*Leanne needs Ethan a little more today she ever thought she would.
A few weeks went by without much contact at all. He would send a quick update, no more than a few words, to let her know that he was okay. But she missed his details and his jokes. She missed his voice more than anything. She was normally never the one to initiate contact, in fact, she couldn't remember a time when she had sent the first message. Until today that is.
Ethan,
I know I don't normally send the first message and I know that you're probably super busy, but I needed to talk to someone, and you're always my go-to, so I'm hoping that writing this out will help me.
Today was a rough day. Ariel and I fought, all morning long. And all afternoon. And the entire evening. She even refused dinner and went to bed while the sun was still up. I'm not sure what's going on with her. I tried talking to her, but you know how she is. She gets in her head, closes up, I guess she gets that from you. I tried asking Noa if she knew, I know they confide in each other a lot, but she had no idea either. I don't know what to do.
I know she misses you, a lot, and I know she's hurting. I just wish she wouldn't push me away. I wish she would talk to me. Maybe you could talk to her? See if she'll open up to you. I know you haven't been able to talk much lately, things have been insane on both ends, but if you have a minute, maybe you could help me out? I know she trusts you. Probably more than she trusts me sometimes.
I miss you terribly. I wish you were here. I hope you can call again soon. There's some things I want to say to you but I feel they're too important to say over e-mail. Please stay safe out there.
Love,
Lea
After hitting send she dropped her head into her hands and sobbed. This was so much harder on her than she ever imagined. Sure losing her husband had been horrible, tragic even, and it was something that she was sure that she would never fully recover from. But at least she had the tiny bit of closure in knowing that he was gone, and that he wasn't coming back. She didn't know that with Ethan. She didn't know where he was or what he was doing. She just knew that he was gone, and that it wasn't safe, and that she may or may not hear from again. It was killing her. Her computer dinging brought her out of her thoughts. Surely he wasn't messaging her back already. She did the math in her head again. It was close to 11am there. Maybe he was finally back in the hospital and on a normal schedule. Opening the e-mail she smiled at his words.
Lea,
I'm sorry you guys are fighting. Her stubbornness can be quite appalling at times (I don't know where she gets that from…). I'll shoot her a message and see if I can get through to her, but I have a sneaky feeling I know what's up.
I'll try and call Friday? What's your schedule look like?
I love you.
-Ethan
Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of him calling her again. She knew she had to tell him that she loved him. That she was head over heels obsessed with everything about him and that she wanted him to know. She smiled as she typed back a quick reply.
Ethan,
I work the night shift Friday, I don't go in until 4pm. I'll be home all day. I can't wait to hear your voice.
I miss you so much.
-Lea
She eyed the clock with tired eyes. She guessed she should probably try and get some sleep now. She had to work in the morning and she knew that Campbell would be on her to keep herself together with the big-wigs in town. She almost wanted to let Ethan know that he had lucked out on that one. She and the others were surely going to suffer enough for the both of them.
*Don't forget to comment :)