Maximum Commitment (Sin City #13) - Tricia Owens Page 0,60
have a lot to think about.”
“Don’t fall too deeply into your head, Ethan.”
“I won’t. Or at least I’ll try my best not to,” he amended.
“Please call us when you hear more or if you need to talk.”
“I will. Thanks, Mom. But you and Dad should really go to sleep. It’s past your bed time.”
She hummed. “It is late, isn’t it? I can’t recall the last time I was awake at this hour.”
“Exactly, so hurry up and hang up so you can get your beauty rest. Tell Dad not to worry. I’ll give you a call as soon as I know more.”
“Okay, honey. Love you.”
After ending the call with another promise to take care of himself, he closed his eyes and allowed his head to tip back against the wall. He’d heard a nurse mention to another that it was nearing three a.m. It wasn’t particularly late, but Ethan felt like he’d aged since he’d jumped in the ambulance to ride to the hospital with Max. In addition to seeing Max safely into medical care, Ethan had spent over two hours speaking with Metro PD about the attack. Loren’s uncle had been driven in a separate ambulance to UMC and was under police watch. Ethan had little energy to care about his fate, but he knew it mattered that the dangerous man had been taken off the streets.
His phone rang again. He was reluctant to answer it. His patience for questions about Max’s condition had run out quickly and he didn’t want to snap at someone who only meant well. He looked at the phone anyway, and grimly noted the identity of the caller.
“Now’s not the time,” he said tersely into the phone after answering it.
“You wouldn’t let me apologize!” Theo cried. “I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry. I’d tell Maxmillian—”
“You don’t need to tell him anything. We were doing our job. The threat to you is gone and the contract with us has ended.”
“Yeah, but I can tell you blame me!”
“Theo—”
“No, listen. You heard what I told the police. I didn’t believe Edward was a threat until just a day ago. That’s when Loren called in a panic and told me he’d learned his uncle was going to kill me for turning him gay. I thought he was exaggerating and I wanted to catch Edward on tape threatening me. I didn’t think—shit, I didn’t think he’d actually bring a goddamn knife with him!”
Ethan believed him, but that didn’t mean he held Theo blameless.
“You know this relationship isn’t right,” he said quietly but firmly. “It’s not healthy. Loren’s feelings for you—I don’t think he knows what he feels for you, if it’s anything at all.”
“No, he—”
“Move on,” Ethan said. “Have some self-respect, Theo, and move on.”
“But he warned me,” Theo said in a small voice. “That means he cares.”
“I’ve said what I needed to. Goodbye.”
“Not everyone gets to be loved.”
Ethan caught the words just as he was lowering the phone from his ear. Staring at the tiled floor, he brought the phone back up.
“You don’t remember what it’s like,” Theo went on in a voice just above a whisper. He sounded haunted. “What you have—hardly anyone gets that. It just doesn’t happen. I hate that you think it’s so easy. So don’t blame me for taking scraps when that’s all I can find. Don’t take away what little I can get.”
Ethan shut his eyes. “You’re selling yourself short, but only you can be the one to realize that. Good luck with your life, Theo. I wish you better than you’ve gotten.”
~~~~~
When the doctor came to speak to him, Ethan quickly stood and scanned her expression.
“He’s in recovery,” the woman said, smiling. “Surgery went smoothly. No complications.”
Ethan nodded, still afraid to breathe too deeply in case doing so tilted favor away from him.
“The vest he wore mitigated the damage,” the doctor continued. “He suffered two stab injuries.”
Ethan swallowed. “Two.”
“Yes, but as I said, the plates in the vest prevented deep penetration by the blade.” She indicated a spot on her abdomen. “He suffered a shallow wound here which we closed with sutures. We don’t anticipate any issues with it. The second wound was a penetrating injury. We performed a diagnostic laparoscopy and found a laceration to the surface of his liver.”
“Okay,” Ethan said tightly. The liver was better than the lungs or the stomach, wasn’t it?
“We sutured that and didn’t find any further intra-abdominal injuries.”
“Good. Good, that’s good.”
“He’s still under sedation. Because of the depth of the second wound we need to keep