Logan met Marie’s eyes for a brief moment before she slammed the door shut.
For several moments he stared at the door, wondering why Marie had screamed and ran away. Then he glanced down at himself and grinned. He came up with a reason. While it was true that Marie had seen him cut open and experimented on, she had never seen him naked before.
She had now.
Sluggishly pulling his hospital gown back on to cover his front, Logan opened the door and stepped back into the main area of his room. He had to hold the back of his gown closed with one hand because he couldn’t reach the ties. It had been a miracle that he’d even managed to get it off in the first place.
“Sorry ‘bout that,” Logan apologized as he hobbled towards the bed. “I felt something funny on my back and wanted to take a look at it.”
Marie’s blush was beginning to fade somewhat by that point. “Did ya see whatever it was that was buggin’ ya?”
Logan shook his head, closing the distance between himself and Marie. “Nah, I can’t really see it. It’s somewhere near the small of my back. Do you think you could take a look?”
“Long as yer not worried ‘bout me possibly touchin’ yer skin if mah hand slips,” Marie reminded him, nervously chewing her lower lip. “Ah don’t wanna hurt ya again.”
“You’re not going to hurt me,” Logan assured her, placing his free hand on her shoulder. “There’s a box of latex gloves on the dressed over there. Put them on and you won’t have to worry about a thing.”
Marie nodded her head slightly, worry shining brightly in her eyes. “Yer sure ya want me t’ do this? ‘Cause Ah’m sure the doctors will be much better equipped t’ tell ya what’s wrong. Ah might miss it.”
Reaching up, Logan cupped her face lightly through the curtain of hair. “I want you to do it because I trust you. You’re the only person that I trust any more.”
Logan could clearly see how nervous Marie was about it. She was all but shaking, her eyes darting about the interior of the room. All of Logan’s instincts were shouting at him to take her in his arms. To hold her forever and never let her go. Doing so would cause a problem at that point. As soon as he released the back of the gown it would fall open, revealing his backside for all to see. So instead Logan pulled her into a one-sided hug.
“I trust you, Marie,” Logan murmured against her hair. “I trust you with my life. More than I’ve every trusted anyone.”
“That’s a lotta trust t’ put on a single girl,” Marie said softly. “Ya sure Ah’m worthy o’ it?”
“‘Course you are, darlin’,” Logan assured her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “You saved my life after all.”
“An’ ya saved mine,” was Marie’s murmured response.
It was taking more than a little effort on Logan’s part to convince himself that Marie wasn’t staying with him out obligation. He knew that she said she loved him, but that was only after he’d said it first. There was no way to tell what Marie’s real feelings for him were. There was her earlier confession of love when she had also voiced her confusion about their relationship, but even that had been filled with doubts. Far as he could tell, Marie wasn’t too sure about things when it came to him. At least not about her emotions.
Logan didn’t even want to consider what he would do if he found out that Marie was only with him out of obligation. He loved Marie more than he’d loved anything in a very long time. After what they had been through together, if Marie left him, Logan knew that he’d be completely lost.
“You love me, don’t you?” Logan asked after several minutes of silence. His legs were beginning to feel wobbly so Logan carefully slipped out of Marie’s arms and sat down on the bed.
Marie looked at him as though he’d grown another head. “‘Course Ah do. Ah wouldn’t have done what Ah did fer ya fer anyone else. If it had been anyone but ya in that truck Ah’d o’ just left ya there.”
“But do you love me?” Logan pressed.
Marie furrowed her eyebrows, staring at Logan in confusion. “Didn’t Ah just say so?”
Logan shook his head. “No, you said that you wouldn’t have gone into that truck for anyone but me. You didn’t say anything about loving me.”
“Where’s all this comin’ from?” Marie asked, reaching out to run her fingers along Logan’s chest. She stepped forward between his parted knees, resting her hands on his hips. “Ah thought ya knew how Ah felt.”
This time it was Logan who was chewing nervously on his bottom lip. “I just... I guess I just wanted to make sure. You know. That you loved me.”
