by Amanda Black
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” He had known Maggie since he was a teenager, and even though they’d never had the chance to get really close, she had always been sweet to him.
“Usually when this happens, Brandon is here for him to sort of lean on for emotional support, but he took your sister out of town for a long Valentine’s weekend.”
“Where is Eric?”
“We’re all still here at the hospital. They are going to keep her here until tomorrow for observation.”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
“Thank you. And Ethan?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re a good brother.”
“Uh… thanks.” Click.
He didn’t want to dwell on what she’d just said for too long; he knew it wasn’t true. If it were true, he would have been there for him before now. If it were true, this wouldn’t be the first he’d ever heard about them having multiple losses. Hell, he barely even remembered that she had been pregnant.
Lily couldn’t help listening from the bedroom as she tried to find all of her clothes, but only hearing half of the conversation was more frustrating than not hearing any of it at all. She was surprised to hear that he actually had a mother: a real, flesh and bone mother. Until then she could have just as easily have believed that he had sprung full-grown from the head of Zeus.
When he returned he had a somber look on his face. “I’m sorry, but I have to go. There’s a bit of a family situation.”
“That’s alright,” she returned, pulling her shirt on over her head. “I really need to grab a shower and a change of clothes before work. I wasn’t paying attention to the time.” When she saw how stricken he looked she went to him and hugged him tightly. “I hope that it’s nothing too serious.”
“Well, the worst is done, but thank you. I’m just going to see if I can be of any help.” He leaned down and kissed her softly one last time. As he pulled away he couldn’t help raking his eyes down her body, appreciating the uniform she was wearing once again. “It’s too bad we were interrupted,” he said with a leer. “I would have enjoyed playing doctor.”
“Really?” she said, astonished. “The scrubs do something for you?”
“Hell yes,” he chuckled. “Now all I can think about is having you be my naughty nurse and giving me a sponge bath.”
“Alright, wow. I’m going to get the hell out of here before I take you up on that and we’re both late.” She pulled out of his arms and walked to the door. Before closing it behind her she turned and called to him over her shoulder. “Hey, Stranger?”
“Yes, beautiful?”
“Next time, you bring the sponge and the bubble bath and I’ll bring the scrubs.”
His eyes began to smolder again. “Oh, it’s a fucking date.”
With that, his beautiful goddess smiled and closed the door.
Chapter 18
Ethan arrived at the hospital fifteen minutes later to find his mother standing outside the room speaking quietly on her cell phone. Her eyes lit up when she saw him and she held up a finger, letting him know that she was almost done. He could see the dark circles under her eyes and hear the quiver in her voice as she spoke, giving him a fairly good idea of just how long the night had been for her.
“Darling, I’ve got to go, your brother just arrived.” She listened for another moment. “Yes, sweetheart, I will. Give my love to Brandon. Let him know that we’re all going to be alright. There’s no need for him to drag you back here and cut your trip short.”
She said goodbye and ended the call, turning her full attention on Ethan as he closed the distance between them and pulled her into a tight hug. Neither one of them said anything for almost a minute as he held her, slowly rocking back and forth.
Barbara broke the silence first, mumbling into his shirt. “Thank you so much for coming. I know it’s terribly early.”
“Shh,” he scolded, patting her back lightly. “Don’t be silly. I would have come in the middle of the night if you had called me.” While Ethan would have hated to cut his amazing night with his goddess short, he knew that he was telling his mother the truth.
“Well, there was nothing you could have done at that point,” she said, pulling back to wipe away the beginning of tears from her eyes. “I think Eric will be the one who needs you now, and he was too busy sitting with Maggie all night. He wouldn’t have even known you were here.”
“What can I do?”
“Just be there for him, dear. She’s finally asleep—see if you can get him out of this damn hospital room for a while, even if it’s just the cafeteria. He won’t let himself relax while he’s with her like this. He’s always on alert.” She sighed loudly, running her fingers through her hair in a gesture that was all too familiar to him. “Talk to him. Listen to him. Don’t think that you need to cheer him up or make him laugh, that will just piss him off. If he wants to be distracted, he’ll let you know.”
Ethan hadn’t really been there for anyone in so long that he felt completely out of sorts, but he knew that he owed it to his family to give it a try. “Alright. Is he inside?”
“Of course. He hasn’t left her side since he got here. He’s been napping lightly for the last few hours since they gave Maggie something to help her sleep, but that’s the most I could get him to do. Let’s go see if he’s awake yet.”
They walked quietly into the large private room. Once Ethan’s eyes adjusted to the darker lighting, he could see his brother sleeping on a couch in the corner and his sister-in-law resting in the large bed, hooked up to a few different machines. Her face looked sweaty and her always-perfect hair was matted to her head, but something about her appearance touched Ethan deeply in that instant. For the first time since he’d met her, Maggie’s guard was down. Unable to hide behind her makeup and clothes, he could see how vulnerable and fragile she could be. Strangely, she had never looked stronger to him, or lovelier.
As if she somehow sensed his presence in the room, her eyes fluttered open. When her hazy gaze met his, the tiniest smile touched her lips.
“Hey kid,” she whispered.
