A/N: "Italics inside double quotes" = Italian

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The man was writhing on the bed, glaring at the resident who tried to look anywhere but at him fearing he would pee in his scrubs if he met his eyes.

"Why the fuck are you just standing there? Get the damn surgeon in charge, you son of a bitch!"

"Dr. Johnson!" The resident's eyes darted to his superior and he let out an audible sigh of relief.

I am here sucker, rest assured! Her inner voice grinned. River shook her head. She needed to get some sleep!

The man also turned to look at her. Glare at her. He had the most beautiful pair of caramel eyes and though his face was contorted in pain, they still held power, confidence and a will over others. An Alpha male species. And his eyes were so beautiful, his gaze intense, where had she seen them before?

SNAP OUT OF IT, RIVER!

"Are you the surgeon?" He said in his thick Italian accent, his voice dripping with venom though one could hear his pain seep through it. It was as if it was her who shot him.

River took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. Activating badass surgeon mode.

"I assume you don't speak English?" She asked as she checked the monitor. She knew he probably did and even if he didn't, that was kind of rude but it had slipped out of her tired unfiltered lips and she was going to ignore the fact that it was, indeed rude.

High blood pressure and heart rate. High heart rate, blood loss could explain it. But the blood pressure? It was supposed to be low. Not even normal. Why was it high?

Cocaine? Her inner voice gave her input. She might be a judgemental bitch but she was a judgemental bitch with a medical degree.

"Of course I-"

"We need a unit of blood." She cut him off and turned to the nurse who nodded and rushed away.

See, he does speak English.

"So how are you feeling?" River turned to the patient, smiling compassionately.

"Like I was shot in the fucking thigh!" He growled out, glaring more daggers at her.

Pretty blunt. And what a potty mouth!

River made a mental note to not let this guy anywhere near her children in the unlikely event of them bumping into each other.

River nodded and turned to the resident, Dr. Josh Darrow. "We need nitroprusside infusion. You know what to do right?"

He nodded.

"No!" He said. "Don't inject anything!"

"Are you on coke?" River had to mentally scold herself for taking her sweet time. Honestly, she was simply waiting for him to pass out.

His face went blank for a second.

"Yes."

She turned to the doctor. "And why was I not informed?"

"We are waiting for blood reports."

"Great." She shrugged. "Get the blood pressure back to normal and keep it that way throughout the surgery. That's your task for the day."

"Does he even know what he is doing?" He growled, looking like he wanted to rip out her throat right then.

Not the first time I am seeing the murderous glint in my patient's eyes. The inner voice chuckled. And River agreed. Ah, the struggle!

"Nah, they are all paid actors." She rolled her eyes. "Of course they know what they are doing. I don't want to end up in jail!"

He glared at her again. "Then do it!"

"Care to translate?" She checked the monitor again. His heart beat was too fast, it wasn't helping the bleeding and ruptured artery on the thigh. He was probably hemorrhaging. He needed another unit of blood. How was he still awake?

"Then fucking do it, woman!" He growled out, wheezing as he tried to endure the pain.

River nodded and turned to the nurses and started to bark orders.

"Prep him for the surgery."

"Bring another unit of blood. We need it transfused, stat."

"Is the OR and anesthesist ready?"

"Wait!" River's intern rushed in.

"He's cocaine positive. But it's non-toxic!"

"Come again?" River nodded to the screen.

The heart rate and blood pressure was coming down. But it was not normal.

"It's not non-toxic yet?" Dr. Eric Fentell grinned.

River felt like her head was about to explode.

Idiots! I am surrounded by idiots!

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The first hour was a struggle, with her trying to repair the ruptured artery – she could do it but it was not her area of expertise - and her intern asking her stupid questions she didn't have answers to. She really needed to go home and do some reading.

Dr. Erwin came in somewhere in between and she let him take over. But he had to leave her again and River had to take over again to remove the bullet. She dealt with the fractured bone and the whole surgery lasted approximately four hours.

That was thirty-seven hours for her. She could go home in another eight hours.

She made her way out of the operating room and changed into her usual scrubs and put on her smart watch.

Life rule: Never forget the fucking watch.

She had a missed call from the home line.

Why was one of my babies up at 3:27 a.m.?

Though she had an urge to, River decided to not call back just in case they were back in bed. But then she spent the whole early morning worrying about why they must have called until she called Mrs. Marley and confirmed everything was fine.

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It was twelve in the noon and River was done with her OP appointments. She just had to make her rounds and she could go home.

Her watch beeped.

Not another emergency! She prayed to dear god. She could really use some sleep.

She looked at it and her eyebrows furrowed.

Who?

Him?

Not sure.

Whatever. At least it's not another emergency.

She walked over to the private elevators and swiped her ID before pressing the button for the VIP floor.

Commoners weren't allowed in this domain.

She rolled her chocolate brown eyes.

Hierarchy, hierarchy. Everywhere.

The ding of the elevator broke her train of thoughts and she walked out, striding towards room number 07.

She had just turned the corner when she saw Dr. Erwin walking towards her, tucking an envelope into his coat pocket and a bright smile plastered on his face.