“An’ Ah do love ya, Logan,” Marie told him. “Ah love ya more than anyone else in the world. An’ that’s a promise Ah’m never gonna break.”
A flicker of a smile appeared on Logan’s face. It lasted for only a second, but it must have been long enough for Marie to see it because her smile got real big then. Logan liked it when Marie smiled like that. She looked so innocent. So carefree. It was as though nothing bad had ever happened to her. If Logan had it his way, Marie would have always been so innocent. What she had been through was unthinkable. Something that he wouldn’t have even wished on his worst enemy.
“Ya look real worn out, sugah. How ‘bout ya lay down fer a little while,” Marie suggested, running her thumbs along the tops of his thighs.
Logan moaned at the touch and prayed that her fingers wouldn’t wander too much further. In his present attire, there would be no way for Logan to hide his reaction to Marie’s gentle touches.
“Do you think you can tie the back of my gown closed?” Logan asked, shifting slightly to bring an end to the sudden stillness that had filled the room. “I’m feeling a little on the exposed side.”
Marie’s grin returned full force. “That so, sugah? Well what if Ah want ya t’ stay just like this? Ya have a very beautiful back an’ it would be a shame t’ cover it up.”
This time it was Logan who was staring at Marie with a wide-eyed expression.
“Oh quit it, Logan. Ya’d think Ah wasn’t allowed t’ make jokes,” Marie teased, patting the tops of Logan’s thighs before pulling away. “Now how ‘bout ya lie back down so ya can get some rest. Ah wanna get outta this place fast as Ah can.”
“I’m with you on that,” Logan agreed, pushing himself backwards with his hands so that he was more in the middle of the bed.
The annoyance on the small of his back forgotten, Logan allowed Marie to help him under the blankets. He couldn’t contain the wide grin that appeared on his face when she had him push over a bit so that she could lie down next to him.
“Now don’t think this means Ah’m goin’ t’ sleep. Ah just need t’ lie down fer a little bit,” Marie told him as she eased herself up next to him on the mattress.
Logan nodded his head. “Sure. I believe you.”
“No talkin’ t’ me like Ah’m a child or Ah’ll get outta this bed,” Marie threatened, already beginning to sit back up.
Logan groaned and slumped back down against the pillows. “You don’t play fair.”
“No one ever said Ah had t’ play fair. Now get some rest.”
It didn’t take long for Logan to relax with his head pillowed on Marie’s shoulder and her arms wrapped around his waist. Not very long at all. Logan found the position incredibly comfortable and drifted off in a matter of minutes.
“Well looky here. If it isn’t the runt.”
Logan growled at the sound of Victor Creed’s voice. The two of them had been enemies for many years. Ever since Logan had stolen Creed’s girlfriend right from under his nose.
“It took a lot longer to find you than I thought it would. Shackin’ up with this little thing. No wonder it took me so long. Betcha she holds your attention for a while. What do you think about sharing her?”
That statement pissed Logan right off. Angry with Creed for showing his face in the first place, Logan came to hate him even more with his remarks about Marie.
“You stay the hell away from her!”
“Don’t tell me you think you can keep me away from her! That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in a long time! Thanks for the laugh, runt!”
“I mean it, Creed. You stay the fuck away from her.”
“Sure, runt. Whatever you say.”
“LOGAN!!”
Marie’s sudden scream alerted Logan to the fact that Creed was doing something to her. He couldn’t see Marie anywhere, though. All that he could see was Creed. Claws extended, Logan advanced on the taller man, growling constantly in the back of his throat.
“I love how you think you can beat me. Maybe one day you actually will.”
Finding himself, even his dream self, at Creed’s mercy was not something Logan had expected to happen. He was wrapped up in chains in the back of a pick up truck, the Northern Lights flickering overhead.
Logan watched them, mesmerized. They were a nice addition to his dream.
A dream were he was freezing in the flimsy hospital gown they gave him to wear?