Chapter 13: Mom

By Saturday afternoon I was still tired as a dog and I spent the whole day lounging with Moose. I didn't want to go back to the forest again, instead playing tug of war with Moose in the garden and throwing three tennis balls at the same time and laughing at Moose trying to pick them up all at once. I charged my phone, seeing 100 worried messages from my friends and some from Javier.

I told my friends in the group chat what had happened and they all went into panic mode. Logan immediately got into his car and drove over. Kenna called the police, explaining the story and they told her they would check the area and put a news message out.

I heard Logan's car on the road and jogged out with Moose to greet him. “Chica, come here.” Logan said with open arms. I let myself drop into them and he started rubbing my back. We stayed there for a while, hugging in the middle of the street and I could feel the tension leaving me. “Let me make you a drink inside. I packed my stuff, I will stay with you tonight.” Logan said. We got inside and drank some fresh orange juice together. “I would make you a mimosa but that has to wait till next weekend, I'm afraid. I'm so hungover.” Logan said while drinking small sips of his juice. I sat on the kitchen counter. “Tell me about it. I had three hours of sleep and my foot is still killing me.” I said, sitting back.

Mom and I lived in a small white house. Right next to the forest, with a big porch and garden. This was our happy place. The rent was a lot but it was definitely worth it. I worked where I could to help my mom pay for rent and we grew some of our own vegetables. I looked outside, seeing all the flowers still in bloom. The trees showed the first signs of autumn, some of the leaves turning a beautiful orange. The birds were eating the food I left for them this morning, Moose staring at the ground for any leftovers.

“Earth to Tris.” Logan said with a laugh. “You were very far away then.” He continued, standing next to me and looking at Moose. “Yeah, sorry. I need more sleep to function properly.” I responded. “So, what I was saying. Mr. Hayes?” Logan said while raising one eyebrow. “What about him?” I said innocently. “Right. What about him. You walked out with him!” He said accusingly. “That was because Kenna was too drunk to walk. He offered to drive us. Outside we got into a taxi and left.” I said defensively. “He offered to drive you? That's so inappropriate. He's our teacher.” Logan said.

“Logan, I don't want to talk about it now. Nothing happened. I know he's our teacher. Don't worry about it. He was just worried about Kenna, you should probably thank him for getting her out of there. Maybe if he drove me home, I wouldn't be attacked.” I responded with a serious face. Logan looked at my face, finding any signs for a lie but couldn't find any. He nodded with worry. “Okay, Chica. Just be careful. Let's take Moose for a walk and then visit your mom?” Logan said. I smiled, sometimes Logan could look into my mind and know exactly what I needed. I nodded and got Moose from the garden.

We took a short walk, finally brave enough to go into the forest now that Logan was with me and then we drove to the hospital. P was away to sort insurance stuff out for his pub so I had a moment alone with her. I led down next to her in bed and put my arms around her. I told her all about P, my friends, Javier and Damon. At some point I felt her stir. I was almost asleep by this point, the exhaustion of last night catching up to me. “Hi dear.” I heard a soft voice say. I half opened my eyes, seeing nobody at the door. I looked at my mom and saw her looking at me.

“Mom!!!” I dived back down and gave her a massive cuddle while laughing loudly. “I need to call a nurse! They need to check you out. Oh my God I can't believe you are awake!” I half shouted, trying to find the button to call the nurse. P walked in and dropped everything he was holding, running to us and pulling us in his arms. “Liz, oh my God. You're here.” He said through tears. Soon we were all crying and laughing together. Logan heard us and also walked in, joining the big group hug. The nurse walked in with a big smile and checked my mom. “You've made a speedy recovery. Better than we were expecting.” The nurse said, looking at mom's chart. “You'll need to stay here for a few nights for observation but you should be able to go home soon. We need to check your vitals though. They're showing up a bit weird.” She added.

I couldn't be happier. Mom was awake, laughing and feeling good. We asked the nurse if we could sneak in some food and she sealed her lips and walked away with a smile. We asked what my mom wanted for food and we ordered a big box of sushi, enough to feed 10 people. “P, will you go on a date with me?” My mom asked P with a serious expression when we got all the sushi out. P dropped the sushi that he was eating, smudging the bed full of soy sauce and coughed severely. Logan laughed and started clapping his back. “Go on old man, be careful there.” Logan said to P who was still red from the couching. I shared a look with mom, who had a shy smile on her face.

“Liz, it would be my honour. I thought you would never ask.” P said with a cocky smile, trying to pretend he didn't just have the biggest shock of the day. We all laughed at that and ate the rest of the food. We gave the leftover sushi to the nurses, who we thanked for taking care of our mom. We FaceTimed my sister Brooke for a long time and soon evening fell. The nurses ushered us out, saying mom needs her rest. We all left the hospital and Logan drove me home. During the drive I called the girls, informing them about mom. They couldn't be happier and promised they would visit my mom tomorrow.

“Where shall I sleep? The couch or do you prefer me on the floor in your room?” Logan asked when we got to my house. “You can sleep in my room, maybe we can watch some TV?” I responded. Logan smiled and nodded, getting his stuff out of his car and bringing everything in. He walked upstairs while I got loads of snacks ready for us. Moose was over the moon that Logan was staying over and walked over the snacks three times. We laughed and I was so happy, I got an energy burst and had to release some.

I put Gives You Hell by The All-American Rejects on and started dancing on the bed. I was singing to the lyrics and jumping up and down. Moose was on the floor running in circles and Logan sang with me while laughing loudly. He jumped on the bed with me and we both sang our hearts out. “I'm so glad you're here, Logan. Thank you for staying over.” I said as the song ended. “You know I'll always come to help you. You're my little sister.” He ruffled my hair and sat down on the bed. “So. Whatcha wanna watch?” I asked Logan while skipping through the movies. “Hmmm... I don't know. I think I'm going to fall asleep anyway so just put something on.” Logan answered. I put the first option on and we got comfy in bed with Moose between us. Logan fell asleep pretty soon, snoring softly.

The movie I put on was a movie about vampires. I got more sleepy as the movie went on, my brain juggling together the movie and real life. The main character moved with superhuman speed, had superhuman strength and could force humans into doing or thinking certain stuff. Somewhere in my head, alarm bells went off but as I fell asleep, the movie ended and so did my thoughts about it.

I woke up on Sunday morning with a strong arm around me. For a moment I had the illusion it was someone else but as I turned around, I saw Logan sleeping peacefully next to me. I woke him up by turning up the music and he groggily cursed me into eternity. Logan drove me to a breakfast place once we were ready and we had breakfast together and prepared for the week ahead. We did some homework and played some badminton outside while Moose was trying to catch the shuttlecock.

As I was playing, I saw one of the trees had a huge hole in it and there were splinters all around it. I frowned, thinking what animal could have done that. When we were done playing, I saw Moose sleeping next to the tree, his nose still sniffing the air in his dreams. We visited my mom for a bit and I cooked a meal for Logan, who went home after dinner. Soon Monday started and I was ready for another week. I stared into the mirror after I woke up and wondered if I would see him today...