CHAPTER 29 ***********ETHAN**********************************
Cooper was waiting in his office for Nevaeh's father Ethan to come in and talk about the results of the tests. Charlotte had some business to take care of at the hospital so Cooper would meet with Ethan alone.
Ethan arrived and approached Cooper with a firm handshake. "Good afternoon Dr. Freedman. I'm Ethan Reynold's. Nevaeh's father." Ethan was a nice looking guy who obviously kept himself in good shape Cooper noticed.
"Good after noon 's" Cooper returned the handshake.
"Please call me Ethan. How is Nevaeh? What did the tests show?" Ethan was obviously very concerned about his daughter.
"She has an arrhythmia which is fairly common. It needs to be treated since she tends to faint when her heart rate is elevated. You have several options. We can try medication or a pacemaker and the last would be surgery." Cooper advised.
"I don't know. Surgery on the heart makes me nervous. Maybe I'll try the medication. I'll have to talk to my ex wife since she is a doctor. She'll know what's best."
"I already talked to Charlotte about it and we agreed the pacemaker would be the best way to go for Nevaeh. Like you said we want to avoid surgery if we could and we would rather not have her take medication every day. It's a simple procedure to place a pacemaker and I think that would be her best option" Cooper explained.
"Okay. I still want to talk to my ex wife about it first. Do you know where I could find her?"
"She's at the hospital right now working. I should tell you that Charlotte is my fiancée." Cooper just told him straight and waited for a reaction.
Ethan looked at him for a minute and then said "Congratulations" and walked away.
Cooper wasn't sure what to make of Ethan's reaction. He figured it had been so long since Ethan and Charlotte ever spoke that it didn't really bother Ethan much.
Ethan approached Charlotte in her office at the hospital.
"Good afternoon" Ethan said as he sat down in one of the chairs. "I just met your fiancée Dr. Freedman. Seems like you hooked yourself a nice guy. Wonder how long it will take you to screw up that relationship too?"
"Hello Ethan" Charlotte chose to ignore his comment. "What brings you to my office?"
"Cut the crap Charlotte. You know why I'm here. What do you suggest we do about Nevaeh?"
"I thought you already spoke with Cooper? We think a pacemaker would be best ." Charlotte started explaining. "You really need to meet with the cardiologist about it. He would be the one to do the procedure. Here's his name and number." Charlotte handed him a business card.
"Fine I'll do that but I'm talking about what to do about Nevaeh and you?"
Charlotte didn't understand. "What do you mean?"
"Nevaeh is miserable. She resents me because I took them away from you?"
"Do you blame her?" Charlotte interrupted.
"She doesn't know the whole story. I've shielded them from your drug use and other stuff that went on. They don't know why I took them away from you. They just think I'm mean. I'm the bad guy in their eyes." Ethan seemed agitated.
"That was a bad time in my life that came and went. As you can see I'm chief of Staff here and I work with Cooper at that office too. I got my act together a long time ago and am doing well. I'd like to be part of their lives again."
Ethan got up gave Charlotte a glare and walked out.
Cooper stopped by Charlotte's office on the way home to pick her up.
"Are you ready to go home? Momma's making her chicken cornbread casserole tonight. I can't wait." Cooper grabbed Charlotte's purse for her.
"Yup. I guess so." Charlotte answered in a mopey voice
"What's wrong? I could tell something's wrong" Cooper insisted.
Charlotte answered annoyed. "Ethan stopped by." They walked out of her office through the hall.
"Yeah. He told me he wanted to talk to you about Nevaeh. He decided to go with the pacemaker. The cardiologist called. He's meeting with Ethan to discuss it "
"Ethan told me the kids resent him for not letting them see me. They think he is the bad guy." Charlotte still seemed annoyed.
"That's good. Maybe he'll let you start seeing them then." Cooper smiled.
"I don't get the feeling he's going to make it easy but I'm gonna fight this time. You gonna help me Cooper?
As Cooper and Charlotte walked through the parking lot they heard a little girl's voice.
"Doctor Coop" Neveah yelled excited as she ran through the parking lot and gave Cooper a big hug . "When are you taking me to see Alice and Wonderland?"
Ethan walked over with Nicolas and Angela. "So I hear you promised the kids you would take them to the movies?"
"Yeah. If that's okay with you?" Cooper tried to be polite as Charlotte watched the exchange.
"I'll let them go only as long as you are there Dr. Freedman. I don't want the children left alone with my ex wife." Ethan glared at Charlotte.
"I'll be there but I assure you Charlotte is perfectly capable of being left alone with the children. She's a great mother to our twins."
"I'd watch out if I was you." Ethan told Cooper as he continued to glare at Charlotte.
Charlotte started to look very uncomfortable. "That was along time ago Ethan. Let it go!" Charlotte walked away and got in her car.
Cooper got into the car with Charlotte. "What was that all about?" Cooper scrunched up his face. "That was strange."
"Just stuff that happened a long time ago Coop. Don't worry about it." Charlotte answered as she started driving away.
Cooper looked at her. He got the feeling there was something Charlotte didn't want him to know about.
