Page 153 of Run
I give him a tight smile as we stare at each other for a moment before his phone chimes again. He looks at it and curses under his breath. “I’m sorry, I need to go. You OK waiting by yourself?”
“Yeah.” I stand along with him. “I’m sure they’ll be done with Ethan soon, and if I’m not there when he wakes up he’ll lose his mind.”
Officer Rick laughs. “Give the guy a break. He’s head over heels. He can’t help it.”
I grin. “I guess I’m pretty lucky.”
“You both are.” His phone chimes again.
“You better go.”
He hesitates a minute, then reaches into his shirt pocket and pulls out a card. “You ever have any other problems, you call me, OK.”
I take it, but give him a look. “You have seen Ethan, right? I mean he’s pretty much my personal bodyguard.”
“Seriously, the guy could play for the NFL. I thought I was going to pull every muscle in my body dragging him across the driveway.” He moves his shoulders around for effect.
I smile, thinking about my big guy. “Well, thanks again.”
He stretches his arms out, and I take the hint and walk right into them, and he embraces me tightly. “This may not make sense to you, but tonight was oddly healing for me,” Officer Rick says.
Dude, I understand better than you will even know.
I have to wait just long enough to start getting nervous before a nurse comes and tells me I can go be with Ethan.
When I step in the doorway of his room, I stop dead in my tracks as I take in the sight of him. His face is jacked. His broken nose has a splint over it, one eye is swollen shut and somehow already deep purple, and the other eye has a bandage over the eyebrow. He's still unconscious, and I decide to take this time to rest, too. Pulling up a chair, I take his hand in mine and place my head on the side of the bed.
***
Fingers massage my scalp.
“Seriously, Mom, I’m OK.” That’s Ethan’s raspy voice.
A sniffle. “I can’t believe I almost lost you.”
“You didn’t, Mom. I got knocked around a bit, but I didn’t almost die. It’s going to take much more to get rid of me.” They’re trying to be quiet, probably so as to not wake me.
Ethan’s fingers slide against my scalp and through my hair again.
“Your father would have been proud of you for fighting that monster tonight.” Ethan’s fingers still as his mom continues. “I know he was a hard man to understand, and he was never one to share his feelings, but he was proud of you for always looking out for others. For Ari.”
“He hated that I was always protecting Red.”
“No.” His mother sniffles again. “Ethan, he tried to keep you away from that house because it washisway of protectingyou. Where do you think you got those qualities?”
Silence hangs in the air as I try to blink my eyes open, and Ethan’s fingers start to move against my scalp again. “He had a terrible way of showing it.” His voice is still raspy.
“Oh, absolutely. He was the worst at showing his emotions.” I hear Connie blow out a breath. “I’m glad you didn’t inherit that from him.”
“Is that your way of saying I’m needy?”
“No, honey, you give so freely of your love and it’s one of my favorite things about you.”
“Mine, too.” I finally find my voice, and it’s also scratchy.
Ethan’s hand stills and his eyes dart to me, fierce and fiery at first, then they soften. “Red.” He turns the hand of his that I’ve been sleeping on, so it’s cupping my face. “How do you feel?”
I close my eyes, breathe in, and exhale. “Like a Justin Bieber fan who got thrown into the mosh pit at a System of a Down concert.”
