"You should get some sleep now.", he spoke quietly when a yawn came from her end.
"You should too.", she replied back.
He smiled at her drowsy response, "I will. Promise."
"You know what?", her voice deep due to the sleep,
"What?"
"I think I miss you.", she said softly;
His smile widened at the pure confession she made,
"Really?"
"Well, you know, not all the time...", he could hear the smile in her voice, "...just when I think about you, which is not all the time at all."
He so wishes he could see her face just about now,
"Well, then I think I miss you too, only when I think about you which is really not all the time either."
They chuckled at each other and then went quiet.
She broke the silence first;
"It's going to be a while till I can get back, you know that, right?", her voice almost brittle;
His smile dissolved at the thought that it will be a long time till he will be able to see her face again;
"Yeah, I know.", his own voice thicker then he expected.
"Good. Then stop the moping please, the team is starting to loose it.", the amusement clear in her words.
He chuckled softly at that, "Alright, for the benefit of the team, I'll tone it down."
"Thank you."
The silence was something they both didn't mind for next few seconds;
"Get some rest Ilsa, goodnight.", he finally said.
"You get some too, night.", came her low reply.
As he removed the phone from his ear, she said something,
"What?", he put it back on;
"I said...love you, Ethan.", she said it low and small.
Now he really wishes he could kiss her, but had to settle for words;
"Love you too, Ilsa."
