“”When they come out... does it hurt?”
Logan’s eyes were trained on the steering wheel where his hands rested. “Every time. So what kind of a name is Rogue?”
“What kind of a name is Wolverine?” his beloved Marie sneered at him. Her little nose was scrunched up, making her look completely adorable.
Logan gave her an exasperated look and took a puff of his cigar. “Name’s Logan.”
Marie gave him a smug smile, sitting up a little straighter. “Marie....”
“.... Ah don’t care what ya say, Logan doesn’t know ya so yer not gonna be in here when he wakes up!” Marie hissed, obviously trying to keep her voice down so she wouldn’t disturb him.
“Morgan is my son and I’ll be damned if I’m not here when he wakes up!” a woman with a high pitched voice screeched. “There’s no was some bossy little brat is going to tell me what to do! My son looks like the lone survivor of an explosion and you want me to leave the room! Under no circumstances am I leaving!”
A man cut the banshee off before she could continue. “Maureen, perhaps it would be best if the four of us left--”
“NO! I will not be ordered around by a Southern brat who thinks she knows more about my son than I do! I gave birth to him and know all there is to know about him! If Morgan knew I was here he’d want me by his side and not his little whore!” the banshee continued ranting.
The instant that he heard the woman insulting his Marie, Logan felt a murderous rage boiling up inside of him. No one insulted his Marie. It wasn’t allowed. He wanted to yell at the woman who was verbally attacking his Marie. Logan tried to scream. He tried to move and let them know that he was awake. Nothing was happening, though. Logan couldn’t so much as twitch a finger no matter how hard he strained against the drug’s oppressive hold, Logan couldn’t get any of his limbs to move. He couldn’t even make a sound pass his lips.
“Ah am not a whore,” Marie growled dangerously. “Logan is mah fiancée. We have a daughter an’ we’re gettin’ married in a few months. Now Ah get that yer upset ‘bout what happened t’ yer son, but what ya hafta understand is that Logan isn’t yer son. He may have been yer Morgan once upon a time, but now he’s Logan. An’ no matter how much ya yell at me an’ insult me it’s not gonna change the fact that he’s Logan now an’ not Morgan.”
Logan was immensely proud of Marie for the calm she was exhibiting against the woman who had once been his mother. Had he been in full control of his body he would have been yelling right back at the woman. Logan hated that Marie had to face them on her own. She shouldn’t have to do that.
“Look, you little bitch, Morgan was ours long before you ever tricked him into your bed,” some other woman hissed. “So you might as well give up now because he’s coming home with us.”
“Nnnoooo....”
Marie’s hands were on his cheeks then. With a great deal of will power, Logan got his right eye to open and slowly focused on Marie’s face. “Hey there, sugah. Welcome back t’ the land o’ the livin’.”
“Oh God! Morgan! You’re awake!” shouted the woman who had been insulting Marie. “My baby! Oh, I’m so glad that you’re alive. It’s a miracle!”
Logan labouriously lifted his left hand, snaking his fingers into Marie’s hair. “Here.”
“That’s right, sugah, Ah’m here. Just like Ah promised,” Marie assured him, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “An’ Ah’m not goin’ anywhere.”
“The hell you aren’t!” one of the two women screamed. “You are getting the hell away from my boyfriend!”
“Love you,” Logan insisted, keeping his gaze firmly locked on Marie’s. “Only you.”
This time Marie pressed a kiss to the bridge of his nose. “Ah know ya do, sugah. Never doubted it fer a second. But how do ya feel? Are ya feelin’ nauseous or anythin’? The doctor said ya might?”
Logan shook his head slightly, fighting the drug’s desire to make him sleep again. “I’m fine. Where’s Alex?”
“Cal an’ his wife took her fer the afternoon. They though Ah could use a break fer a few hours,” Marie told him, lightly tracing his bottom lip with an index finger. “Ah thought it was best considerin’ what was goin’ on.”
Before Logan had a chance to say anything, Marie was ripped from his side and replaced by some blonde he’d never seen before. She had her hands all over him, not seeming to care if the place she touched him hurt or not.
“Oh, Morgan, I’m so glad you’re alive. I’ve missed you so much!” the blonde cooed, pressing kisses all over his face.
His movements still sluggish from the anesthetics, Logan couldn’t push her away with as much force as he would have liked. “Get off o’ me,” Logan snarled as he attempted to shove her away with his left hand.
“Take it easy, Morgan. You just got out of surgery,” she murmured, running her fingers through his hair. “But it’s all right now. I’m here and I won’t let that little slut anywhere near you anymore.”
