Crowns and Pastries

Chapter Seventeen | One Down, Eight More To Go

~C~

I watched Ethan as he slept. The heart monitor was beeping softly beside him, reassuring me that he was alive.

When Dylan called me two days ago and said that Ethan was in the hospital, he'd been attacked again, I felt my heart stop. I was on my way to London within minutes and arrived at the hospital within two hours. Dylan was waiting on me, he led me to Ethan's family and introduced me as his best friend.

It hurt having to lie but I was more worried about Ethan. His family didn't say anything. Just nodded and allowed me to wait with them. Those two days of waiting felt like an eternity. I'd gone in to see him once when he was still unconscious but just the sight of him made me want to bolt out and throw up.

There were finger marks forming around his neck, making it clear what had happened. His ribs had been bandaged again and so had his leg. If it wasn't for the heartrate machine, then I'd think he wasn't breathing.

I'd let his family visit him, staying out in the waiting room myself. I couldn't watch him like that. Maybe it was selfish, but I just couldn't.

Nobody knew what exactly had happened to him. Dylan told us that he found Ethan outside next to his mother's rose garden. He hadn't come back inside in a long time and Dylan went to check on him. Apparently, it wasn't strange for Ethan to be outside for so long.

When Dylan reached the training grounds, he saw Ethan lying there, barely breathing. Why there were no other guards around at the time was a mystery, at least, nobody had told me that.

I tightened my grip on his hand when he started moving his head in a frantic matter. He seemed to calm down at that, so I squeezed his hand softly.

"How is he?" came the voice of Ethan's sister, Paisley from the door.

I glanced at her and saw Emily standing behind her. I looked back at Ethan. "He's asleep," I replied.

They both entered the room silently and sat down on the two other chairs on the other side of Ethan's bed. I saw Emily glance at our clasped hands, but she didn't mention it.

"Are there any leads?" I asked.

"Nothing," Paisley said, taking Ethan's other hand in hers.

Silence filled the room. Ethan had told me about how the men who attacked him at king's day were part of a terrorist group and I couldn't help but wonder if this was the same group. I hoped it wasn't, but I didn't know who else to blame.

I rubbed my thumb over his hand, being careful of the tubes. I'd managed to avoid questions from my mother about why I left so suddenly. Valerie had been calling me nonstop since I entered the hospital two days ago. I couldn't get it in myself to leave, even to sleep in my own apartment. I had simply made up an excuse why I couldn't talk to them, but I think Valerie had figured it out because she asked me to keep her posted.

"I'm going to update mum and dad, they should be back by now," Paisley spoke up after a while. "They went to give a press statement." She explained when I looked at her.

I nodded and watched as she left the room. The door shut behind her with e soft click and I could feel Emily stare at me now that we were alone.

"What are you two really? He's never mentioned you before, I'd know it if you were his best friend." She spoke up. There was no threat in her voice.

"You should talk to Ethan about that. It's not my thing to tell you."

She hummed. "I think I know enough." She replied. "I'm not going to give you 'the speech' because I think you already know what you said yes to. But I will tell you this; if you hurt him, I will personally see to it that your life will be miserable for the rest of eternity."