My green eyes stared back at me from the mirror as I got ready for work. Tightening my sleek ponytail for the last time, I finally hurried down the stairs. Madeline greets me with a smile,

"Good morning, dear.Thank you for restocking. Here's your breakfast."

"Hey Madeline, good morning to you too. Is Ethan not here yet?"

"No, I've been waiting with his coffee."

That's weird, he's usually up and about before me and not to mention he was the one who said he didn't like laziness.

"I'll go upstairs and check."

This was the first time I'll ever go into his room.I gave a knock but he didn't answer so I entered his room--a complete opposite of mine. Sparsely decorated with a king sized bed covered with black sheets and grey duvet. Everything in the room was a gradient of black and grey. Except the rug and the curtains, they were white.His laptop was open on the table with 3 empty mugs of coffee.I could hear the shower running in his bathroom, divided by a stained glass door.

Did he actually consume this much caffeine after having alcohol, last night? What is wrong with this man?The door slid open and Ethan stood with a towel loosely around his waist. His body was glistening and the entire room was filled with his scent, even stronger right now.

"Can I help you?" I looked up, realising I was staring.

"I just came by to see if you're alive since we're late for work and Madeline has been waiting for you since forever."

"Yeah, I'll be right down. I was caught up in something."His eyes had a hint of dark circles around them.

"Do you want to see more or...?"He asked shamelessly as he started to unwrap his towel.I gave him a horrified look and scurried out of the room.

I was almost done with my breakfast when he came down in his dark blue suit along with a waist coat. All of his suits fit him so perfectly, highlighting his body. Before he could get anymore cocky, I averted my gaze.

"Ethan my boy, where have you been?" Madeline asked him.

"Nowhere Madeline I was just working on something."

"Are you sure you're okay? You don't look so good."She said with concern.

"Yes, I'm fine. Don't worry .Could you please give me my coffee?"He said looking at her, adorably smiling.

She shook her head and gave him the mug. His fourth cup of coffee in the last twelve hours.

It was weird coming to work with my husband. We had to keep up the show and act like a real couple so before entering the building, I took his hand. If he was shocked , he didn't show it.His hand was warmer than usual, but comforting.

We got into the private elevator and immediately broke away.

"Where will you be going?" I asked him.

"To your office, of course. "

"Why? The meeting's in the conference room."

"Yeah but that's not in another hour, I need a place to hang out till then. What's better than my wife's office here?" He asked sarcastically but not with his usual sass, his voice was drained.

As we walked out of the elevator, Andrea greeted me with a smile , "Morning , Ms. Evans!" but her mouth hung open when she saw Ethan trailing behind me , "M...mo...morning Mr.Carter."

Ethan nodded his head and before entering my office turned back to Andrea , "Andrea, shouldn't it be Mrs. Carter now?" He used a tone that clearly resonated how serious he was being.

Andrea didn't say a word, I raised my palm to calm her.

"I told her to do so." I stated as a matter of fact. Ethan looked at me and cocked his head "Can I see you in the office?" He doesn't bother for an answer before entering in and I follow behind.

The nerve of him--asking me to see him in my own office.

"What was that?" I asked him.

"What? I just asked her to call you Mrs. Carter." He shrugs innocently as if he didn't just made my assistant almost run away.

"Yeah well, it's my choice, what I prefer being called.And right now I like it as it is."

He held up his hands as a mock surrender, "I was just curious."

I took a seat, "But..."He started again. Why is he so talkative today? "Wouldn't it sound weird to our associates and clients who come in here?"

He does have a point, all my legal documents were updated but I kept my name as Skylar Evans-Carter.

"Fine , I'll do it. But don't think I'm going to yield to you. It was just this once , because you are being logical."

He smirked.I'm tired of this.

He opened up his laptop and started working on the couch in the corner of the office. He already seemed so tired and his eyes were practically drooping , but he was visibly forcing himself. I didn't bother and turned to my own laptop.

An hour had went by and Ethan was ready for the meeting. We walked in together with his hand on the small of my back. His body was simmering, by now I was sure he was running a fever.The deal had been finalised and everyone was content with the terms. His assistant, Finn had come by for the notes and paperwork, he was very efficient and Andrea was looking at him quite admirably.

"I'll be going back to the office now."Ethan said , supporting himself on the door frame of my office. He had decided to bid me 'goodbye' before going away. But as I saw his unusually slithered posture and deep breaths, I knew he wasn't well.

"Ethan, you don't look so good. Maybe you should give it a rest and head back home."I suggested .

"I'll be fine, don't wait up.I might be late." He throws back like a typical sub-urbanic husband. This was the last straw, I have had enough of his stubbornness and so I followed him.

"Andrea, cancel my schedule for today. I'll be heading home for the rest of the day." It was 11 , only. She looked up and slowly nodded at my unusual behaviour.

Ethan stood by the elevator, incredulously looking at me. I got in, without looking at him and he entered behind me. There was palpable tension as none of us said a word--I had been formulating a plan.

As we reached the ground floor, I held his arm with both of my hands.His jaw tightened, he knew what I was doing and he also very well knew that he couldn't do anything unless he wanted to create a scene.

