Chapter 22 BACK HOME II

      "Speaking of Ethan, I couldn't help but notice some weird energy around you both. I know you guys aren't close, but it's like, like you guys have a feud, you know."

      "No, honey, we don't. Ethan has always been like that, secretive, secluded, alone. Let's just say he always wants his space and has always had it. I, on the other hand, always wondered why when I was little, but then I found out the reason." She paused for a second, hesitating. "His mum died when he was little. We're half-siblings, El."

     What? How is that even possible? They were half-siblings? This explains a lot. 

      "I also had the same expression you have on your face then hun." Chloe smiled bitterly. "And the worst of it all is that my dad got married a week after her death, so the world wouldn't find out about his wife's death. It was a secret marriage, only close family and friends know about it."

      "Woah!" She thought out loud without realizing it. "I'm guessing they were close."

      "From what I heard, extremely. They were extremely close."

      This explains everything, why Ethan is so cold, and distant from people. The closest person he had died, and she was just replaced as if she meant nothing to anyone. Even if they weren't close, as a child, seeing your mother being replaced in a very short while is enough to change your mindset. It was as if his father was waiting for her death to quickly replace her. He didn't even have time to grieve over her death. She sighed bitterly. He is never going to accept them as part of his family, no matter how hard they try.

     "So, he's never had anyone close to him since then?"

     "Well, after five years of talking to no one at home,"

     "Wait," El cut her off. "You're saying he didn't talk to anyone for five years?"

      "Well he ordered the maids and butlers around, that counts as talking, but he didn't talk to any member of our family."

       "For five years?" She was surprised. It made her wonder what kind of person Ethan was to live in the same house with certain people, and not talk to them for five years. It didn't seem possible to her.

       "You heard me loud and clear, sweetheart. But it all changed when he met Matt. Matt is funny, and fun to be around. He also has a really great personality. It didn't take too long before we saw Ethan come alive again and for the first time in years, we saw him laugh when he was with Matt. Then along the line, they met Aiden, and then Liam. You'll soon get to meet them."

        "Actually," El cut her off. "I've met them."

       "You have? Then I guess I don't have to explain to you how hot they are."

       "Shut up! If I was to rate them on a scale of one to ten, I'm gonna give them a hundred. They are incredibly gorgeous."

       "I know, right?"

      "Yeah. They are f**king hot and super sweet." She paused for a second. "Well, when I say super sweet, I mean Matt and Aiden," El said when she saw the look on Chloe's face. 

       "Liam is just like Ethan," they said in unison. Surprised at how they had the same thought about him, they laughed.

      Back in Ethan's room,

    He sat behind his desk in his study room, resting the back of his head on the chair as he placed his legs on top of the desk. His eyes were closed, but he wasn't asleep. He was tired, but he couldn't afford to sleep. He had a lot on his mind. The things that had happened lately, especially to El weren't just mere coincidences. He could feel it, and when he felt this way, he knew big things were going on, things he was yet to find out.

      His phone rang, and he picked it up.

     "Ethan, Liam's been shot in a delicate place. He's in the hospital in California, and he's gonna be undergoing surgery in a couple of minutes," Aiden said with a faint hint of panic in his voice.

      "I'll be right there." He hung up and walked out of his study room. "Pennywort," he called out.

    "Yes, young master." The butler arrived immediately. It was as if he was standing around the corner, waiting to be called. 

      "Prepare a car and the jet, I'm going to California."

  "Yes, young master," he said, bowing before leaving to do as instructed.

     Ethan walked to his closet in his room which is packed with different multi-million dollar outfits, colognes, wristwatches, and other accessories from different parts of the world. He picked an outfit from the numerous ones in the closet, which he wore. It was his usual color, black. After dressing up, he stood in front of his mirror as he wore a customized multi-million dollar wristwatch, coated with diamonds. Feeling satisfied with his looks after taking one more glance at himself, he walked out of his room to the elevator.

       When he got downstairs, he walked into El and Chloe giggling at themselves, and they stopped when they saw him. "I have somewhere to be at right now, and I may not be back in a couple of days. Don't do anything stupid while I'm away," he said to El. "You too, Chloe." They nodded in unison.

      He walked out of the room and when he got outside the building, Pennywort was already standing there with a chauffeur. They bowed on seeing him, and the chauffeur opened the door for him, which he got in before they drove off.

          They arrived at the airport, and he stepped out of the black G-wagon, accompanied by Max who stood directly beside him, into the private jet. The armed trails of convoys who stood there didn't leave until he got on the jet. They watched him go up the stairs of the jet with his right-hand man behind him.

      "We take off in five minutes," the pilot blurted out, before walking back to the cockpit of the jet. Ethan sat on the chair, saying nothing. His thought was on the situation at hand, on Liam. Max sat on the chair opposite his, without saying a word. He already knew the situation at hand, and knew how angry Ethan felt right now, so it was best to avoid him completely. 

       The plane took off, and Ethan watched as things on the ground level began shrinking. His thoughts were still on Liam. He wondered how things were going over there. He was probably in the operating room now. He also wondered what went wrong, and how he got there. At least, he wasn't dead, and he was grateful for that.

         After a couple of hours, the jet landed softly, but he didn't notice. He stared out the window, lost in his thoughts.

        "We're here, Sir."

    Ethan was so lost in his thoughts, that he didn't even hear when Max said those words to him. It never occurred to him until he was softly tapped on the shoulders. He turned in his direction.

     "We've arrived," Max repeated.

      He stood up from where he sat and walked out of the jet with Max behind him, to trails of convoys waiting for him in two straight lines. They walked side by side to the black Rolls Royce, which they entered, and the chauffeur drove off. 

