After Six

by Jeannette Winters

  As he scooped her into his arms her eyelids fluttered open, and she asked, “What . . . what happened?” Besides making my way into your arms.

  Logan didn’t let go of her as he reached out and pressed a buzzer. “Call 911.”

  That wasn’t what she’d wanted to happen. She expected him to take her pulse or blood pressure. There was no way she was going to the hospital. “I’m okay I just—”

  “Lie down. You fainted.”

  “No, I was just a little dizzy.”

  “Ms. Sparks, you need to go the hospital to be assessed. I can’t, in good conscience, send you home after fainting. You could have a—”

  She sat up. “I’m not going to the hospital. I know my rights. I can refuse treatment, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.” If they took her, they’d run a bunch of tests and might even keep her a few days. This entire plan was quickly unraveling. “I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want the CT-scan.” When she got off the table this time, she made sure she was steady on her feet. If he took her BP now, he might find it elevated from sheer panic. I need to get out of here.

  Logan reached his hand out and held her by the elbow. “I can’t stress enough that you’re making a huge mistake by doing this.”

  “Don’t worry, Dr. Henderson. I’m fully aware of the risk I’m taking.”

  Cori tugged her arm from his and walked out of the exam room, and he followed close by. She stopped at the receptionist and pulled out money for her office visit. “Would you like a receipt, Miss Sparks?”

  Cori shook her head and left Dr. Henderson’s office. She wasn’t sure she exhaled until she was in her car again. That was too close.

  Logan sat at the bar waiting for his older brother Brice to arrive. He had no idea what was so darn important that they couldn’t discuss it on the phone. After the day he had, he didn’t want any more bullshit. That’s usually what it was, too. His family came to him, telling him what was going to be done without asking him what action they should take.

  He respected his sibling’s independence. It’s the way they all were by necessity. Until recently, they’d never met to discuss issues any of them were facing. It was more like every man for themselves. Now at least, they had an inkling there was a crisis amongst them. Maybe someday I’ll share my shit with them.

  What he faced was so different from any of them, so how could he share things with his family? He’d lost patients on the operating table. It wasn’t as simple as saying you’d save the next one. There’d been a human life he couldn’t save. Logan knew patients came to him because they were high-risk cases, and at times he knew the odds were stacked against them. None of that made a bit of difference when he had to call a time of death. The next step would be breaking the news to the loved ones who’d been waiting.

  His mind couldn’t help but wander to the beautiful woman who’d fainted in his arms earlier. Logan was concerned there really could be something serious, but she was right. No one could force her to go for testing if she didn’t want to. Normally he could separate the two, patient and woman, but somehow she’d been different. He wanted to know she was going to be okay, and he knew it was more than the physician in him that was concerned. The physician would turn it over to his nurse to reach out. He thought back to her file and tried to picture the referring doctor’s name. He drew a blank. That meant he’d need to wait till morning and have his secretary pull the file for him. Logan knew he was going to reach out to his colleague and give him a courtesy heads-up. There was a fine line concerning patient confidentiality, but the referring physician should be kept in the loop. Not that I’m in it at all.

  He was glad when Brice eventually showed up. Although he’d spent many hours sitting at a bar alone, tonight wasn’t one of the times he wanted that. “About time.”

  Brice took the vacant seat near him. “I wanted to make sure the kids were asleep before I came. I figured you had no one waiting for you.”

  He didn’t miss the dig about being single. Everyone else may have found someone that fit with them, but that wasn’t the case for Logan. He was frequently called into surgery at all hours of the night. Not just here, but he’d been flown out of the country on several occasions to operate on high-level dignitaries around the globe. They all felt they were his most important patient. A person’s wallet meant nothing to Logan. He was there to save lives. Not just the rich or famous either.

  He remembered one thing Cordelia Sparks’s file said. She didn’t have any insurance. It was possible she left the office out of fear of payment. Damn it. I should’ve tried harder to stop her. Why did I let her leave? He knew why. He had no legal right to stop her. She wasn’t the first person who’d ever walked out. Yet, something about her felt different. He didn’t know what, but he sensed she was holding something major back from him. He really hoped she sought help for whatever it was.

  “You seem to have a lot on your mind. Is everything okay?”

  Logan turned to Brice who didn’t normally ask. Is it that obvious? He’d never shared anything about his other patients, and if he brought up Cordelia, it would sound odd. Hell, it sounds weird to me. “Just one of those days.”

  Brice nodded. “That it is. I wanted to talk to you about Tabiq.”

  That was one subject he was interested in. It’d been almost a year since Alex uncovered the truth about their father’s so-called business affairs in Tabiq. His other brothers had all traveled there. Everyone had located their mother except Logan and Shaun. He knew it was going to take time. He understood that if they found them, it was important to ensure they were safe going forward. No matter what they seemed to do, the people of Tabiq were leery of the Henderson name. It was with good reason, but Logan was tired of being held accountable for his father’s actions.

  “What’s going on now?” Guessing wasn’t even worth his time. Things were so volatile he didn’t even want his siblings going there. They could hire people to go and gather information. It made absolutely no sense to him for any of them to be physically there. One of these times one of you will be returning in a box.

