Shattered: An Extreme Risk Novel Read Free

schedule. Between all of Logan’s doctors’ appointments and his daily physical therapy, it’d be impossible to stick to something rigid.
    My phone rings just as I duck behind the counter of the shop. Employee rules are wecan’t take calls while on the floor, but when I glance down, I realize the call is from Logan’s home health care aide. I don’t have a choice. I glance at Mandy, the girl who’s been working the counter with me all morning. She’s finishing off her shift—as soon as I get back from break, she gets to go home. But I have to take this.
    She can see it in my face, and though she rolls her eyes a little, she motions for me to take the call. I mouth a quick
thank-you
, then dart back out to the hallway to answer.
    “Yeah? Is everything okay, Sarah?” Even as I ask the question, my blood is turning to ice in my veins. She never calls me unless there’s a problem, so even as I ask, I know something’s not right.
    “Everything’s fine,” she tells me in her soothing voice. Of course, that’s another clue that it isn’t—she only uses that tone when she’s getting ready to break the bad news.
    “Where’s Logan?”
    “He’s in the car, with me. He’s fine, but we had a little accident and I’m taking him in to Urgent Care to have him looked at.”
    My palms start to sweat. “What’s wrong? His back?” Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I knew I shouldn’t have left him this morning, knew I should have stayed home. He wasn’t happy, wasn’t feeling right and—
    “No, no, his back is fine. He was outside, shooting baskets, and he ended up losing his balance. He fell out of his wheelchair and hit his head pretty hard. The doctor and I agree he should have an X-ray.”
    “Shooting—” I cut myself off before I spew obscenities all over her. What the fuck was my paralyzed brother doing outside, shooting baskets? “Where are you taking him? I’ll meet you—”
    “No, you won’t.” Logan’s voice comes through the speakerphone. “I’m fine, man. Just finish work and I’ll see you at home later.”
    “You’ll see me at the Urgent Care clinic in fifteen minutes—”
    “Jesus, Ash. Stop fucking mother-henning me, okay? I’m good. Just a little bump. I wouldn’t even be going except Sarah wrestled me into the car.”
    “I’m not arguing with you about this. Put Sarah back on the phone.”
    “I’m here. And he really is fine, Ash. We’re just being cautious.”
    “Are you taking him to the clinic on Maple? Or the one on—”
    “If you take off work for this, I swear, I’ll put itching powder in every pair of underwear you’ve got. You know Luc and Cam will help me.”
    “Logan—”
    “Say good-bye, Ash.”
    The phone goes dead, and though I call back—twice—nobody picks up. Goddamnit.Stupid fourteen-year-old punk thinks he knows what’s best for everyone, even me. Especially me.
    I take a deep breath, run my hand over my eyes as I try to get my shit back together. I need to go in there and try to charm Mandy into staying late so I can get to the doctor’s. She’s done it for me before—three times this month alone—and I hate to ask it of her. But Logan’s been my responsibility ever since my parents died. I have to be there for him. I have to.
    Except Mandy takes one look at my face when I walk in the shop and starts shaking her head. “I can’t today, Ash. I can’t. I have to take my grandma to the doctor.”
    Shit. “Yeah, of course. Go. I’ve got this.” I look at the short line of guests in front of me and want to hit something. I feel like I’m being drawn and quartered, pulled in so many different directions at the same time that I’m beginning to rip straight down the middle.
    “You want me to call Alex?” she asks as she ducks out from behind the counter. “See if he can take over?”
    “Nah. He’s not here right now, anyway.”
    She hesitates. “Is Logan okay? I mean, maybe I can—”
    I force a smile that I don’t feel. But she’s a good friend