Chapter 85

“I love you.” The words rang through my head clearly like a bell. Over and over again, echoing around my brain and rendering me speechless.

I blinked at him a few times. I returned the sentiment, I thought, but I didn’t say the words back to him. My brain was moving too fast, too much was happening.

In hindsight, I should have. He almost died protecting me, he took a bullet to the stomach because of me, and I couldn’t even tell him I loved him back.

“I need to call the doctor.” I stood up and retreated out of the room with my phone in hand. I stepped out into the hallway and dialed the number for the doctor I called when I first brought Ethan home. He said that he would be at the house in an hour to check him over.

I thanked him and went back into the bedroom. Ethan was sitting up a little more, a small smile on his face appeared as he saw me come in.

“How are you feeling?” I swallowed thickly, suddenly feeling self conscious in his presence.

I looked like a mess. I hadn’t washed my hair in days, my clothes were unwashed, and I hadn’t been eating due to the stress of the situation.

Ethan, though, regarded me with eyes full of adoration. He didn’t care how I looked. Or he was delusional and the bullet did more damage than I originally thought.

I sat with him until the doctor arrived. The man came in with a large bag of testing equipment and settled on the edge of the mattress to speak to Ethan.

The doctor checked him over, testing his speech patterns, watching for proper reactions of his pupils, and inspecting the wound itself to make sure that Ethan was in the best possible form he could be in.

“Well, Ethan,” The doctor clapped his hands together in finality. “You are going to need rest. Lots of it. I know you’re probably eager to get up after five days” - Ethan looked at me, eyes wide with alarm at the notice of it being an entire work week since he was last conscious - “But you need to rest. I want you on bedrest for a week.”

Ethan opened his mouth to argue, but the doctor ignored him completely and turned to me.

“I want you to oversee his care, of course,” The doctor ordered. “Make sure that he is comfortable, well-fed, and that he takes his medicine. He likes to occasionally ‘forget’ about them.”

Ethan shrugged his shoulders behind the gentleman and gave me a knowing smile. The doctor I called was his primary caregiver. I assumed there must be a story in that interaction somewhere, so I made a mental note to ask about it later.

Once the doctor left and Ethan was awake and settled with medicine and a new bandage in bed, I kept replaying the ‘I love you’ in my head. I loved Ethan, too. I really did. I’d loved him from the moment he chose me over Dora at the wedding, and I wanted him to know that.

I kept trying to find times to say the words out loud, but every moment I tried seemed like it would sound awkward or forced. I wanted Ethan to know I meant it.

If I couldn’t say it, I decided I would show it. I started cooking Ethan extravagant, homie meals that were supposed to make you feel better when you were sick. He was fed in my bed, and I did everything for him that I could.

During the week, his color returned to normal. He had flushed, pink cheeks and a sparkle to his eyes again. By the end of the seven mandatory days of bedrest, though, he said he still didn’t feel ready to walk around on his own.

“Are you sure?” I asked after he told me that he didn’t think he’d be able to walk if he tried.

“Nope, my side hurts too much,” He pressed his lips into a firm line and shook his head solemnly. For the last few days, Ethan had been insisting on doing the bandages himself so I had no clue what the wound looked like.

“Is there anything I can do to make it hurt less?” I asked, coming to the side of the bed to inspect the bandage. Ethan didn’t let me remove it, instead grabbing my hand and holding it to his chest.

“A kiss would help me feel better,” He pouted.

I rolled my eyes and placed a chaste kiss on his lips, but that wasn’t enough for him. I tried to pull away, but he held me in place. I looked at him, questions dancing across my face.

“What?” I asked, but I knew what he wanted.

His eyes flickered from my eyes to my lips. His face was a mere inch away from mine, our breaths mingled in the space between us.

I closed the gap and pressed a deeper kiss against his mouth. Our lips meshed together perfectly, slotting into place like a puzzle. Ethan leaned back in the bed, urging me to follow him and lean over him with my knees on the mattress.

He adjusted himself, grabbing my hips and guiding me to straddle his own as a groan at the contact escaped him.

I drew back, worried that I hurt him in some way.

“Are you okay?” I asked hurriedly, separating ourselves and making an attempt to get off of him. Ethan, though, grabbed my thighs to keep me from getting up.

“I’m perfect with you,” He breathed, eyes half closed as he tried to reconnect our mouths. I pushed against his chest lightly.

“This doesn’t hurt you at all?” I asked him to shift back so that I could lift the hem of his t-shirt and reveal the bandage. He let his head fall back against the pillow and waited patiently as I pulled the gauze away and saw the puckered pink flesh of the wound.

It looked almost completely scarred over, there was no reason for him to stay bedbound.

“Have you been faking it?” I whirled around, bewildered.

Ethan smiled at me a little sheepishly, “I liked having such an attentive nurse by my side at all times.”

I playfully smacked his shoulder and gasped, “So you’ve had me waiting on you hand and foot for no reason?”

“The bright side to all of this is that I feel fine and we can get back to what we were doing before. Ask your questions later.” Ethan ordered and brought his lips back up to capture mine. I responded immediately, pressing my chest against his to deepen the kiss.

I pulled back as Ethan ran his hands under the hem of my shirt, his fingers traveling up my ribs and caressing the flesh of my chest.

“Just so you know,” I breathed out, my lips plump and swollen, “I love you too.”

Ethan grinned and jerked his hips upwards against my own to tease me. I gasped at his actions and giggled as he tried to pull me under the bedcovers with him.

I managed to remove Ethan’s shirt and my own as our moment together became more heated, more passionate. His hand started toying with the waistband of my bands when there was a loud chiming sound ringing through the house.

Someone was ringing the doorbell.