"Let go of me." He spoke from between his teeth in a very low voice.

"No, honey. You don't look so good, let's go home. Let me take care of you." I said with my puppy eyes.His nostrils flared, he was getting frustrated.

Mission accomplished.

We got in the car without a problem as I people kept staring at us.

"Skylar, stop it. I'm perfectly fine and I'd like to go to work." He was trying to sound tough but failed.

"Okay then, I'll drop you. Maybe you should get some shut eye till then." I said like a liar while pulling the car out of the parking lot as Ethan rested his head against the window.

I did not think this plan through. With a sleeping Ethan beside me, I had no idea of how to actually take him up. I went over to his side and carefully opened the gate.

"Okay, Ethan don't get mad but you seem like you're really sick so I made the right call to bring you here. Now I need to you to come out of the car." He nodded weakly, unwilling to fight or argue.

I took his hand and put around my shoulders."Alright, help me out here , fatty. You're not light."He shook his head and we paced slowly towards the elevator, with him leaning on me for support.

I had gotten him settled into bed and changed the washcloth on his forehead multiple times , which thankfully brought down his temperature.He was burning up.Currently I was in the kitchen, making him chicken soup. I remember how mom used to do this.

"And now a little bit of pepper." Mom said as she added it into the pot with a flourish.

"Will this heal Asher?" I asked mom.

"Not exactly Sky, but it would help him recover quickly and gain back his strength."

"Mom, Asher will be okay soon right?"

"Of course, sweetheart. It's just a cold. Had he listened to me and not played in the rain , he would've been fine."She kept the bowl on the tray and went towards his room.

"Would you like to come, sweetie?"I nodded.

I took the bowl of soup upstairs. I've always wanted to be like my mom--I looked upto her. Her selflessness, her affection and her overall persona. Part of me wished to have a family like hers to take care of. I move towards Ethan and gently wake him up, extending the soup.

"Is this take-out? I'm not eating that." He whispered and covered himself with sheets again.

"No, I made this." I removed the sheets and he sat up straight. Taking a spoonful of it, I carefully extended it to his mouth.I hadn't realised that I was feeding him and the moment was awkward. But surprisingly, Ethan opened his mouth. After two feeds, he took over and I let him.

"Call me if you need anything." I kept the meds on his night stand and headed out of his room.

"Thanks."I heard faintly and smiled to myself.

I was having my dinner in front of the tv when I heard him coughing. He then stopped but started shortly again after two minutes, putting down my dinner, I sprinted upstairs. Only to find him forcing himself in front of the laptop with a barrage of tissues lying around.

"Are you crazy?"

He ignored me.

I found the cough syrup and shoved it in his hands."Take this and go back to bed." As expected he didn't budge. "If you want to go back to work tomorrow , that is." I added.

He narrowed his eyes before taking the bottle and putting away the laptop reluctantly.

"I'm going to bed, if you need anything, I'll be in my room." I marched out and shut his door.

I was back in Hawaii, enjoying the beach and the waves it all looked so good until I was pulled back into reality with a knock on my door.

I woke up from my dream and heard the knock at my door again.

"I'm up, I'm up , come in!"I called out while rubbing my eyes.

Ethan was standing there with his tousled hair.

"I was hungry so I went down to the kitchen but I couldn't find anything. If it isn't too much trouble, would you mind making that soup again?" This was the first time I ever heard hesitation in that commanding voice of his.

Made sense, he ate around 6 so he must be hungry. Plus he looked so cut, how am I expected to say no? I'm not a monster.

"Yeah, sure. You'll have to wait 15-20 minutes though."

"Yeah, no problem."

"You look cold, you should get into the sheets, I'll bring the soup."

He nodded and settled himself on my bed. This was unexpected, I thought he'd go back to his room. While I stood in shocked silence, he turned on the tv and start flipping through. His neck craned towards me, "What?" he asked.

I shook mu head, "Nothing."

I started going downstairs when his voice stopped me.

"And Skylar?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

I nodded and went back smiling into the kitchen. It took me exactly 15 minutes to make it and all the time I thought about Ethan lying in my bed. Finally taking the tray back up, I announced, "Here's your soup." He took the tray with a grateful expression.

I headed towards the table to grab my laptop.

"What are you doing?"He asked.

"Well , since I'm up , I don't feel really sleepy so might as well catch up on some work."

"That's what got me sick in the first place maybe you should go to sleep."

"You got sick because you consumed so much caffeine , apart from the wine that we had."

He rolled his eyes. Just what I expected.

It had been an hour or two and my eyes were drooping.Ethan had put on a very violent movie and I just couldn't , I finally got up to get the remote when I heard a very faint , almost inaudible snore.I turned around and saw him asleep.

He looked so peaceful.If only he was like this in real life. His hair covered his forehead and he was out like a light. He must be very tired firstly due to the cold and he missed out on entire night's sleep yesterday.The only problem? He was on my bed.But I didn't have the heart to wake him, so I left him there.

I grabbed the remote, turned off the tv and made myself comfortable on the couch.Before I realised, I had fallen asleep.

And the next morning I woke up to an empty room with a warm blanket covering me.