Those words sent a surge of strength through Logan and he finally succeeded in shoving her away. “Stay the fuck away from me! I don’t know who you are and I don’t care! You are nothing to me!”
While the blonde stood there in shock, Marie rushed forward, once again taking her place by his side. Where she belonged. Logan was relieved that she was there and welcomed her hands as they smoothed gently over his skin, erasing the other woman’s touch.
‘Yer s’pose t’ be takin’ it easy,” Marie reminded him, smiling even though there were tears in her eyes.
“They’re insulting you,” Logan insisted, his penetrating gaze locked on her face.
Marie shrugged her shoulders and brushed a soft kiss against his temple. “They’ve been doin’ it all afternoon. Ah learned t’ tune them out. So ya just relax an’ Ah’ll deal with them. The sooner ya start gettin’ healthier the sooner ya can go home. Back t’ our own bed an’ our fireplace. An’ no one t’ interrupt ya when ya start singin’ after yer shower.”
“You will do no such thing! Morgan is coming home with us!” one of the woman shrieked, interrupting the moment of quiet he and Marie had been enjoying.
“I don’t even know you,” Logan grumbled, shifting uncomfortably on the bed. He wished that he was more mobile so that he could leave the room rather than lay there at the frightening woman’s mercy. “All I know is that you’re insulting the woman I love and I want you to leave.”
The woman looked as though Logan had punched her in the stomach, but he could have cared less. “I’m your mother, Morgan. I’m just looking out for you.”
“My name is Logan. I’m not this Morgan person you want me to be so either live with it or leave me the fuck alone,” Logan said darkly, glaring at the middle-aged woman he had called Mom once upon a time.
The woman didn’t say a word. She simply turned and stormed out of the room, followed by the blonde. All that Logan felt was a huge sense of relief that they were gone. They had insulted his Marie and tried to demean her position in his life and Logan wouldn’t allow that. No matter who he had been in the past, he wasn’t that person anymore. They didn’t seem to understand that he couldn’t automatically like them just because he had in a past life. Because, to him, that was what it was. Morgan Vance was someone he could never be again and the sooner the figured that out, the better off they would be.
“Before I go off after your mother, I just wanted you to know that I’m very proud of you,” the man who had once been his face told him. “You have fallen in love with a most enchanting young lady and created a beautiful daughter.”
Logan managed a tight, pained smile and jerkily nodded his head. “Thank you.”
The man smiled and nodded his head. “You’re more than welcome, Logan. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go check on my wife.”
Logan was thrown for a loop by one single word the other man had said. Logan. He’d called him Logan and not Morgan. Every other person who’d talked to him since he’d woken up, with the exception of Marie, had called him Morgan. This man who had known him only as Morgan was putting all that aside and accepting that things were no longer the same.
Seconds later, Logan was caught even more off guard as his gaze fell on the other woman in the room. A dark-haired woman who looked to be about his age. Her eyes were the same as his, but that wasn’t what shocked Logan the most.
He knew her.
On some level that he couldn’t quite figure out, Logan knew the woman who was staring at him with dark hazel eyes. A name also came to mind. It was on the tip of his tongue and it was several moments before he could clearly bring it forth.
“Madison,” Logan mumbled, staring intently at her as she gazed back at him in shock. “You’re Madison.”
“Baby, do ya remember her?” Marie asked, running her fingers up and down his right cheek.
“I don’t know,” Logan said quietly, glancing from Marie to Madison and back again. His head was starting to hurt and he sunk back against the pillows.
Marie seemed to sense his fatigue and pulled the blanket up higher on his chest. She kept her hands moving over the undamaged areas of his skin, knowing that it calmed him and helped him to relax. After everything that had just happened, Logan needed to relax. He needed to absorb it all and figure out exactly what he was going to do. The family that he had forgotten was sudden back in his life and Logan had no idea what he was going to do. How they were going to fit in.
“I’m glad that you’re alive, Logan,” Madison said, giving him the same half smirk that he wore in many pictures of himself and Marie that decorated their home. “Life was kind of boring without you.”
Then Madison was gone and Logan was alone with Marie at last. He grabbed hold of Marie’s hand and pulled her down next to him. It took a few moments for her to settle, but once she did and she was lying down next to him, Logan felt fully and completely relaxed.
“Ah really don’t like yer mother,” Marie said quietly, running her hand along the side of his throat. “She’s the typical evil mother-in-law. Yer Dad is pretty great, though. He’s head over heels in love with Alex. She dazzled him with that killer smile o’ hers. Ah like Madison, too. She’s exactly what Ah’d expect a sister o’ yers t’ be. The two o’ ya will be two peas in a pod.”