“Hey yourself,” he smiled back. It was the same greeting they had exchanged since he’d been sixteen years old.
Maggie slowly raised a hand with IV tubes sticking out of it and held it out to him, motioning with her fingers for him to come closer. When he was at her side, Ethan gently took those same fingers in his hand and squeezed them before leaning over and kissing the backs of them, barely avoiding the looped tube that was taped in place.
“Such pleasantries,” she teased.
“But of course. I’m ever the gallant gentleman.” His smile faded as he looked at her. “I’m so sorry, Maggie. This whole situation is just bullshit.”
“Tell me about it,” she rasped back.
“Are you going to be okay?”
“Of course I will.” She waved him off before glancing away. “Eventually.” She met his eyes again. “I’m sort of used to it, you know? It’s a shit thing to have to get used to, but it is what it is.” Her voice dropped even lower as she angled her head toward the couch. “I’m more worried about him, though.”
Ethan looked over at his brother, curled up in a ridiculous ball on what looked to be the world’s most uncomfortable couch. “Taking it pretty hard?”
“You’d never know by talking to him, but I can see it in his eyes. Plus he’s always so damn worried about me that he never lets himself grieve properly.”
“Well that’s why I’m here, actually. I was going to try to drag his lazy ass out of here for a bit while you rested.”
“Oh, that would be wonderful!” Her sleepy eyes lit up more than he thought possible in her medicated state. “Get him the hell out of here. And don’t let him stay in the building, either. He needs a little fresh air.”
“Alright, Maggie. Get some rest.” Ethan smiled back at her and patted her hand before finally letting go. He crossed the room quietly until he was standing in front of
Eric’s balled-up form. After regarding his sleeping face for a minute, he lifted his foot and gently kicked at his shoe, which was sticking out over the arm of the couch. “Hey.” He continued tapping. “Hey, Sleeping Beauty, get the fuck up.”
“Fuck you,” Eric mumbled, batting at the air before trying to roll over. When he realized that he couldn’t move away from whatever the hell was annoying him because the couch was too damn small, he finally opened his eyes and looked around. Groaning, his gaze settled on Ethan.
“What the—? Is Maggie okay?” He sat straight up, his tone instantly panicked.
“Hey, calm down. She’s fine. See, she’s—” When he turned to allow Eric a view of her, he was surprised to find that she was already fast asleep. “Sleeping.”
“Thank God,” Eric sighed, leaning over and rubbing his face with his large hands. “She was up all damn night.” When he looked up to meet Ethan’s eyes again, it was with a look of suspicion. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
“I’ve come to kidnap you.”
“That’s what I was afraid of,” he sighed again. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Oh come on, stop being a douche. You can’t do anything for her while she’s sleeping, and Mom is tired of not being able to sit on the couch. Let’s go get something to eat. I haven’t had breakfast yet.”
“But who will sit with Maggie? What if she wakes up and I’m not here?” The worry in his voice was unmistakable.
“Mom’s still here. Let’s go and let them have some girl time. If anything major happens she can call us, alright?”
The battle of emotions that played across Eric’s face was almost heartbreaking to watch. “Yeah… I suppose I can run downstairs for a bite to eat.”
“Not happening, man. I’m not eating the nasty shit they try to pass for food here. I was thinking we could maybe go to the diner. I haven’t had their pancakes in years. What do you say? My treat.”
He looked at Maggie one more time before Barbara’s voice rang out in the room. “Eric, go with your brother. I want to sit and read my book in peace.”
Remembering his mother’s presence for the first time, Eric nodded sheepishly and stood up, stopping to stretch and twist, which sent a loud round of pops and cracks echoing through the room. “Alright,” he groaned, “you guys win.” Grabbing his jacket and throwing it on, Eric crossed the room and hugged Barbara, kissing her cheek as he pulled away. “Thanks for sitting with her. Do you want us to bring you anything?”
“No, your father is going to bring me something in a little while. We’re going to eat together. Thank you for asking, though.” She reached up and patted his cheek, doing her best to hide her sadness when she felt the coarse stubble that had grown in overnight and saw how strained his features were.
“Alright, we’ll be back soon. Call me if anything happens, okay?”
“I will, darling, but you really need to relax. They are only keeping her for observation now, Eric. The worst is over.”
“I know. It’s just hard to leave her.” He looked over at Maggie one last time before turning and leaving the room. Ethan kissed his mother goodbye as well, and when he glanced at Maggie he could have sworn that he saw her close her eyes again quickly, as if she had been peeking under her lashes when Eric left the room. The little faker.
“What’s so funny?” Eric asked as they walked outside, wondering why Ethan was chuckling to himself.
“Oh, nothing,” he lied. “My mind’s just wandering. Here, my car’s over this way.” He led him across the lot to the Audi, and once they were both buckled in he drove off to the local diner on the other side of town.
Grabbing a booth in the corner, they smiled politely at the young waitress who brought them their menus, who also couldn’t seem to stop ogling the both of them as if she couldn’t decide which one was hotter. Once they’d gotten her to stop drooling long enough to take their order, they settled in over coffee to have a nice talk.
