Want You Back

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Nate!" I yelled rushing through the emergency room entrance. Can I just say I am so tired of the hospital? I pulled him into my arms tightly. "Oh God. What were you thinking meeting up with Vincent?"

"I'm fine, sis," he said pulling back and giving me a smile. "You don't have to worry about him anymore too."

I didn't listen to him as I checked his body for any sign of violence. I noticed a few bruises and cuts on his face. "Did he hurt you?"

"Y-yeah," he hesitated, "but Ethan stopped him before he could do anything else. Speaking of him, you might want to check how he's doing."

My heart dropped in my chest and my face paled. I didn't know how Ethan was doing. I had no clue nor did Alli or she would've told me on our way here. I was relieved to see Nate wasn't badly injured when I saw him standing in the waiting room.

I nodded slowly and followed Nate to a room with Alli trailing behind me. The door was close and it opened when we reached it. A nurse came out and gave all three of us a smile and walked past us. 

I walked in after her and turned around to see it was only I who went in. Alli and Nate stayed behind. I turned back around and closed my eyes not wanting to see how Ethan was doing. 

"Char, it's okay to open your eyes," I heard him chuckle in front of me. I slowly opened my eyes and see him. Oh, thank the Lord! I expected him to look worse as he is! I could only see a few cuts on his face. One side of his mouth was covered with a bandage and then my eyes trailed down. I cringed at seeing his arm in a cast. All because of me. "Don't worry about me."

I shook my head and slowly walked over to the side of his bed and bent down on my knees. "Ethan..."

"Shh, don't cry," he said soothing me probably taking notice of my glistening eyes. "I'm a big boy now. A few cuts and bruises aren't going to kill me."

"And a broken arm," I frowned gently running my fingers over his cast. "What happened to you?"

"Well, I went to go give Vincent a piece of my mind," he shrugged casually. "A fight erupted and we had a gun fight. No big deal." I gave him a warning look. "Alright, there weren't guns involved, but he sure does know how to pack a punch." He tilted his head the other way so I could see the ugly bruise by his jawline. 

"What about your arm?" I whispered closing my eyes not wanting to see how hurt he looked. 

"Fist punch kind of got violent and intense," he explained. "I was on the ground below him ...and well. You know. I don't think you'd want me to through the details."

I agreed with him and we lapsed into a silence. After a few minutes of just looking at him but not directly to his eyes I said, "Why did you do that? Worst of all, you brought Nate into it!"

Ethan sighed and took my hand in his free one. "Look at me." After a moment I turned to look at his green whirlpools. "I did it for you. For you Char. I did it for the girl I loved." Loved. "Char, we had a strong connection back then and just because we've separated, that doesn't mean I don't care about you anymore." I looked down and willed for the tears to not fall. It hurt me greatly to hear him say that. "Char, I don't want you to worry about Vincent anymore and if you're mad at me because I brought Nate in with me, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for us to get hurt."

"I'm not mad at you or Nate," I admitted. "I'm frustrated and angry at myself for bringing you into my problems. I never wanted for you to know about Vincent. Much less confront him."