  “Bennett has been working closely with the Turchettas, and everyone believes they are close to locating Shaun’s mother.”

  Logan continued to sit face-forward as he sipped his beer. “That’s good.”

  “I thought you might want to travel with him since you haven’t been there yet.”

  He downed his beer and waved to the bartender for another. “My schedule is booked solid.”

  “I don’t get it, Logan. You’re the one I thought would’ve gone first, setting up hospitals and treatment centers. Yet, when we talk about it, you show no emotion. That’s not like you.”

  There were damn good reasons for that. He wasn’t going to share why with anyone until they confirmed Shaun’s mother had been found and was well. If they knew the truth about his mother, the joy and hope that had enveloped and unified them all might disappear.

  “What do you want from me, Brice? Should I jump up and down and scream to the entire world that another brother found his mother? What does this all really mean anyway? Have any of them chosen to come here? No, they haven’t. They’re all in Tabiq. Have you asked yourself why?” Logan and Brice glared at each other. “I’ll tell you why. Because they don’t want a Henderson as a son any more than we want to be one.”

  “You really can’t believe that bullshit, Logan,” Brice said gruffly.

  “How many times have you gone, Brice? Between you, Bennett, and Alex, there is almost always someone there. Yet, are they coming forward seeking you out?” He could tell by Brice’s expression he’d considered that himself. “Exactly. It’s like we have a billboard saying ‘We’re looking for you, Mom. Where are you?’ And no one raises her hand.”

  “Logan, there are reasons why they don’t. If you’d just go one time, you might understand.”

  “I’ve traveled to enough countries like that to treat patients.”

  “Logan, this isn’t just another country. Whethe
r you like it or not, this is where we’re from. If our father hadn’t brought out mothers here to have us, we wouldn’t even be US citizens.”

  “Do you hear yourself, Brice? You’re talking like you’ve accepted what happened. I don’t know about you, but I’m not thrilled about how I came into this world. It’s fucked up.” And so am I.

  He normally was the one in control, yet here he was snapping at Brice over something he had no more ability to change than Logan did. Growing up with James as a father was horrible, and he never thought it could get any worse. That’s why he’d distanced himself, even when his father was sick. Yet, now with these developments, it was like his father was still tormenting them from the grave. Damn you, Dad.

  “We can’t change how we got here, but what we’re doing in Tabiq is trying to make up for what was done.”

  Logan shook his head. “Do you seriously believe that can ever happen? Dad took a poor but somewhat peaceful country and crushed every beautiful thing about it.” Just like he tried doing with us. “No matter how you try to fix it, it’s like putting makeup on to cover a scar. You can hide it, but it doesn’t change the fact that it will always be there.” No different than the ones we hide.

  Brice stared at him. Ordinarily, he was the hard-ass that told everyone what they should or shouldn’t do. It came with the role of being the oldest, but Brice did neither at that moment. Instead, he turned the tables on him. “Logan, have you ever gone into surgery knowing the person would never be the same but tried anyway?”

  Just about every time. He loved his brother, but this new version of Brice was going to take some getting used to. Logan had noticed slight changes in him since he married Lena. She was good for Brice. He wasn’t such an asshole anymore. That didn’t mean he knew everything.

  “Brice, don’t you have work to do in your lab? I heard you were looking at a new formula to enhance the flexibility of body armor while increasing the penetration levels.”

  “Logan, is this your way of saying you’re done talking about—”

  “Yes. So talk about you and your work or even the weather, but I’m done talking about Dad and Tabiq.”

  Brice nodded. “I’ve submitted the latest prototype. Now all I can do is wait, but I have faith this is ready for production.”

  “Are Bennett and his team still working closely with you on that?”

  “They’re actually wearing it now in . . . the field.”

  No matter how they tried, everything came back to Tabiq. The only place he could escape it was at work. Maybe that’s why he was working longer hours than ever before. If he had his way, he’d be there right now. “Testing on your brother-in-law doesn’t seem like a wise decision.”

  “I wouldn’t test on anyone if I wasn’t confident it was ready.”

  Logan laughed. “It wasn’t that long ago that Bennett needed it to protect himself from you.”

  Brice snorted. “Don’t even pretend that you didn’t want to knock him out when he walked into that party and announced he was with Zoey.”

  “Between you and Dean, I’m not sure there would’ve been anything left of him. He’s either brave or crazy for wearing armor that you developed. I hear you two still butt heads quite often.”

  “He’s an arrogant ass,” Brice said plainly.

  “And that’s why he fits in with us so nicely.” Logan finished his second beer and threw some bills on the counter to cover both of their tabs. “I’ve got to head out. I have surgery scheduled early tomorrow, and I need to review some notes.”

  “Which hospital?”

  “One in Bellisae.”

  “I take it you’re still working with Jon Vinchi?”

  “It’s up and running. Now I spend a few hours a day training or supervising other surgeons to utilize the surgical robotic devices. He continues to enhance it based on new types of procedures that require such precision and accuracy.”

