Leap Of Faith

Victoria knocked on the door of the examination room inside the otherwise empty practice. 

She told Ethan that she would have to go back home and back to work eventually and would not hassle him further. He had made sure to let her know that she could stay as long as she liked but understood her urge to jump back onto the job. His only condition for her to leave was to get a check-up at the clinic, just to make sure she was ready.

She initially wanted to resist and tell him to not mind it as healing great but stopped herself in time. No reason to be ungrateful after all he had done for her. As a matter of fact, she was gleeful that he cared this much, even after what happened. So he had dropped her off at the clinic to get her check-up.

"Come in," she heard a voice from inside the room, opened the door, and peeked inside the room. Dr. Wright was standing inside, arranging some pill bottles on a shelf. "Victoria, I've been waiting for you. I did not think it would take a full Ethan to get you back here for a check-up," he said jokingly as she entered the room and looked around.

"Not the doctor's kind of person I guess," she answered, looking through the room, but quickly realized what her dry remark could sound ride. "Apologies Doctor Wright. I don't want to seem unappreciative of what you did for me."

"No worries. Just do me the favor and call me Ezra. Being called Doctor Wright makes it sound like I am an old geezer." He pursed his lips, then grinned warmly. "How have you been?" He pointed at an examination bed and she sheepishly sat down. 

"Good, I guess. Definitely far better than the last time I was here." 

Ezra smiled and nodded approvingly. His casual way was nothing like the doctors she visited throughout her life. It was the opposite of the mostly stuck-up physicians who were full of themselves and their titles, always acting as cold and detached as possible.

"Any pain?"

"Yeah, but it is bearable. I hate pills. I'm just happy I can sleep without them again."

"I did not expect anything else. Ethan would have probably dragged you down here the same second you would have shown any signs of getting worse." He let out a hushed chuckle, sat down on a rolling stool, and pulled himself a little closer to examine her. Victoria took her shirt off and held her arm up to give him enough room to see everything.

She let her head sink and sighed quietly. "Yeah, he was great. I don't think I would have been able to function on my own after all that happened."

Ezra pointed to her wound, "May I?"

A warm smirk sneaked onto his face while he carefully pulled off the bandages and tape. "He will probably kill me for saying this, but you did quite a number on him." 

"What do you mean?" Victoria tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.

"I have known him since he was a kid. Long story. Maybe he told you the full extent of it already. But I have never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you."

Victoria stayed quiet while her lips curved into a sad smile. It was nice to hear this, especially because she had questioned her own judgment since he had drawn back so suddenly. Her head sank as she thought about the wall she had not been able to overcome after that.

"Oh no, Ethan messed it up didn't he?", he then added matter-of-factly while casually inspecting the remnants of what used to be the big, messy wound. The bruise was already fading and had turned from a deep purple to a yellow-green. The stitches had held up and the wounds had swollen down, only leaving scabby, irregular lines over her side.

"I don't know. He just suddenly kept his kind of distance I guess." 

She was not even sure if she wanted to talk to someone she barely knew about it, but it seemed like Ezra was the only person able to maybe give her a little more insight into the mystery that was Ethan.

"You don't need to talk about this if you don't want," he answered, looking up from her wounds. He reached over to grab small scissors and a tweezer from a tray next to him. 

"I'll free you off those stitches, okay? No need to bandage it up afterward, so it can finally get some air." 

When Victoria nodded, he started taking out the first plastic threads but stopped moving. Something ate away at him. "Just know this one thing. He had a rough past and he is still fighting the demons he has been left with. He had his fair share of women throwing themself at him, but he never let anyone close. But you... with you he is different." 

A line appeared between Victoria's brows who absently stared to the floor, still taking in what he was telling her.

"He cares for you. Seeing you hurt like this broke him. He does not want any harm coming to you, but could not prevent it. So he probably makes himself responsible for what happened to you."

"But...," Victoria mumbled, "I don't know how he could even think that all of this was his fault"

"Well..." he started, but paused, suddenly more attentive to what he was going to share. "Because he wasn't there to protect you when you needed it." Ezra pulled the last stitch and set his instruments aside, rolling backward on his stool to throw the cut threads into a little red trash can behind him. 

"Anyways. Just give him time. He has to figure out for himself what he wants. For some people accepting that they are worth way more than they think they are, is a bigger leap of faith than anything else really." 

Victoria put her shirt back on and finally looked Ezra in the eyes. This insight explained a lot, but as he said, she would need to give it time. If it took an eternity, then it would be exactly that. She knew too well that pushing someone towards their luck did not help, self-worth had to be figured out by oneself. Just as it took ages for her to realize she was worth more than just being pushed around to be a 'good girlfriend'. Nobody could have told her to just get a transfer and move somewhere far away, she needed to understand it herself.

Ezra, who had looked at her, got up from his stool and opened the door of the examination room, waiting for her to get back up on her feet.

"Don't worry. He can be a gloomy bastard. Excuse the language. But I know he really thinks he does not deserve anything good in this world. Especially if anyone could get hurt in the process. But you already made him a better person, even if you don't believe it." 

Victoria nodded slightly and finally found her own lips curl up. She understood it all a little better now. "Thank you for this," she said quietly. 

"Don't worry about it. Get well soon, you hear?" was the last sentence she heard from the doctor before she left to throw herself back into work the next day.