24. Ethan

24

Ethan

I blink my eyes open, the harsh light of the hospital room assaulting my senses. My body feels heavy, weighed down by a mix of grogginess and pain. As my vision clears, I see Elena sitting in a chair by my bed. She notices me stirring and leans forward, a soft smile playing on her lips.

"Hey," I manage to croak out.

"Hey yourself,” She reaches out and squeezes my hand, the warmth of her touch grounding me. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a truck. But seeing you here makes it better."

"You scared me, Ethan."

"I know," I sigh, looking down at our intertwined hands. "I was about to tell you about my injury right before I passed out. I'm sorry, Elena. I should have told you sooner."

She takes a deep breath, her expression softening. "Why didn't you, Ethan? Why did you try to take it all on yourself?"

"I didn’t want to worry you. I thought I could handle it, that I could keep going without dragging you into it. But I was wrong. I should have told you. I should have trusted you."

"You should have. But I understand why you did it. You always want to protect everyone else, even at your own expense. The best apology, Ethan, is changed behavior. We have to work through things together, but we need to be more open with each other. No more secrets."

"I promise. No more secrets. We'll do this together."

“Thank you.”

"So, what's been happening while I've been out of it?"

Elena’s face brightens a bit. "I made a press release about your hospital stay. It seems to be working. The media has calmed down a lot, and people are sending their well-wishes."

“You never stop, do you?” I laugh. "Thank you for handling everything."

She leans in and kisses my forehead. "Always. Oh, and I have to tell you about something amazing I found."

"What’s that?"

Her eyes light up with excitement. "I found Gram's journal in the attic. It’s incredible. She wrote about her life, her adventures. There’s so much I didn’t know about her."

"Like what?"

"Well, she wrote about running away to Paris when she was sixteen. She met this guy, Armand, who was a cousin to a famous designer. They had this whirlwind love story, and she ended up mingling with some of the best designers in the world. She pretended to be older than she was and lived this incredible life, right in the heart of Paris."

“That explains the sketchbook and the pictures you found then, right?”

“Yes. Reading her journal made me realize how little I really know about her. There’s so much more to discover."

"I’d love to hear more about it," I say, genuinely interested.

"I’ll read more tonight, I’m sure. I think there’s probably so much in that building that we don’t know about. Look at all we’ve found so far.”

“Hopefully no more bodies.”

“Yeah,” she giggles.

"How are you feeling today?," the doctor asks as he walks into the room.

"Better," Ethan replies, sitting up a little straighter. "When can I get out of here, Doc?"

"Not so fast. You're healing well, but we need to keep you here another day for fluids and antibiotics. Your body needs time to recover fully."

"Isn't there any way I can get out of here sooner? I'm feeling a lot better, and I promise to rest at home."

"I'm afraid not. It's important that we monitor you for another day to ensure there are no complications. Your health is the priority."

“That is not what I wanted to hear right now,” I sigh.

“I know this is hard for you but your recovery is incredibly important. Another day or two of antibiotics and fluid is only going to make things better when you do get back on the ice.”

“I hear you, Doc. I just don’t like what you’re saying.”

He chuckles and Elena reaches in to squeeze my hand. Being stuck in bed any amount of time is miserable.

This is on me though. Had I gone to the doctor immediately I wouldn’t be in this predicament.

“We may need to tie him down to the bed, Doc,” Elena teases.

“I’ll have my enforcers in here often to babysit if necessary,” he laughs. “There’s a few of these nurses who won’t hesitate to strap you down.”

“Good to know,” I chuckle.

“The rest will be good, I promise. I’ll check in before my shift is over.”

He leaves and Elena smiles half heartedly back at me.

“How are you feeling after that?”

“I want to be at home or the rink, definitely not in a hospital bed.”

“I know. We’ll make the most of it though, okay?”

“You can’t afford to be here with me the entire time.”

“Daniel and I have agreed to take shifts. Lisa has everything handled at the rink and she’s filtering anything that has to do with public relations to me. You know the media is trying to figure out why you’re in the hospital and how bad it is. Keeley is minding the store. We’ve got this covered.”

“El…”

She puts a hand up in the air to stop me. “No arguments. We’re lucky to have the village that we do and right now is the time to lean on them. There’s nothing wrong with that, Ethan.”

I nod.

“Will you come up in the bed with me?”

She smiles sweetly before nodding. I move over slowly and she climbs up next to me. I awkwardly throw an arm around her and pull her in closer.

“We’re quite the pair, aren’t we?” she teases playfully.

“First you in the hospital and now me.”

“Yeah, we’re a mess.”

“A beautiful mess,” I chuckle.

“Ethan, I’m pregnant,” she blurts out.

I pull back and look at her in shock.

Did she really just say what I think she said?

“Elena,” I breathe. “Are you… sure?”

I’ve never thought about having children.