Logan yawned sleepily and burrowed his head against Marie’s throat. “I don’t like that blonde chick.”
Marie brushed a kiss against his forehead. “That’s Tanya, yer ex. She’s a real bitch. She thinks Ah tricked ya inta mah bed an’ purposely got pregnant.”
“See if you can get her banned from here. My mom, too. I don’t want either of them in here if they are going to treat you like that,” Logan told her, his hated for both woman growing.
“That’ll only make them more pissed off,” Marie pointed out.
Logan felt increasingly drowsy and gave a mumbled response. He had only been awake for a few minutes, but already felt exhausted. The drugs were wreaking havoc on his system, making it impossible for him to stay awake for extended lengths of time. Marie didn’t seem to mind the long amounts of time he was sleeping, reminding him about the amount of time she had slept the first few months of her pregnancy.
“Ah should prob’bly go get yer doctor so he can check ya out,” Marie suggested, sliding off the bed. “He said somethin’ ‘bout wantin’ t’ make sure ya were doin’ all right.” Marie must have noticed the unsure look on his face because she was quick to reassure him, “Ah’ll have Madison make sure that yer mom and Tanya don’t come in. The two o’ them probably won’t like it, but they’ll just hafta live with it.”
“Hurry back,” Logan pleaded, not wanting to fall victim to his oppressive family members when he couldn’t defend himself.
Marie kissed him quickly then scampered towards the door, obviously wanting to get back to him as soon as he wanted her to. This time, Logan didn’t have a problem with the doctor taking care of him. Logan got along with the guy, bantering back and forth with him and arguing about sports teams while he conducted his examinations.
While he waited for Marie to come back, Logan sank back against the pillows. He was glad that the blinds over the viewing window were shut because it meant that certain people couldn’t peek in and stare at him. Not that he would have noticed because Logan felt about ready to drop off at any moment.
Logan didn’t get the chance to come in because the door opened and Marie came back in, this time with Alexandra in her arms.
“Look, angel, there’s Daddy. Wave hi t’ Daddy,” Marie cooed, waving Alexandra’s tiny hand as she crossed the room.
“Hey there, Alex,” Logan murmured, grinning at the wide-eyed infant. “Did you have fun with Cal and Wendy?”
Marie sat down next to Logan on the bed, close enough so that he could reach out and grasp one of Alexandra’s flailing hands. “Ya had all sorts o’ fun with them, didn’t ya, angel? Ya got t’ help Wendy cook dinner an’ Cal told ya all sorts o’ stories ‘bout some stupid things Daddy did at work. Like the time he slammed his thumb with a big wrench.”
Logan gave Marie a pointed look. “I never slammed my thumb with a big wrench. That’s just Cal telling tall tales. He does that a lot.”
“So was he telling the truth about you slamming the hood of some little old lady’s car down on your hand?” Bruce Jacobs, Logan’s doctor, asked as he entered the room.
“Cal!” Logan shouted towards the door before sinking back into the pillows. “All right, Bruce, let’s get this over with so I can spend some quality time with my family.”
Bruce grabbed the clipboard from the end of the bed. “What, you mean that group of people gathered out in the hall?”
“No, I mean Marie and Alexandra,” Logan informed Bruce as the other man grabbed a small flashlight and shined it into his right eye. “I don’t know those people out in the hallway.”
“Well they seem to know you pretty well,” Bruce commented as he carefully began to examine Logan’s other eye. The swelling had begun to go down, but Logan still couldn’t open it very much. “Marie says you want them banned from your room.”
“Just the blonde and the older woman,” Logan clarified. “They keep shouting and insulting Marie. And, quite frankly, they’re giving me one hell of a headache.”
Bruce nodded his head as he put the flashlight back in his pocket and wrote some notes on the chart. “Can’t have that now can we. Don’t worry, I’ll tell them to keep out unless you say otherwise. Anything else, your highness?” Bruce said the last with a wide grin playing on his lips as he reached over Logan’s body to play with one of Alexandra’s hands.
“Yes, will you go away and leave me alone with my wife and daughter,” Logan pleaded, smacking Bruce in the stomach with his cast encased right hand. He thought the better of it afterwards as it sent a stabbing pain shooting right to his shoulder.
“I thought I warned you before to use that hand as little as possible,” Bruce chastised, the smile gone from his face. “You have to try to keep you arm as still as possible for the next two days. After that, we’ll see about sending you home.”