“Oh, you know,” Blayne said, “just an average week.” Ethan tried not to laugh again, but his shoulders kept shaking, causing the whole couch to vibrate.
Once Ethan was back under control, Dr. Secada looked at them and asked, “How did that feel?”
“Amazing,” Blayne admitted.
“God, I needed that,” Ethan agreed.
“Everything has just been…well, insane,” Blayne admitted. “I’m sorry. I know we’re not supposed to use that word anymore since it’s inherently ableist. And the last thing I want to do is make light of mental health, but I don’t know how else to describe this week.”
“What do you know?” Ethan asked.
“I know more than you think I do—and probably less at the same time. So, let’s pretend I know nothing for the sake of this conversation. Let’s start there.”
So, they did. Thankfully, the client immediately after Blayne and Ethan had canceled, so they had a two-hour conversation that covered the previous week. They left out the parts they weren’t sure they could share, but they included enough that Dr. Secada got a pretty good idea of everything that had happened.
“I’d heard a rumor through an FBI contact, who isn’t Agent Murphy, that civilian assets were involved in the intelligence aspects of this case. I’m guessing you’re those assets from what you just told me,” Dr. Secada said matter-of-factly.
“That would be us,” Blayne said.
“And you really performed surgery on someone on your kitchen table?”
Blayne thought he’d glossed over that part of the story, but apparently, Dr. Secada had latched onto that little detail. “We just assisted,” Blayne said.
“I donated blood,” Ethan added.
“And all this led to yesterday?”
“It’s been a crazy week.”
“Now, Blayne, did you notice you rantowarddanger every time something happened this week?”
Blayne considered it for a moment. “I did, didn’t I?”
“Why?”
Blayne sat there momentarily before saying, “I wanted to be strong for Ethan.”
“Honey,” Ethan said, turning to look at Blayne, “you are strong enough. You’re one of the strongest men I know.”
“But I ran. You had a gun to your head, and I ran.” The words were out of Blayne before he even had them formulated in his brain.
“No,” Ethan said. He reached up, grabbed Blayne’s chin and turned it to look at him. “I told you to run.”
“You were helpless on the ground because I tripped you—and I ran.”
“Guns were going off all around us. You stumbled, and I tried to help you. I took a nosedive because I tried to steady you when you didn’t need it. So, yes, I told you to run.”
“How long have you been holding on to that?” Dr. Secada asked.
“I don’t even know if I was aware I’d been holding that one in,” Blayne admitted. “In retrospect, I feel like everything I did this week was to somehow make up for leaving Ethan on the ground when he needed me most.”
“And I didn’t want you to get involved in any of this, because I feel responsible for turning your life upside down. If you hadn’t met me…” Ethan let the words hang in the air.
“I don’t want to be the person I was before I knew you,” Blayne said. “Sure, our lives have not been exactly conventional, but I only think I could have gotten through this because I’ve had you at my side.”
“Well, I’m not going anywhere,” Ethan said plainly.
“Good, because I don’t want you to go anywhere.” Blayne looked Ethan in the eyes and said, “You’re stuck with me, Ethan Bond.”