       Max was one of the closest people to him other than his friends. Even though he always treated him badly sometimes when he's angry, he's one of the people he listens to. They had worked together since he took over their family business at twenty-one, and he had never had any complaints about his jobs. He always did perfect jobs, and just like him, Max also put his job as his number one priority, making him one of the best people Ethan has ever worked with. So, his job is permanent with Ethan, since Ethan didn't have any plans of letting him go.

     "Go faster," he ordered the chauffeur, and in no time, the car sped up like a rocket. Seeing the fast pace things past the car, somehow calmed and excited him, but he wasn't the only one enjoying it. It also excited Max. He had been so caught up in his work for a while now, that he hadn't had time to enjoy things like this.

       In no time, they got to the hospital, and they got out of the car. Ethan walked into the hospital with his hands in his pockets, his long legs leaving large strides of gap to one another, leaving a huge gap between him and Max who followed behind. As Max walked behind him, he shook his head. He got used to walking slowly because of Ethan's slow, steady movements, and now he couldn't even walk as fast anymore. He had to put in the effort to catch up to Ethan. He was also surprised by Ethan's sudden speed. This was one of his fastest moves in years.

       They got into the elevator which took them to the private floor of the building, and they got out when they arrived. As they strode through the hallway, they saw Aiden in front of the operating room, and they walked up to him.

       "He's still in there?"

     Aiden who was unaware of their presence, became aware when he heard Ethan's voice, and he turned in their direction. He was sitting on a chair close to the door of the OR but stood to his feet when they got closer. "Yeah, he is. You're finally here." Ethan nodded. His gaze shifted to the other person behind him. "Max," he called out, acknowledging his presence, and Max nodded, bowing.

       "How long has he been in there?"

      "One and a half hours. He was shot close to his groin and the bullet was still inside of him."

       "How did this happen?"

      "I don't know. I found him like this with a bunch of dead bodyguards at the warehouse. I overheard the surgeon say to one of the nurses that it's a miracle he's still alive. We'll just have to wait for him to get better, so he can tell us what happened."

       Ethan walked to the seat and sat on it. "Where's Matt? Why isn't he here?"

        "He has a 'life and death' surgery in Florida to take care of. He said he was going to fly over after the surgery."

      "He's supposed to be here to make sure things don't get complicated with Liam. Are those worthless lives he's trying to save, compared to Liam's?" Ethan sighed "d**k face," he cursed.

       "That's not a very nice thing to say."

      They all turned in the direction the voice came from, and saw Matt standing behind them in his surgeon's wear.

      "Well it's about time you showed up," Ethan said sternly.

        "What took you so long, a**hole?" Aiden asked as he walked to where he stood.

      They couldn't deny the fact that they felt relieved a little on seeing him. This was because they knew that once Matt arrives, the surgery was going to go smoothly. He was the best surgeon they knew, and all his surgeries were always successful.

       "How long has he been in there?" Matt asked as he wore his mask.

        "One and a half hours," Aiden said.

       "That's too long. I'm going in." He walked to the door of the OR and pressed a red button on it. "Matt Miller," he said and the door opened almost immediately. He got inside before it closed.

        A few minutes later, the red light that showed the surgeons were still in operation was turned off. Matt was the first person who came out of the room and he walked straight to where Ethan and the others sat. They weren't surprised when they saw him come out after a short while.

        "How's he?" Aiden asked staring at him as he removed his mask from his face.

        "You'll have to wait and see for yourself."

         In no time, Liam was brought out of the room unconscious, carried on a bed with wheels into another room on that same floor. They all watched him as he was carried out until he was out of sight.

      "Good job, bro." Aiden tapped his shoulders.

      "Actually, I just stitched him up. The other surgeon had already done all the work when I got there, so I think she should be the one to take the credit."

     "Dr. Matt," a female voice came from behind Matt, making all of them turn in the direction it came from. 

       A dark brown-haired lady walked up to them in a surgeon's outfit so elegantly. Her light brown eyes which looked like sweet chocolate shone brightly, matching her white glowing skin that could shine in the dark. She looked like she was 5'3 without the six inches of heels she wore. She was a definition of beauty, and as she walked up to them, she wore a perfect smile, revealing her perfectly arranged white set of teeth.

        "Thank you for helping me in there. It's an honor to work with you." She stretched her hand toward him.

He stared at her hand with an expressionless face without taking it in his. "And you are?"

     Embarrassed, she withdrew her hand and placed it by her side. "I'm Dr. Fitzgerald, Lilith Fitzgerald. I was in charge of the surgery you took over." Her gaze shifted to Ethan, Aiden, and Max, which she immediately returned to Matt because of how intimidating their faces were. "I guess you've delivered the news about the success of the surgery." She forced a smile. "Please excuse me." She walked away hurriedly.

        Caring less about what happened a while ago, they all walked to the room where Liam was kept and looked at him as he lay unconsciously on the bed.

      "When is he gonna wake up?" Ethan who had been quiet for a while asked.

        "When the propofol wears off," Matt said with his hands in his pockets.

     "And how long is that gonna take?"

     "A couple of hours, depending on the dosage given to him by that surgeon."

      "Then let's pray he wakes up in a couple Of hours. I'm running out of patience, and I need answers," Ethan said walking to the couch in the room and sitting on it.  

.

.

       1:00 am, El walked out of her room in her pajamas. It had been four days since Ethan left the house and she had never felt more free and alive in her life since she knew about her engagement with him. The past few days had been so fun, especially with Chloe around but she couldn't help but think about him all the time. She couldn't even sleep right now because he was all she thought about.

       Annoyed by her thoughts, she got into the elevator and got out when she got to the ground floor. She walked to the kitchen to pour herself some milk, and on arrival, she saw him. He was there.