Book 2: What Happens Here - Chicago (What Happens Here Series)

Chapter 72 - Ethan

While Jasmine had showered and dressed, Ethan had sat on a barstool in the kitchen and waited. He'd needed a minute alone, and as he'd sat sipping on a bottle of water, he'd replayed the conversation that he'd had with the private investigator that Shane had connected him with. Adrian Quinn was a very thorough man from what Shane had said, and based on what he'd shared with Ethan yesterday, his services was money well spent.

After dropping Jasmine off at his parent's house so that she could spend the day with his mom, Ethan had headed to E&D. When his cell had rang with a number that he had not recognized, he frowned as he'd said, "Hello." There was a slight pause on the other end of the line, but then a deep male voice said, "Hello Mr. Daniels. This is Adrian Quinn...and I believe I have some information that you're gonna want to hear." Over the next half hour, Adrian Quinn had solved the mystery of how Valentina had not only known which suite he had been staying in, which had been two fucking doors down from her own, but he'd also discovered just how she'd been able to get a key to his suite as well. Apparently, Valentina had inside help, and after hearing that, Ethan had been livid.

Replaying the morning that he'd checked out of the hotel in Vegas the morning that he and Jasmine were set to fly back to Chicago, he'd recalled the older man at the front desk, that had assisted him. "Jim", had been his name, and based on what Adrian had uncovered during his investigation, "Jim", had taken the hotel's motto of "excellent customer service" a bit too far. Jim Prescott was the day manager of the hotel, and after the use of some less than legal cyber technology that Ethan wanted no parts in knowing about, Adrian had been able to retrieve video footage of Mr. Prescott entering a suite with Valentina, and then exiting 2 hours later.

Anger boiling over, Ethan said that he wanted Jim to lose his damn job, and while Adrian agreed, he'd made a suggestion that Ethan had ultimately agreed with. According to Jim, Valentina had recorded their "interaction", and had threatened to send it to his wife if he didn't give her a key to Ethan's suite. Ethan's mouth had dropped at the lengths that Valentina had gone through to ruin what he and Jasmine were building. He'd known that Valentina was mental, but after hearing this, Ethan realized that she was on an entirely different level of psychotic.

Adrian told Ethan that he'd given the man a choice. Either his job or marriage, and according to Adrian, Jim had gone home that day and had told his wife what had transpired between him and Valentina in her hotel suite. When Ethan questioned if they could trust that Jim would actually tell his wife what he'd done, Ethan had been surprised when Adrian had shared that he'd sat out front of the man's house and had personally listened to the conversation between him and his wife, with a military-grade high-tech microphone. He'd even sent images to Ethan's phone of Jim's wife tossing his clothes on the front lawn as proof.

Ethan had been floored, because the man had jeopardized his marriage and his family to spend one night with Valentina. And while he'd sworn that he had not had sex with her, he had admitted to some pretty kinky things that Ethan was sure that the man's wife had no idea that he was even into. And if the images of Jim's personal possessions being tossed out on the front lawn for all of their neighbors to see, were any indication, Jim was most definitely in the doghouse.

"Hey babe. Are you ready?" Turning when he heard Jasmine's voice, Ethan smiled as his eyes scanned over her body, and he said, "Well...I was about to say yes.... but after seeing how good you look in that sundress... I think we might need to reschedule the appointment with Dr. Bennett." Smiling, Jasmine said, "See, right there. That's what I'm talking about. I'm going to call Aunt Alyshia now and see if she can do a phone session with me today." Chuckling, Ethan pulled Jasmine into his arms for a kiss, and cupping the round globes of her ass, he said, "This is all your fault Jasmine." Groaning when she ran a hand through his hair that he refused to cut until she told him that he could, Ethan kissed her bare shoulder and pulled back when she said, "How is any of this my fault? I just walked into the room, and you started talking about rescheduling stuff." Smiling, he said, "This is all your fault, because you know how much I love that dress. It was the one that you had on the day that we met at the airport."

A huge smile spread across her face as she said, "You remember what I was wearing that day?" Frowning, Ethan said, "Of course. How the hell could I forget all of the booty jiggling that was going on when you walked past me in that restaurant." Laughing, Jasmine playfully smacked Ethan on the arm as she said, "My booty does not jiggle!" Stepping away from her, he said, "Oh really? Walk towards the fridge and I'll prove it to you." With a sardonic look on her beautiful face, Jasmine did as he'd asked, and when she turned to walk into the direction that he'd suggested, she turned when she'd heard a commotion behind her. Turning, she laughed as she watched Ethan pretending to hold down the items on the kitchen island as if an earthquake had made them shift from their position. "I... Hate... You... so much!" Chuckling Ethan said, "See. I told you! Grab the T.V. remote, because I bet the news is even reporting the vibrations!"

