19 UNSEEN BATTLE SCARS

Alyssa's body went limp and she lost consciousness in Ethan's arms when the ambulance pulled up at the hospital. The doctors and paramedics spoke hastily while they pushed the Gurney. Ethan didn't understand anything they were saying and rushed behind with Lucas curled up in his arms.

"Why did she faint again?" Ethan asked the doctors attending to Alyssa, for the third time.

The doctors were so busy tending to the needs of Alyssa, conversing over each other and setting up the machines. Although there were no signs of physical injuries, they were worried about internal injuries. They started to move the gurney with the inert Alyssa through the room and therefore too preoccupied to give attention to him.

"Answer me!" Ethan roared.

The group halted and the entire Emergency Department went silent. Every nurse, doctor, and even other patients who were nearby gazed at Ethan. He had not meant to bring awareness from the public to himself but he panicked when he got no answers from the doctors. They all immediately recognized who he was and they all wondered who the child was in his arms.

Being a public figure, Ethan was used to the gazes of people, but right now he was receiving both respectful and infatuated stares. He was certain the gossip sites will be flooded in the evening.

A doctor immediately approached him composed and led him to the nurse's station. He was one of the doctors who had been attending to Alyssa.

He calmly said, "Sir, we are taking your wife to get a CT scan and run some more tests to determine the severity of her injury. Please be patient, we will keep you updated, but for now, you can go to the waiting room."

Another doctor walked up to Ethan when the male doctor left. She leaned forward and looked at the baby in his arms.

"I'm your son's doctor, what's wrong? Why is he back here?" She asked. She was the pediatrician who attended to Lucas earlier in the day.

"Oh..." Ethan patted Lucas's back, "He was in a car accident with his mother. Can you make sure he's alright?"

The Pediatrician led them to an empty bed and told him to put Lucas on the bed, but Lucas held a strong grip on Ethan's shirt, almost like what his mother did in the ambulance.

"It's okay. You can sit on the bed with him," she said upon noticing Ethan's dilemma.

Ethan's eyes were focused on Lucas as the doctor thoroughly examined him. He had distracted him with children's cartoons on his phone. They say children were easy to distract with flashy stuff but Lucas's sight was not 100 percent on the phone but kept browsing the room with doe eyes. Ethan saw only expectations in them and knew the baby was looking for his mother.

"Everything seems fine with him. Luckily, he came out of the accident unscathed," She packed up all the equipment and fumbled in her pocket, pulled out a card, "By the way, I'm Dr. Sara, call me if you have any more concerns."

Ethan knew the doctor was flirting with him. He caught her staring at him when she thought he wasn't paying attention and then she made subtle touches on his hands and thighs while she examined Lucas. He was irritated with her stupid action and stopped himself from yelling at her for Lucas's sake.

Thus he refused her card, "I'm sure you already give one to his mom."

"Alright then," She smiled, fidgeted with her white coat, then waved, "Bye-bye, Lucas."

Ethan paced the hallway of the waiting room while he called Toby and Lexie, but their phone went straight to voicemail. He didn't know who else to call since the only relatives he knew of Alyssa was Lexi, so he decided to wait for another half hour to try again. With his constant walking, Lucas eventually dozed off on his shoulder so Ethan sat in one of the chairs and positioned him properly in his arms.

Although Ethan had no experience with children, when he coaxed the crying Lucas and cradled him, he looked like a natural. He gazed at the rosy face of the sleeping boy, then it dawned on him that the doctor called the baby in his arms 'Lucas'.

The corner of his mouth raised unknowingly and he murmured, "Nice to meet you Lucas, Alyssa's lungs."

"Sir, I've brought the stuff from the young lady's car," Bruce handed him a navy blue bag with panda faces printed on it.

Bruce was aware that rumors had already started to circulate about his boss after he received several calls inquiring about the woman and baby Ethan took to this hospital. He started to scan his surrounding for paparazzi but made eye contact with Won.

Won, Ethan's private bodyguard stood beside in a corner, disguised and if Bruce hadn't known him for years, he would have never guessed his identity. Bruce stared at him but Won quickly diverted his eye from him.

Bruce handed a cellphone and added, "Her phone was on the dashboard in navigation mode. She's probably not from around here. You will probably have to wait to find out more about her connection to the car."

Ethan collected the phone but it was locked. He punched in coded symbols on the keypad and it unlocked. He noticed only four numbers in her contacts list, 'Mum', 'Uncle Damian', 'Grandpa', 'Sugar-daddy.' He touched the phone icon next to her mother's name.

"Good morning darling, how are you?" A smooth British accent came through the phone.

Ethan spoke back in English, "Hello, are you Alyssa's mother?"

"Yes, who are you? Why do you have her phone?" Regina asked.

Although she spoke seriously, Ethan still heard the worry in her voice and he said, "I'm Ethan, Alyssa and Lucas were in a car accident. I brought them to the hospital. Lucas is unharmed but the Doctors are running tests on Alyssa. I tried to call Lexi but her phone is off, so is there..."

"Hold on the line," Regina interrupted.

They were soon on a three-way call and Damian and Regina listened carefully as Ethan explained the situation to them. As soon as he hung up the phone the Doctor came out and informed him of Alyssa's condition and told him he could stay in the room with her.

Bruce stopped him when he was about to enter the room, "Sir, I already called Mr. Talbot, but what about your other appointments."

"Cancel all my appointments for the day and take care of the trivial things at the office,"

Bruce looked at the door his boss closed in his face and wondered why Ethan was behaving so strange. He has never seen him paid any interest in women in all the three years he has worked for him. Not even to the blind dates his mother arranges.

The curtains were drawn and the private room was well lit with the natural light. Ethan pulled the chair close to the bed and cradled Lucas in his arms. Even though Lucas was taller than most children his age, he seemed like a newborn in Ethan's arms as he wriggled like a worm until he found a comfortable position.

Ethan let out a sigh as he glanced at the paled sleeping beauty on the bed. He felt like the dumbbells were lifted off his chest when the doctor notified him she was in the clear. However, her brain went into overdrive due to the trauma which caused her to faint.

All of a sudden, Ethan felt like someone dropped a loaded barbell when the dumbbells were removed and his sadness magnified with the thought of her battles.

Mental illnesses were common but also terrifying to experience because there is no meter to measure mental suffering and no way to rate the pain of the mind when thoughts are complex. It's the biggest battle having to fight with your mind, a war without physical wounds.

Never in Ethan's wildest imagination, would he have thought she was suffering in this way. However, that night he saw the warrior princess, the introvert, the femme fatale, the scaredy-cat, the raging bull, and the adorable side of her, but now he also got to see this part of her life and he admired her resilience.

Ethan neatened the sheet cover for Alyssa, her face was as pale as a porcelain doll but even more so beautiful. She had two buttercup closures on her hairline but her hair was messy. His fingers lightly brushed the golden strands on her face behind her ears and halted, as he felt the moisture on them. He glanced at her motionless face and saw the shimmering trace of the teardrop. He reckoned she was still dreaming. As he tenderly wiped away the moisture on her cheek with his thumbs, Alyssa's eyes fluttered open.

Alyssa's glistening green eyes stared at him, dazed and long brown lashes moved slowly with her blinks.