”

“Yes I can. You will also be drinking tea. No coffee. Caffeine is bad for healing purposes.”

“Are you on fucking drugs or something?” he asked with an irate tone. “If you think I’m taking and drinking your shit, you’re crazy.”

I shrugged. “Suit yourself. If you want to stay in pain, then so be it. But I will tell you this, by now, the pain is tolerable. You’ve grown to depend on your pain medication. Your brain is telling you that you’re in severe pain when you’re actually not. You have enough trauma in your life to deal with right now and adding a drug dependency on top of it isn’t cool.”

“Are you for fucking real?” He glared at me.

“I am.” I took the bottle and dumped all the pills into the toilet. As I flushed them down, I heard him yell “no” and a thump on the floor.

“You fucking bitch! I swear to God I’m going to kill you.”

Walking back into the bedroom, I saw him lying on the floor with a look of hatred and rage in his eyes as he stared at me.

“When was the last time your sheets were washed?” I asked as I stood at a distance.

“Fuck you!”

“You wish. Now answer my question.”

“Fuck you!” He flipped me off.

I shrugged. “Fine. You can stay on the floor.” I walked out of his room and into the kitchen, where I poured myself a cup of coffee.