Alterno Albetrio

Hurry Up and Wait- Chapter 22

 A/N I hope that hose in the United States had a very happy Thanksgiving!  I had a very busy one.

To be completely honest, this chapter took a long, long time for me to finish.  I have been accused by my sounding board to be too harsh on Loralei.  But I also felt that this chapter would be pivotal for both her and another character.  In writing this chapter the way I have I also know that I am adding to a character that was not in the original show, so now he is a bit OC.  But I had been developing him in the last chapters too. So enough with my ramble.  

I own nothing but my idea, and the desire to finish this story!

 Rory woke up a little later than usual. She had stayed up, finishing another interview with a person she had found interesting, after she had stayed on the phone with Logan until he had fallen asleep. It had been four days since she had left him in the hospital.

He was being transferred into a regular room today, if he had yet another uneventful night. His body was healing, but she missed being near him, helping him recover. They had discussed the person she had met and it had led them into a deeper discussion of "what if" in terms of his accident.

The group of reporters had left Topeka and arrived in St Louis after a 4 ½ hour trip. Yesterday evening was a huge event, and this evening was supposed to be the same.

Rory had seen a gentleman in a wheelchair leaving the event early through a side exit. She had followed him and stopped him. He was what she would have described as a Southern gentleman. He was well spoken, made her laugh and even flirted with her plus more than willing to answer her questions. He was in High School when he was injured during a football game. He was paralyzed from the waist down. He had joked about his story being sort of a Friday Night Lights sort of thing, except his injury was less severe than the character Jason Street. He even had the same initials. His name was James Simmons.

Now, he was a Youth Counselor and married to his high school sweetheart.

His wife, Jennifer, was home taking care of their sick baby girl. They went to one of the rooms off the main concourse and talked for 2 hours.

When she got back to her hotel room, she immediately called Logan to tell him about James and his story. Even though Logan hated hypothetical reasoning, the discussion turned to what would have happened if he had a more severe injury either after the Costa Rica trip or this accident. They had come to the conclusion that they would have had a difficult time, but they would have figured a way through it. He admitted that at the time he needed to grow up and mature, especially in a relationship. He pointed out that even after the trip, he made some pretty monumental mistakes where he didn't communicate, especially after his failed business venture, and making plans without involving her. Rory had confessed that she had not communicated her struggle with graduating, not really knowing what to do next and her real desire to have the New York Times Fellowship. They had made some headway in learning how to communicate with each other.

This morning though, she had woken up with a feeling of dread hanging over her head. She looked at the clock and quickly decided to give Logan a call.

"Good morning, Ace." Logan answered on the second ring.

"Good morning to you too." She replied as she made her way out of bed to the in room coffee pot and began making her first cup of coffee. "So any news on your room transfer?"

"Well, Dr Hawkins and Nic came in to see me this morning. They both say Hi by the way. But Dr Hawkins told me that since there were no incidents last night and I am recovering well, I will be transferred this afternoon, after I have a PT session, RT session and concussion evaluation here. So by this evening I'll be in my new room" Logan explained.