Chapter 56

CHAPTER 56

MIRA

I n a matter of minutes, things had gone from a normal Tuesday to mayhem on the production platform. I watched in absolute horror as Slate rushed at Logan, smacking into his midsection and wrapping his arms around his friend before he launched them over the railing.

They cleared out of the beam's way just a fraction of a second before it smashed down exactly where Logan had been standing. My blood ran ice cold, my heart stopping for a few seconds too long before it started with a massive rush.

I was utterly frozen in shock. My lips parted as I stared at the spot where they'd disappeared over the edge. Pandemonium had broken out around me as the crew started realizing what was happening, but even as they rushed around to secure the rest of the structure, mitigate damage, and check to make sure that everyone was safe, I just stood there .

From the edge of the platform where they had been standing, it was less than a twenty-foot drop to the level below. Slate knew that, but Logan hadn't. He also hadn't been briefed on any of the protocols to follow in the event of a situation like this. At best, he would be scared and confused as hell .

At worst? I swallowed hard. At worst, he was dead.

I refused to accept that as a possibility, though. Slate had gotten him out of the way in time, and if it had been at all possible, he'd have made sure that Logan didn't break his neck. It wasn't much, but I held on to the hope that they were both a little dinged up but otherwise fine.

Slate was like a cat on the rigs. For every vessel we'd worked on, he seemed to have received nine new lives. Somehow, he always ended up in the thick of things, and yet, he was always okay. He would be now, too.

The drop wasn't that bad and he'd seen it coming. Logan, on the other hand, had not. My throat burned and threatened to close until I drew in a deep breath, hoping to snap myself out of this trance I was stuck in.

I just kept staring at that spot like I was expecting them to come flying right back up, but obviously, that didn't happen. I had to look around. Or move. Or something.

"Mira!" Bradson's voice finally broke through the haze. "Mira? Are you okay?"

I finally managed to yank myself back to the present. I cleared my throat and dragged in another deep breath. "I'm fine. The beam missed me by a lot, but Logan and my brother?" My heart constricted and my shoulders caved in on themselves. "They went over, Bradson. We need to find them."

The safety officer nodded as if he'd already known. His expression was calm but his eyes were bright with shock and worry. "I've already got guys going after them. Just?—"

I didn't wait to listen to whatever else he was going to say. I had reported in, but now I needed to try and find them myself. Rushing over to the railing, I looked down at the destruction below.

All around me, everything was in perfect shape. It had just been that one beam, and while it had crushed the part of the railing they'd gone over, it looked like the deck where Slate and Logan had ended up had taken the brunt of it.

As the beam had crashed down, it seemed to have crushed other parts of the support structure, which had then rained down to the deck and had taken more of the support beams with it. With the damage to the integrity of the structure, not only were parts of the rig lying down there, but also lights, sirens, and other debris I couldn't even identify.

My heartbeat pounded in my ears, and my body swayed as shock set in. Heavy but gentle hands touched my shoulders and I spun around, hope blooming in my chest that I was going to find myself looking at either Slate or Logan.

It was Bradson again.

His brow was furrowed by worry as he peered over my shoulder at the deck below. It was hard to believe how much had happened so quickly, but I waved off the concern about myself and leveled a serious look at Bradson. "Have they checked in yet? The guys you sent down there."

"No, Mira, but you need to be careful. You can't be running around the deck like that right now. Something else could've come loose. We don't know what happened yet or how extensive the damage is. Just stay put, okay?"

I shook my head at him, already starting to cut through the small group of crew members around me and moving in the direction of the closest staircase that led down. "I'm sorry, but I can't do that. I need to go look for them. They could be hurt, Bradson. I'm not waiting for other people to do what I could be doing myself. I'll be careful."

He let out a heavy sigh, his expression grim again as he dropped his chin in a nod. "Just make sure that you're careful. I can't stop you, but I wish you wouldn't go."

"I'll be fine." I gave him another nod, ignoring his disapproval as I headed toward the stairs.

At least he wasn't trying to hold me back. I knew what I was doing and he trusted me. An argument about whether I should be going to look for them myself would only have been wasting time.

I made my way across the deck, keeping my eyes on the floor so I wouldn't step on any of the debris. Here and there, I had to climb over some of the fallen structure, but with the damage having been contained mostly to the area around which the beam had fallen, I quickly drew clear of the potential danger zone and picked up my pace.

With every beat of my heart and every step I took, I prayed for Slate or Logan to pop their heads out from below. Prayed to see them walking up the staircase, uninjured and hopefully having remembered how much they meant to each other.

I put the mental image I conjured up of it out into the universe. But it didn't manifest. I kept praying. Kept staring at the top of the stairs, but neither of them appeared. The guys Bradson had sent after them weren't there either.