“Sweet kid,” Eric said, watching her walk away. “But way too young. She’s gonna be trouble for her old man, acting like that.”
“Oh, don’t act like waitresses of all ages don’t fall all over you, Mr. Football,” Ethan teased.
“Hey, I haven’t played in years,” he blushed. “But sometimes, Maggie does get a little jealous. I keep telling her that fair is fair, because anywhere we go every man’s eyes are glued on her.”
“The trials of a gorgeous couple. My heart goes out to you.”
“Oh, you’re one to talk, Mr. Tortured Artist! I used to think you spent hours in the mirror trying to perfect that brooding pout of yours. Something must have worked, though, because Rachel certainly wasn’t hard on the eyes.” He looked up suddenly, realizing what he had just said. “Hey man, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Really, don’t worry about it,” Ethan waved him off.
“No, that was a shit thing to bring up right now. How are you managing these days? It’s only been a couple weeks since you broke up.”
“I’m… coping,” Ethan replied quietly. “Besides, we’re not here to talk about me. We’re here to get you out of that damn hospital for a while and pig out on the best pancakes in town.”
“We’re doing that already,” Eric smiled, nodding toward the young waitress as she delivered two heaping stacks of buttermilk pancakes to their table. Sighing wistfully, she looked back and forth between each of them and the warm maple syrup on the table before walking away. “Man, I don’t even want to know what she’s thinking.”
“Yeah, me neither,” Ethan laughed, pouring the syrup in question over his breakfast.
“Anyway, as I was saying, you’ve done your job. I’m out and eating something. We’re having a nice talk and you are distracting me.”
“Are you sure being distracted is what you really want right now?” Ethan asked quietly. “You can talk to me about anything, you know.”
“If memory serves, I said the very same thing to you a few weeks ago. I think if anyone should be more ready to talk, it should be you.” He looked pointedly at Ethan, calling him out for never confiding in him. “I’ll come around soon—I always do—but you’re the one who needs to realize that the world isn’t going to end if you admit that you aren’t always perfect.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ethan snapped defensively.
“It means that I’ve never known anyone so worried about making a good show of things, setting the scene just right. It’s okay to admit that you’re upset about something, or pissed off even. Nobody should seem so level-headed after breaking up with their girlfriend of ten years.”
“I don’t like people to know my business.” He especially didn’t like it if it meant that they might hate him when they did.
“Know your business? Ethan, I don’t even know you. Not anymore.” Eric sighed and took another sip of his coffee. “I’m trying to get to know my brother again. I think if anyone has a right to ask you about some of your business, it’s me.”
Ethan finished chewing his bite and put down his fork. “Alright, what do you want to know? And before you start, just know that I’m not sure how much I’m ready to talk about yet, so don’t be offended if I pass on something.”
“I understand. I won’t dig too deep today, don’t worry.” Eric cracked his knuckles and sat up straighter, his enthusiasm coming off of him in waves. “You say that you are coping right now, but how? I couldn’t even imagine being able to function if Maggie left me. I mean, I know you and Rachel must not have been in the best place there at the end, but still—how on earth are you handling it?”
“Believe me, Eric, ‘not in the best place’ is a fucking understatement. If I seem cold about it, I don’t mean to, but I can’t help it.” He took a big drink from his coffee before continuing, forcing himself to divulge at least a few things to his brother. “In all honesty, I’m torn up about the way she left. The way it went down was really bad. But the whole relationship…it felt like a lie. And it would be a lie n
ow to say that I miss her in my life.”
He waited for Eric to process what he had just told him. “But I thought you two were, like… totally in love?”
“No. Not at all.”
“What? I thought you guys were so far up each other’s asses that nobody else mattered to you.”
“Then you believed the lie,” Ethan frowned. “What we had was sort of… an understanding. And it worked out for both of us at first, but things got very bad between us at the end.”
“Dude, don’t get pissed at me for asking this, but are you gay?”
“What? No!” Ethan’s head snapped up and looked around, embarrassed at his loud outburst.
“You can tell me if you are. I swear I don’t give a shit.”
“No, Eric! What the hell made you think that?”
“Well, an ‘understanding’? It sounded like you were describing some weird-ass beard arrangement.”
“No, no,” Ethan laughed, forking another bite of food into his mouth. “There just wasn’t any love between us. It was purely physical to begin with, for me at least, and that sort of morphed into a warped friendship. I had problems that I’m not proud of at all, and then she had even worse problems after that. We were just toxic together and not doing each other any good.”
“Why didn’t you guys split up when you first realized it was that bad?”
“It wasn’t part of the plan,” Ethan whispered. “She told me how much talent I had, how successful I could be with her resources, and I believed her. I tried to stick it out for a while after I got out of rehab, but she started to get annoyed that I wasn’t putting out the same amount of work that I had been when I was high. She started making thinly veiled threats about finding someone younger and more talented. I finally got fed up with the whole thing.”
“Whoa, wait a minute,” Eric said quickly. “What the fuck do you mean, rehab?”
Ethan blinked for a moment, a wave of panic washing over him. He hadn’t meant to let that slip, but it had felt so good to talk to his brother that he hadn’t been guarding his words.