Half an hour later, Ethan and Jasmine were walking into Dr. Bennett's office, where they were escorted into an exam room. Ten minutes later, Dr. Bennett walked into the room and greeted them. During the initial examination, Dr. Bennett said, "Ms. Ellis, Ethan mentioned that you weren't feeling well, and that you had a bout of food poisoning a couple of weeks ago. Is this the first time that you've been ill since that time?" Nodding her head, Jasmine glanced over at Ethan, before she returned her attention to Dr. Bennett as she said, "Yes that's correct. Ethan and I had eaten dinner from an Indian restaurant two weeks ago, and within 30 to 45 minutes, I became very ill. Ethan called 911, and after being taken to the hospital, I was diagnosed with salmonella induced food poisoning. Since that time, I had started to feel better. But a couple of days ago, I started feeling a little nausea, but I figured that it was just my stomach being sensitive to food after having food poisoning. This morning, was the first time that I've thrown up since the food poisoning incident two weeks ago." Nodding his head, Dr. Bennett stood and said, "I'm sorry that you had to go through that Ms. Ellis, and I'm hoping that we can figure out what's causing the nausea now, so that we can get you feeling better." Smiling, Jasmine said, "Thanks Dr. Bennett, I'm hoping so too."

Once Dr. Bennett left the room, several minutes later, a nurse walked in and drew a couple vials of blood from Jasmine. After the nurse left the room, Ethan said, "You doing okay baby? How are you feeling?" Smiling over at him, Jasmine said, "I'm okay. I'm tired though." Rubbing a comforting hand over her leg, Ethan said, "Are you hungry? You didn't eat breakfast. Do you want to eat something now?" Nodding her head, Jasmine said, "Yeah, I'm actually pretty hungry now. Can we get something light. I don't think I can handle anything too heavy right now." Nodding his head, Ethan said, "Of course. What about some more soup from Panera?" Smiling, Jasmine said, "That sounds great." Before Ethan and Jasmine left the appointment, Dr. Bennett told them that he would give them a call when he got the results.

Several hours later, after taking a shower and eating a late lunch, Ethan and Jasmine were relaxing on the sofa when he heard his phone vibrating on the side table, indicating an incoming call. Reaching over, Ethan checked the screen and saw that it was an incoming call from Dr. Bennett. Glancing over at Jasmine, Ethan said, "Baby, this is Dr. Bennett." A surprised look crossed Jasmine's face as she said, "Wow.... would he have the results back this soon? It's only been a few hours." Shrugging, Ethan said, "He said that he would rush the test for us, so he just might have them."

Swiping to accept the call, Ethan put the call on speaker as he said, "Hello?" There was a slight pause on the other end of the line, before the gruff voice of Dr. Bennett said, "Hello Ethan. This is Dr. Bennett." Glancing over at Jasmine, Ethan said, "Thanks for giving us a call Dr. Bennett. I have you on speaker, and Jasmine is here with me." The sound of rustling paper could be heard on the other end, as Dr. Bennett said, "Hello Miss Ellis, I have your test results, and due to HIPPA regulations I have to ask if you are providing your consent for me to reveal these results to you over the phone and in the presence of Mr. Daniels." Ethan glanced over at Jasmine, and seeing her nodding her head in agreement, Jasmine said, "Yes, of course. I give my consent. I want Ethan to be a part of this." Hearing Jasmine's words, felt good, and Ethan smiled at her.

Chuckling, Dr. Bennett said, "I figured as much, but I still had to ask." Sighing, he said, "I have your results, and let me just say that you're going to need to start taking better care of yourself over these next nine months, especially if you want to bring a healthy baby into the world." There was a slight pause, before Dr. Bennett's words sank in, and as the shock of what he'd said began to slowly wear off, Ethan stared at Jasmine wide-eyed, and seeing a matching expression on her face, he said, "Dr. Bennett.... are you saying that Jasmine is pregnant?" Chuckling, Dr. Bennett said, "Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying Ethan. Although Miss Ellis is a little dehydrated, she is indeed pregnant, and in 8 ½ months, you two will be welcoming your new baby into the world. Congratulations!"