Even when Kiara told me she was pregnant as a lie, I didn’t even think about it. I refused to believe she was pregnant and left it at that.

My parents are shit, what do I know about being a father?

I don’t have good role models.

I can’t do this!

“Positive. When I was attacked they did a precautionary pregnancy test before they did any imaging. The nurse told me then.”

“Why didn’t you tell me then?”

“I didn’t know how to process it. I was scared. I was… unsure if I wanted to keep it, there are so many people out there who want a child and can’t have one. I didn’t know if I wanted to be a mom.”

“And now.”

“I’m still processing. I’m still scared. I’m still unsure of the future, but I want you to be a part of this. I… when you passed out in front of me my heart stopped. I was terrified that I lost you for good and it’s not a life I want.”

“I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“I know you didn’t,” she giggles as she leans into me. “I wasn’t trying to guilt trip you.”

“I know. I do apologize that I didn’t tell you sooner.”

“How do you feel about us having a baby?” she asks quietly as she looks down at the bed.

I reach over and take her hand in mine, then move so that she’s forced to look at me.

“I’ll be completely transparent here. I’ve never thought about having children. I don’t know that I… know how to be a good father. But on the other hand, I know that with you by my side I can do anything and everything.”

“I feel that too. Telling you doesn’t make it as scary.”

“I’m right here and I always will be. Does anyone else know?”

She shakes her head.

“No, I haven’t told anyone.else. I… I really didn’t know how to process it. There’s so much going on with the shop and the team and… it’s like everyone else is against us.”

“Your parents and Daniel will come around. They don’t want to see you get hurt again. My parents… I’m not worried about what they say or do anymore. Although, if they do take the team from me I may have you reach out to my mom and tell her to take the payout so we can survive.”

“Ethan!”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding. It’s okay to make jokes about it. My mother was utterly ridiculous for doing that and even remotely thinking that it was okay.”

“Do you really think that they’ll take the team from you?”

“I don’t. Well… I do, but I think that I can call them out on a few things and they won’t take it from me.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think that they set me up for failure. I think my father has tanked the team and didn’t know how to come back from that. I’m sure their financial advisor told them to let me take the financial burden for a bit and then when I implement the changes and the team is above board they’ll fire me and take it back over, while also trying to say that I am the reason for the financial ruin.”

“I thought that too, actually. The financial statements will show otherwise though.”

“Agreed. It’s the only thing that makes sense as to why they’re throwing fits over the littlest things that normally wouldn’t be an issue. Am I perfect as a player or an owner? No, certainly not, but you would think that my father would be a source of guidance, a mentor to me to carry on the family legacy. However, he’s quite the opposite. He’s my biggest hater and the one person who points out all my flaws without ways to correct them. He throws me under the bus at every opportunity.”

“If he’s pointing out all of your mistakes to everyone then he’s causing doubt in the board which isn’t good business. In doing so, he’s setting it up so that if he or someone else calls for a change in the owner, they’ll all side there because all they know is the negatives.”

“Exactly. Granted, I haven’t made big strides into bringing the team back into the positive, but I have made advances. More than my father made. It’s been a balancing act to be a player and an owner, that’s why it’s so rare.”

“Is there someone else that you would trust to run the day to day like a CEO or something? That way you can focus on playing while the business side is handled more efficiently?” she asks.

“I have thought about that, but there’s no one I trust to not be in my dad’s back pocket.”

“Maybe that’s something we should think about in the future. We can find someone you trust, we just have to keep your parents out of it.”

“Easier said than done.”

“Not necessarily. I have a few contacts from some seminars I’ve gone to. It’s a great way to network. I met a former college hockey player who now tours doing seminars on mental toughness. He also doubles as a financial consultant, I believe. I can reach out and see if he’d like to take a meeting with you. If nothing else, he could be a great source of information.”

“You know, I’ve always thought about reaching out to other owners and seeing how they do things but being a player makes a lot of them not want to answer anything.”

“I’m sure there’s one or two out there who would answer.”

“I’ll work a little harder on that while I’m in here, there’s not much else I can do.”

“Daniel grabbed your laptop and brought it in, just in case.”

“He’s the best,” I laugh.

“Make sure you’re resting too, okay?”“I will.”

I kiss her forehead and pull her into a hug.

“I had the meeting with Sasha and she’s got so many great ideas. I think she’s a wealth of knowledge that can help me so much. We both need people like that in our lives with what we’re doing.”

“I agree. Sasha knows her stuff for sure.”

“Thanks again for introducing me to her and Tony, but also for how you swooped in with the boutique. I don’t think you know how much that meant to me.”

“I do. I love you and I will never again forget to show you that on the daily.”

She smiles back at me before putting her head on my shoulder and snuggling into me.

We’re going to be parents.

I’m not really sure how to feel about that, but I was serious when I said that I knew with her by my side it would be amazing.