Dread sank like a stone into the crevasses of my soul, but I didn't let it slow me down. They're okay. They're okay. They're okay.

The deck had never felt longer than it did right then. Logically, I'd always known just how big these rigs were, but this was the first time I was really feeling it. It seemed to take me several lifetimes to reach the other side, but as much as I wanted to, I didn't run.

I walked as fast as I could, keeping a keen eye on the structure just in case that beam coming loose had compromised any of the others. Bradson would have a team on that by now, but the maintenance crew had also been working on reinforcing the weakest parts of the structure since Slate and I had first arrived.

It was a constant battle, a full-time job, especially on a rig that had been operational for so many years. A lump formed in my throat.

I picked up my pace a little bit more. The wind was still picking up, making it hard to hear anything from down below. If it'd been a quiet day, maybe I would've known by now if they were okay, but between the wind and the general humdrum of the crew behind me shouting orders at one another and trying to secure the structure, I just didn't have a clue.

When I finally reached the stairs, my heart jumped into my throat, my chest aching. At my level, they were intact, but further down toward the lower deck, the collapse that followed when the beam fell and took out the railing had caused havoc .

My insides tied themselves into knots as I took the stairs as fast as I could. The first few were okay, but then I had to start climbing over the fallen rubble. A bend in the staircase had me doubling back in the direction I'd come from, and the closer I got to the epicenter, the worse things became.

When I finally turned the corner and saw all the way down, my heart started crumbling and a sob tore straight out of my lungs. Logan lay on the deck, unconscious as if he'd been knocked out falling down the stairs, and Slate was kneeling over him.

My brother's face was set in a tight mask of worry, his eyes guarded. He heard the sob and looked up at me. Seeing that look on his face made it all the more real. Logan had been hurt and Slate didn't know if he was okay.

"Bradson!" I screamed, hoping he could hear me. "We need a medic! Medic!"

I raced the rest of the way down, tears streaming down my face. I stared at my boyfriend, furiously searching for any sign of injury. Slate had a gash on his arm and a small cut on his forehead, but as I'd expected, he seemed okay.

Logan wasn't bleeding profusely from anywhere as far as I could see, but he was pale. So damn pale. Too pale.

My pulse tripped over itself. His golden skin was marred with a collection of scrapes and bruises, but I didn't see anything that would've caused concern if he hadn't been lying prone on the floor. No oxygen reached my lungs as I kept moving as fast as I could without falling over something myself.

All of Logan's limbs appeared to be at the correct angles. There were no obvious signs of any breaks or bones coming through the skin. So why isn't he moving? Why is he just lying there?

His hair was specked with dust and bits of stuff—I couldn't see what—and he just looked like he was sleeping. For the first time, it occurred to me that the worst might really have happened. How many times had I heard someone who had died being described as looking like they were sleeping?

All the breath in my lungs rushed out of me. My shoulders shook as I started sobbing for real. When I reached them, I crashed to my knees at his side and stuck my fingers against his pulse.

"It's there," Slate said, his voice gravelly but reassuring. "He's alive, Mira. Don't worry. He was conscious a minute ago. Then he started swaying, but he kept calling for you and trying to get upstairs instead of sitting down, and then he fell. I think it's a head injury, but there's no blood. He should be okay, though."

"Medic!" I screamed again, my heart hammering like it was trying to break a hole through my ribs.

One of the crew members appeared in my field of blurry vision, racing toward us with his first-aid kit slung over his shoulder. His gaze was on Logan, already assessing him for any visible signs of injury.

I've already done that! It's not going to help!

I wanted to rant and rage, tell the guy whose name I couldn't remember right now to fucking do something. But I didn't.

Instead, I did the only thing I could. I sat on my knees next to Logan and gently took his hand, cradling it against my chest, and I started rocking and praying that he would be okay.

Slate's eyes bored a hole in my head, but I didn't give a shit. If he took this as me rubbing our relationship in his face, then so be it. I didn't give a damn what he thought. All that mattered was that Logan knew I was here and that he would be okay.

"Just hold on for me, baby," I whispered shakily. "We're going to fix you right up, okay? Just hold on. Have this little nap you seem to need, but if you see a light, don't you dare go near it. Listen to me, Logan. Stay away from any lights, do you hear me? You're going to be okay. You're going to be fine."

The medic sank down beside Slate and my brother gave him the same update he'd given me. Then we both waited with bated breath as the guy started his examination. All the while, I felt Slate watching me and I wondered if, after all of this was said and done, he'd finally believe that what Logan and I had was a hell of a lot more than he'd been willing to see before.