There was no escaping the media storm that was brewing as Ethan knew it wouldn't take long for people to figure things out.

Ethan still had a knife sticking out of his leg that was clogging his blood, as well as several slashes on his arm, and a sprinkle of blood on his face.

The bodyguard next to him had a bloodied gash on his head. His knuckles were crimson red, and the state of him made Thomas look like he was in a battle with a lion.

Two unknown men were tied up around them with zip ties. They were both bruised up, bloodied up, and the spotlight of many photographers.

"Mr Shelton, what on Earth went on back here?"

Ethan was dreading the rest of the reporters asking their questions. There was no way that this would be able to be swept under the rug, and this also meant that the police were going to be involved.

"Mr Shelton?" Another reporter stepped up to Ethan's face as she shoved her phone in front of her. "Can you care to explain tonight's events?"

"Mrs Shelton, how did you let your company fall into shambles and hire a thug as your COO?"

Kristen's face turned from worried about her brother, to disgust with the reporter. She took a calm breath as she refused to lash out at him. "I'm sure there is a perfect explanation for all of this."

Everyone was anticipating a response from Ethan as they all looked to him for answers. Ethan was trying to calculate what he could say that would least negatively impact the company.

Thomas tried to intervene by placing himself between the reporters and Ethan. "I need to take you to the hospital," Thomas whispered to Ethan. "We can deal with the reporters later."

Ethan knew that a late response was going to destroy their publicity. It would allow people to speculate whatever they would like, and Ethan didn't want to jeopardise his family's company when he could get it sorted now.

"I've got to nip this in the bud before it gets too far." Ethan was doing damage control at the moment, and he wanted to do it before the knife in his leg moved on its own.

Ethan turned to the crowd of reporters as they all shoved their microphones in front of Ethan. Ethan couldn't do anything to fix his appearance since it was a dishevelled mess, he could only smoothen his hair just a little bit as he explained his night.

"As you can see, I'm extremely worn out from a very dangerous fight. So excuse me for not being very articulate, and quite brutish with my response."

Ethan got a quiet round of chuckles from the crowd - which gave Ethan a sense of relief. He had only said that as a warning, because he wasn't even sure what he was going to say.

"We were forced to deal with conflicts where the situation escalated to dangerous levels." Ethan announced.

After calling Bryce and Joey a random infiltrator that tried to force Ethan into giving company secrets, using a deadly weapon, people were eating the gossip up in very hushed whispers.

"Luckily for everyone in the Shelton building, we are in the presence of one of the most renown bodyguard's from Noble Guardians & Protectors."

Ethan was still holding onto Thomas as the bodyguard was supporting his weight. He briefly shifted the media spotlight onto Thomas as they took photos of him, as he then brought the attention back to himself.

"With restraint, we managed to subdue these infiltrators and we will be handing them over to the police for further questioning." Ethan didn't give room for the reporters to talk as he wanted to be away from the cameras. "I would like to ask for some privacy whilst I get this knife pulled out of my leg. Thank you so much everyone."

Among the midst of further questions, Thomas turned them around as they left the room to get medical help for their injuries.

~~~~~~~~~~~

They made it to the lobby when they walked past 2 police officers that were surprisingly quick on the scene. They also saw an ambulance right outside the front of the lobby, with 2 paramedics rushing to their aid.

Thomas was separated from Ethan as the COO was moved onto a stretcher. Thomas was forced to sit down as he had his head examined.

The paramedic cleaned and disinfected the area, as they then began to wrap the area on the back of Thomas' head with a medical gauze pad. The blood was wiped off him as a cold pack rested on his knuckles and leg.

Ethan on the other hand was told that they were going to take him to the hospital so that they could pull the knife out. This was incase there would be any complications when the knife was dislodged, and could possibly hit something important.

Kristen came running out of the building as she stood by her brother's side. Tears were pooling around her eyes as she reached out for Ethan's hand. "Mom and Dad said they'd meet us in the hospital."

"The paramedics said that I won't even need to stay the night," Ethan explained. "They're just going to pull the knife out, do a quick scan, and send me home when they patch me up."

"Okay well I'll go with you!" Kristen followed Ethan as he was being wheeled away in the ambulance.

Ethan looked at the people around him until he found Thomas. "Umm, can Thomas come with me instead?"

Thomas' eyebrows were raised when he heard his name coming out of Ethan's mouth. "You really want me there?"

Ethan nodded his head as he apologised to Kristen. "I think it's better to have a friendly face that won't squeal at the sight of blood."

Kristen ducked her head at Ethan as she then turned to Thomas. "Let us know if anything else happens?"

Thomas nodded his head as he swapped places with Kristen. The bodyguard was by Ethan's side as he was eventually pushed into the ambulance, and driven to the hospital.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Ethan was resting in a private room as the knife was pulled out with no complications. He was waiting to be discharged by one of the nurses as he was already patched up now.

Thomas had never been in a private room before, so he was taking a good look at how different it was to one of the public rooms.

There was so much privacy with no one else around. There was so much space in the room that Thomas thought he could do a backflip without breaking anything. There was also a fresh bunch of lilies on the bedside table too.

"Thanks for coming with me by the way." Ethan added, "And for helping me with those guys back in the bathroom."

"Just doing my job." Thomas smiled back as he continued his interest on looking around the private room.

Thomas then took a seat besides Ethan on the bed as his smile got wider. "You called me by my name earlier, AND you called me a friend too."

"Maybe I was just trying to sweet talk everyone so I can get my way." Ethan suggested nonchalantly.

Thomas was in disbelief as he continued to tease Ethan. "The ice prince's frozen heart is melting."

"Piss off." Ethan shoved Thomas playfully as he laughed with the bodyguard.

Thomas put his hand on his own chest as he mockingly spoke from his heart. "Well, I am very honoured to be the one that defrosted the ice prince's heart. And I feel very special by being called your friend."

Ethan was trying his best to hide the smile on his face. But Thomas kept bringing it out of him as the bodyguard wouldn't stop teasing him.

Ethan had come a long way from freezing everyone that was trying to get him to reach for help, and the bodyguard's persistence broke him.

"Although, friends don't slash other people's tires..."

Ethan wholeheartedly chuckled as he finally put the rumour to rest. "I actually wasn't involved in that."

"You sure?" Thomas laughed as he then indicated to the grand room they were sitting in, "Because I'm sure you have a lot of influence."

Ethan looked Thomas in the eyes as he swore that he wasn't responsible for tire slash in Detroit. "I will get you the same knife that was in my leg, and let you stab my other leg if you don't believe me..."

Thomas was impressed that Ethan would take it this far. He considered whether Ethan was telling the truth, and the bodyguard decided to believe it as he trusted his heart and his gut.

Both of them looked up at the door as they saw the nurse walking through the door. The nurse said a couple of things which eventually led to Ethan being discharged from the room.

Thomas immediately got up from the bed first so that he could help Ethan up. Ethan gladly took Thomas' help as they got him off the bed together.

After being helped up, they both walked side to side as they were leaving the hospital together. "I'm still going to be calling you Tommy by the way."

Thomas thought that he was so close with getting rid of the horrible habit Ethan was persistent with using. "Why?" Thomas whined.

"Because that's what friends do."

==========