Letters To My Mate

Chapter Twenty-Three

TWENTY-THREE

"After you..." Logan said with a bad attempt at a posh accent as he opened the door and bowed, gesturing for me to enter the room first. I curtsied in reply, a giggle escaping my lips. Logan acts exactly how I imagined he would.

The hospital room was all white – the walls, the tiled floor and the chairs. As soon as I entered the room I saw Seb and his parents sat down, their eyes cast down. They weren't hysterically crying; that's a good sign, right? As I looked to the right my eyes landed on Ethan and my heart stopped.

I fell in love with Ethan over the letters that we had been sharing for the past few months but those feelings were nothing compared to what I was feeling right now as I saw him for the first time in person. It is crazy – and scary – that I had fallen in love with someone in under a year and I hadn't even met him yet. Well, here I am. Seeing him in person; meeting him for the first time. Ethan Miles. I still felt the same desire and attraction just by hearing his name now as I did when I first pulled his name out of a hat.

I looked at Ethan's sleeping form and instantly a smile formed on my lips. He is flawless. Everything about Ethan is flawless. He looked slightly pale and it was sad to see him hooked up to many tubes but even at his worst he still looked beautiful. Yes, I find it odd to describe a man as beautiful but Ethan truly was – you can think of any positive adjective and it would describe him perfectly.

His hair looked messy and had grown a lot since the photo that he sent me was taken. He didn't look like he was in pain, luckily, as he seemed to be sleeping peacefully. I just can't wait until his eyelids opened and I could gaze into his captivating blue eyes.

"He hasn't woken up yet." A feminine voice said. I tore my eyes away from Ethan and saw that Avia, his mother, was standing up from the uncomfortable chairs on the edge of the room, dusting her hands on her maxi dress as she stood.

"How bad is it?" I asked in a whisper, scared to find out the answer.

"The doctors said that fragments from the bomb casing and some possible additional shrapnel caused many cuts on his body, he has some damaged tissues due to the shockwave and the explosion of the bomb caused many burns on his body but most of this seems to be healing really well..." She replied, keeping her eyes on Ethan's peaceful face.

"What are you not telling me?" I asked which caused her to jump and stare at me in shock that I could tell there was something she kept from her description of his injuries.

"T-They erm..." She stopped and coughed, clearing her throat before continuing, "They haven't detected any brain injuries but until he wakes up they are unsure if there will be any lasting neurological damage."

"What?" I gasped, my vision becoming blurry from the tears that were welling up in my eyes.

"There's a chance he will be okay! He was lucky; he isn't badly injured compared to many of the other soldiers."

"Lucky?" I cried out, "This is not lucky! Lucky would be flying home in a plane unharmed with a huge smile on his face as he greets us at the airport!"

I started to have a breakdown and Avia noticed, rushing over to me as my knees seemed to give out. She crouched down next to me on the tiled floor and hugged me tightly, whispering calming and reassuring words into my ear. She held onto my waist and helped move me over to a chair that was right next to Ethan's bed. I sat back against it and thanked her while also apologising for bursting out like I had.

"Don't worry it is fine, it had to be said." She smiled, sitting in her previous seat where Seb and David had both fallen asleep.

"I just want him to wake up." I admitted with a sigh as I gazed at Ethan's flawless face.