  “That could be endless.”

  “The biggest thing we encounter is doctors accepting that they do not need to be hands-on in the physical location to be able to perform these procedures.”

  Brice chuckled. “Nothing like helping him put you out of work.”

  Logan arched a brow. Brice was a scientist like Jon. He was the last person he expected to side with the opposition.

  “Hey, the guy’s brilliant, but you’re not going to be needed if the machine can do it.”

  “The machine only does what we tell it. It does not diagnose or operate on its own. Each laser cut is made through our commands. It’s like the most advanced video game ever created. I can be sitting at the controls in my office while the surgical robotic devices are on the other side of the world. I’m not being put out of business. I’m expanding it. There’s no place I can’t practice now.”

  Brice got up from his seat and said, “Good. Tell Jon that Tabiq could use one.” He didn’t wait for a response and headed out the door.

  I walked right into that one. He didn’t want to go home where he was going to think about anything they’d just discussed. It was time for him to escape, and that meant only one place. His office.

  Chapter Two

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  Cori knew she’d pushed her luck last night by following Logan after he left the office. She wanted to go into the bar, but she knew he’d spot her and then the gig would be up. What she hadn’t expected was to snap a photo of Brice entering as well.

  As she sipped her coffee, she flipped through her cellphone. She was up earlier than normal, and it was a good time to sort through the large amount of photos she’d collected over the past few weeks. She looked at each one, determined if they could be used in her article later, and then deleted the rest. What she was missing was something showing a link between the Hendersons and anyone with questionable ethics. Instead, all she had were pictures showing they were a normal family. This is wrong. They are anything but normal.

  Although she wanted to be an investigative reporter, she still felt like she was invading their privacy. She saw pictures of Brice with his wife and children as they walked in the park. Then his sister Zoey as she played the piano at the children’s hospital. It looked like they were the royal family more than the offspring of James Henderson.

  “Maybe there’s a reason I’m bypassed for the job each year.” She let her phone drop to the bed and rolled over. “I’m not cut out to do this.” She wasn’t a quitter, but all this time and the only thing she had to go on was a nagging feeling in her gut. Bringing a hunch to the general manager wasn’t only going to deny her promotion, it might cost her the current job. That wasn’t something she could risk.

  She knew she should drag her lazy butt out of the bed and go for an early morning jog. It always helped clear her head, and right now it was in a fog. Cori reluctantly pulled back the blanket and slipped out of her comfortable, safe haven. She didn’t bother to shower. Instead, she threw on a pair of pink and black leggings and a matching sports bra. Normally she’d wear a tank top over it, but not many people were up this early.

  Once outside, she put earbuds in and turned on her music. It was time to unwind. The sun was about to rise, and the temperature was perfect. After the first few miles, she knew her body needed that. She went from feeling blue and tired to absolutely rejuvenated. It was a new day, and she knew it was going to be a great one.

  Cori couldn’t wait to get back to her apartment and start the day. She came to an intersection, quickly looked both ways, then proceeded to cross the street. It was too late when she heard the screeching brakes and felt the bump against her left thigh. It wasn’t hard, but enough to have caused her to fall over and slam to the ground.

  A woman was crying out, “Are you okay? Oh, my God. Someone, please call 911.”

  Not again. She tried to see who it was standing over her, but the sun was glaring behind the woman, and Cori couldn’t make her out. “Lady, I’m okay. I don’t need an ambulance.”

  “Of course you do. Now you don’t move, and I’ll get help
.”

  Cori wasn’t about to stay lying on her backside in the middle of the street while the woman ran from house to house looking for help. “I’m okay,” Cori called to no avail.

  Before she even got off the ground an older couple was by her side. “Oh, don’t move, dear. You could’ve broken something.”

  “The only thing hurt is my pride.” She pulled herself up since no one was going to assist her. She wanted to scream out that she wasn’t going to sue any of them.

  “Your elbow is bleeding. Why don’t you come in the house and at least let me get you cleaned up? My husband, Loras, can give you a ride home if you need one.” She put an arm around her shoulder and started guiding her to a house not far from where she was trying to cross the street.

  “Let me help.” Loras scooped her up into his arms and started walking briskly to the house. “Elizabeth, when we get there, you get the door and the rubbing alcohol, and I’ll set her on the couch.”

  Cori felt horrible letting him carry her, as he must’ve been in his sixties. Granted that wasn’t ancient, but still, there was no need. She also knew if she mentioned any of that to him, she’d probably offend him. Not a good way to say thank you. So she held on tight and let him do his thing.

  Once inside and on the couch, she tried again to get up. “Please don’t. My wife will have my head if she comes in here and you’re standing.”

  Cori smiled. “We don’t need two injuries, now do we?”

  Loras grinned. “No miss, we don’t.”

  Cori wished she’d worn that tank top now as she felt a bit underdressed in their home. But she hadn’t anticipated going anywhere but back to her apartment.

  Elizabeth returned with a clean washcloth and some antibiotic spray. She was grateful not to see rubbing alcohol; that would’ve stung worse than her butt making contact with the pavement. “What’s your name?”