Page 77 of Wildest Desire

“What are you doing?” Ethan’s voice gives me a jolt. “If you need something, then ask me. Do you think I don’t want you to get better faster?” Setting the plates on the table with a little too much force, he brings the footstool in front of me. “Please, just ask me. I’m here for a reason," he tells me, handing me my plate.

I watch him as he sits down next to me, then I rest my head on his shoulder. “Sorry. I promise it'll be only rest for me until I get better.” As I look up at him, he gives me a kiss. “You know there’s a plus to me being home. I get to see you shirtless when we go to sleep. I hope you haven’t been slacking on looking after yourself.” I know I’m in no shape to do the things I want to, but that doesn’t mean I can’t look and enjoy the view.

Ethan starts laughing. “Only you would think like that when you're still recovering from major surgery." He turns his head and kisses me again. “I’m confident you’ll be happy,” he says giving me a wink before turning on the TV and taking a bite of his food.

“Can I ask you something? I know that you’ve already taken a lot of time off work, but I was wondering something.” I take a small bite out of my sandwich.

“I’m the boss, and I’m paying Travis to keep the place running until I get back, so what do you want to ask?”

“Once all this is finished, I’d like to go home to see my dad. I haven’t been back since his funeral and…” I wonder if he will think I’m crazy to say that I saw him when I was in the hospital; that he spoke to me. “I just want to talk, that’s all.”

“Spit it out. What are you thinking?” he asks. I turn to face him. He keeps a straight face without even a twitch in his eye.

“You’re going to think I’m crazy.”

“Already think that.” Ethan puts his lips together to stop him from smiling at me. “Come on, tell me.”

“I saw my dad. He's the one that helped me. I was ready to give up, and he's the one that…” I look over at him. “I just want to go see him, that’s all.” I end the conversation. It sounds a little crazy to me when I say it out loud, so Ethan must think I’m insane.

“As soon as the doctors give you the all clear, I'll get Selena to book us a flight,” he says. Without another word, he gets back to his sandwich.

I'm not sure what Ethan is thinking, but I know I don’t really want to talk about it anymore. I know that it’s a lot to take in, and right now, I just want to sleep. The painkillers the doctor gave me make me so tired.

“I might go to sleep for a bit,” I tell Ethan. He takes my plate before taking the blanket off me, then slowly helps me to stand. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he replies as he helps me walk to the bedroom.

This is the first time I get to see the bedroom with everything in it. “This is beautiful.” I look around and my eyes fall on the huge bed. The grey, and hint of yellow in the room are perfect. “I love this room.”

“Very happy that you approve. I'll have to call my mom to let her know.” Lying in bed, Ethan pulls the covers over me. “I'll wake you for dinner.”

My eyes are too heavy to even answer him back. This bed is so comfortable, I fall asleep right away.

* * *

“Ethan?” I yell his name as I am getting out of the shower. “Can you change my dressings, please?” I ask as he walks over to me.

“Sure,” he says, taking the padded waterproof dressing from my hands. I’m not sure which one of us is more anxious about today.

“Are Travis and Tanya at court?” I try to make some eye contact with Ethan, but he keeps his head down.

“Ummm.” He looks at me in question. I nod my head. “Do they hurt when you touch them?”

“Not as much as it hurts when I cough or take a deep breath.” Ethan pulls my top down. “Will Travis call you and tell you what’s happening?”

“He will, and I'll tell you anything you want to know. Or, I'll tell you what I feel you need to know.” He puts his hands on my waist. “But, all I really want to tell you is what happens at the end.”

“Then just tell me the end." I know he doesn’t want to talk about this anymore, and I don’t really want to talk too much about it if it’s going to upset him.

“Breakfast?”

“Please,” I say, resting my head on his chest and closing my eyes for a moment to just think about nothing.

“After today, everything will be good and you can finally stop running, and live the rest of your life with me.” Ethan kisses the top of my head.

I smile up at him, loving his affection. “And I can’t wait for that to happen. What did you make for breakfast?” I ask, pulling away from him to sit back down on the bed. I still can’t stand for too long.

“Pancakes. Do you want me to help you walk over? It seems like you're getting a little fed up?” Ethan sits on the bed next to me.

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