Ethan woke from a long nap and smiled at Rayna, seated beside him, engrossed in her phone.

"You're back," he said. She looked up.

"You're awake. I was almost beginning to wonder if you were pretending to be unconscious again," she replied, and he smiled.

"I guess Melvin and the others left already?" he asked. She nodded.

"Yeah. Ella was getting cranky, and Sarah needed to rest," she explained.

"I understand. What about you? How do you feel now? Your stomach?" he asked. Her cheeks flushed slightly at the embarrassing question. She glared at him. "I told you I was fine," she said. He smiled.

"Okay. Seeing as you're not sweating so much anymore, I guess your stomach isn't under pressure," he said. She scowled.

"It seems you're pretty determined to annoy me and make things awkward," she observed. He chuckled.

"No. I just want things to be normal. Golden Sun tells me everything, remember?" he said softly.

"Well, I'm Rayna, not Golden Sun," she retorted. He shook his head.

"Can't you forgive me and put it behind you? I mean, I could have died in that accident. No, don't say anything smart, just listen," he said, cutting her off. "Life is short. I know I messed up. Everyone says I'm unforgiving, and maybe that's true"

"Maybe? No, not maybe. You're very unforgiving. Yes, I was wrong to accuse you falsely and say all those things at the club. But I apologized," she said. Ethan sighed. "Yes, you did. I'm just very sensitive about sexual harassment," he said. She sighed.

"Melvin told me. I'm sorry," Rayna said. He nodded slowly.

"I've forgiven you. So, will you forgive me too?" he asked. She shook her head.

"No. Not so easily"

"If you'll forgive me next week or next month, why not now? We don't know if we have a year, ten years, or a lifetime together. Why waste any of it? When that car hit me, and I lay there bleeding, unable to move or speak, all I kept asking myself was if that was my last moment and if I'd wasted what little time I could have had with you being mad," Ethan said. Rayna sighed.

He had a point, but she would have preferred to make him sweat.

"Well, I forgive you. But that doesn't mean I'm going to have anything to do with you. If you really think I'm the one for you now, you're going to have to prove it"

"What other way could I prove it than by getting in front of that car to protect the woman I love?" he asked. Her heart skipped a beat. "You went on dates with other women. You wanted to exhaust your options," Rayna insisted, still angry.

"They weren't options. I was trying to convince myself that what we had wasn't special. I didn't want to believe I'd found something special with someone I was so mad at," he admitted.

"I want you, Rayna—body, mind, and soul. Your mind is my favorite place," he said, and her heart fluttered.

"How am I supposed to play hard to get if you're using lines like that?" she groaned. Ethan chuckled and reached for her hand.

"Maybe you're not supposed to play hard to get. That's not what got us here, you know? We both know what we want, and that's why we got along so well," he said, raising her hand to his lips and kissing her knuckles.

"But I already told Evelyn I was going to play hard to get and make you sweat. Can we just pretend whenever she's around? I'll be too embarrassed for her to know I got back with you so easily after saying I'd moved on," Rayna said. Ethan laughed.

"Okay. If that's what you want, I'll play along," he said, quickly releasing her hand as they heard the door open.

"You're insufferable, you know?" Rayna said with a scowl, resuming her act as Derek and Evelyn entered.

"Rayna, that's no way to talk to a man who's lying in a hospital bed because he tried to save you," Evelyn scolded, surprising Rayna by defending Ethan. "Hello, Ethan! Thanks for saving Rayna's life. I'm sorry she has such a shitty and ungrateful attitude," Evelyn said with a sweet smile, further surprising Rayna.

"It's fine. I understand she's still mad at me," Ethan said softly.

"How are you doing, hero?" Derek asked with a teasing grin.

"Evie, let's talk outside," Rayna said, gesturing towards the door as she stood to let Derek sit.

Evelyn followed Rayna outside. The moment they shut the door, Rayna scowled. "What was that about? I thought you supported the idea of playing hard to get?" she asked. Evelyn rolled her eyes.

"You seem to have forgotten that you told me Ethan was your man and scolded me for talking about him so harshly. Besides, he's also Derek's best friend. I'd rather take his side publicly right now than yours. I know you're both going to make up. I don't want to be the bad guy when that happens," Evelyn explained. Rayna scowled. "Whatever," she muttered. Evelyn grinned.

"If that's all, can we go back inside? My baby and I need to stay close to my man," Evelyn said. Rayna snorted but smiled as they returned inside.

Derek was teasing Ethan about his failed attempt at being a superhero. When the women rejoined them, Derek stood so Evelyn could sit.

They chatted for a while, discussing Michael and Sandra and their impending comeuppance.

"Isn't it funny that I'm not involved with either of them, yet I'm the one who got hurt?" Ethan said. Derek laughed.

"Maybe that's why you should have been more actively involved," Derek shrugged.

"Well, you wouldn't have gotten hurt if you hadn't been involved with me," Rayna pointed out.

"That's true. You got hurt because of Rayna," Evelyn said. Rayna scowled.

"I just said that. You didn't have to repeat it," she muttered. Evelyn grinned.

After a while, Derek sighed. "I'll come see you tomorrow. For now, I need to take my babies home," he said. Ethan raised an eyebrow.

"Is Samantha here too?" he asked, wondering why Derek used the plural.

"No, she's not. But her younger one is," Derek said with a grin, placing a hand on Evelyn's abdomen. Ethan's eyes widened.

"Another one?" he asked. They all laughed. "You both waste no time, do you?" he asked. Evelyn blushed.

"No, we don't," Derek said with a wide smile. "So, you're going to have to work hard to catch up," he said, taking Evelyn's hand and helping her up.

"Well, congratulations to you both. I'm happy for you," Ethan said, smiling. Evelyn smiled back.

"Thank you," she said. As Ethan and Rayna watched them leave, Ethan turned to Rayna.

"We did well, didn't we?" he asked. Rayna nodded.

"I guess," she said with a small smile as he took her hand.

"You heard Derek, right? We have to work hard to catch up," he said with a wink. She giggled.

"You should focus on getting well first," she said, thinking about their pre-accident plans.

"So, I was thinking," Ethan said. Rayna raised an eyebrow.

"About what?"

"I still want to get married soon, as I said. How about we have our dates here since I can't go out? Nice dinners, movie nights. When I'm discharged, we can continue it at home until I'm strong enough to take you out properly, and then we can get married. Does that work for you?" he asked. She nodded. "I think it's perfect," she said.