Mia's Open Heart (Choices Open Heart AU)

Chapter 44: Picking Up the Broken Pieces

The next morning, an alarm rang on Ethan's phone, signaling it was time for the both of them to wake up for the day of work. They awoke underneath their makeshift fort, Jenner stirring awake beside them. Mia reluctantly pulled away from Ethan after exchanging their good mornings, going to go get ready as he started to clean up the living room. They had called one another on their phones, putting them on speaker so that they could do what they needed to do but could still talk with one another.

"Are you sure you want to go to work today?" He asked her.

"Ethan..." Mia groaned.

"We're calling tomorrow off, and if you're not feeling well we can just take today off."

"Ethan, I swear I'm okay." She said. "We took tomorrow off because it's your birthday, and I really want to be able to spend it with you because everyone's busy tomorrow. And besides, you and I are overseeing the interns' skills lab today, so we couldn't call off even if we wanted to."

"You promise you're alright?"

"YES." She said.

"Do your friends know what happened?" He asked. "You know it's something important that they would want to know."

"Not yet, but I asked Zaid to tell them when he assigns them cases today."

"And he agreed?" Ethan asked, confused.

"He's weirdly concerned, texted me last night asking how it went and if I was okay."

"He's a good man." Ethan said, and Mia nodded.

About an hour later, Ethan and Mia reached Edenbrook, ready to conduct the skills lab. Because they reached the hospital a little earlier than the skills lab, they decided to stop at the coffee cart outside Edenbrook, sitting at the bench nearby. Ethan had a simple cup of an espresso, while Mia had a cup of hot cocoa.

"You sure you're okay?" Ethan asked, for what seemed the 30th time that day.

"Ethan, you don't need to coddle me."

"I'm not, I'm just worried."

"Well don't be, I'm fine." She said.

"So you're saying you're completely fine? Completely unbothered by everything that's happened."

"Of course not." She said after a couple moments of silence. "It's been the longest week of my fucking life, and it's still not over. I could drop dead from exhaustion, but you just gotta push through." She shrugged.

'The longest week, because of me." Ethan thought, recalling the fight where he yelled at her previously, giving her sleepless nights, the fight with her parents happening because she married him, and she still had to take care of him on his birthday the day after.

"You know you don't have to do anything on my birthday." He said.

"I know." She said simply, being straightforward as she took a sip of her drink.

"Mia..."

"Ethan...." she said, mocking his deep and almost accusatory voice when he said her name.

Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed at her, making her giggle with laughter, eyes brightening and face scrunching. He shook his head and took a sip of his drink, hiding his smile behind his cup.

"Make sure to not scare those interns too much." Mia said, continuing to laugh as Ethan looked at her with a shocked look on his face.

"They're most definitely more scared of you, I don't blame them." He said, making her playfully swat him on his arm.