She was surprised because it was the first time she had seen the man smile like that. He looked ten years younger!

I didn't know he could look so happy. Her inner voice said.

The man worked day and night in his fifties to look after his autistic son and pay for his own heart treatment. It was like his smile was weighed down by his burdens and sorrow. But he loved his son, with every fiber of his being.

River aspired to be the kind of parent he was. And she believed she was successful to some extent.

"Dr. Johnson." He nodded with a smile as he walked past her.

"Dr. Erwin." River returned his smile and made her way to the room, guarded by two large intimidating men.

"I am Dr. River Johnson." She flashed them her ID card. "Orthopedic surgeon."

She glanced at the name plate on the door.

Mateo Adesso.

Italian.

The patient from earlier today.

What? He didn't like the color of the bandage?

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"I can't believe you didn't call us until after the surgery!" Katrina was beyond mad. She was madder at her husband and mother-in-law for leaving for Chicago nevertheless though she knew her Alessio had gone unwillingly due to Abrianna's pestering and constant reminder of the duties of a true Boss.

After the stunt that Alessia had pulled earlier by not appearing for the family dinner, Abrianna was furious and she felt utterly insulted so none of them had the guts to oppose any other decision of hers and they all just followed her instructions without question.

Katrina was of no use at the meeting in Chicago so she was excused and allowed to tend to her son, at whom Abrianna was extremely disappointed. How could he get shot at such an easy encounter? And that too when his opponent was a measly woman?

Leonardo and Luigi had to go with them as well.

Adam would be over in a while. He had a meeting to attend in Mateo's place. And he had convinced Katrina that he will be the one staying the nights and she could rest in Mateo's place.

And Alessia hadn't shown the least interest or concern when her mother had called her to inform her that her brother was attacked and now hospitalized.

The conversation was short between the mother and daughter.

"Is he dead?"

"No Alessia. How could you even say that?"

"Then don't waste my time."

Alessia had hung up on her without asking any further questions about her own brother's well-being. Katrina was hurt but she understood that Alessia had been hurt in the worst ways, in ways a mother could never imagine for her daughter and she was so proud of her daughter for rising up from ashes and not scattering into the wind.

She missed her little Sia dearly but she was proud of the new woman she had become.

Mateo gave her a flat look before staring ahead, waiting for the doctor who had treated him earlier today. He had thanked one of the surgeons who had attended to him when he had come in and was said to have operated on him after he had fallen unconscious.

Now, he had the infuriating woman who had walked into the operating room while he was writhing in pain to thank.

He really didn't know whether he should thank her for her service or shoot her for her insolence towards him. After all, he was the Capo of the New York unit of the Sicilian Mafia and whether she knew it or not, she had the audacity to run her mouth in front of him, lowkey mocking him with her every word. Maybe he was imagining it but he really was surprised and annoyed at the way she spoke.

The door opened and one of his men walked in front announcing,

"Doctor Johnson is here, capo." [capo - boss]

Mateo nodded. He moved out of the way to reveal her.

Brown, almost black curls were tied up in a ponytail, though some of them managed to escape their restraint and frame her small slender face. Her eyes were a chocolate brown, but dulled with exhaustion. Even with chapped lips and bags under her eyes, there was no denying the fact that she was a beauty.

And suddenly Mateo remembered seeing her somewhere before though he couldn't point out from where. Had he slept with her before?

She gave him a smile when she saw him. It was a tired but polite smile. In no way was she showing any attraction or flirtatious intentions. As much as that hurt Mateo's male ego, he was impressed by her professionalism.

And he saw no sign of recognition. Even if he had forgotten, he didn't think any woman could forget him. So he came to the conclusion that he might have mistook her for someone else or maybe saw her somewhere randomly and remembered her face because she was so beautiful.

"How are you feeling, Mr. Adesso?" River smiled as she walked over to his side, her eyes darting to the monitors. She was indeed a doctor.

Again, Mateo couldn't help but notice the weariness in her voice and features.

"I think I should ask you. You look like you are about to pass out any second now." He replied, keeping his face expressionless. Smiling was not for him. But so was concern, but he found himself worrying about her condition. Maybe it was because she looked like she hadn't slept or eaten properly in days or because he thought he owed it to her for saving his life, or at least his leg.

"Life of a surgeon." She shrugged, not taking her eyes off of the monitor. She held her hand out and the nurse rushed to her side, handing her the clipboard with Mateo's reports.

She demanded respect with her mere presence. Mateo found it amusing and attractive at the same time.

She pulled her upper lip back with her teeth as she paged through the papers. And Mateo found himself studying every moment on her delicate features.

"Give him a shot of ephedrine." She hummed. "The effect of cocaine has gone down and now his blood pressure is low due to the nitroprusside we administered."

The nurse nodded before making her way to the cabinet under her desk, coming back with a vial and a syringe which she filled and injected into the IV drip attached to the back of his hand.

"How come Dr. Erwin didn't take care of it?" Katrina asked, watching her read through the report.

"Because I am in charge of his case." She replied, looking up and giving the Boss wife a polite smile.

"Then where were you all this time?" Katrina glared at her, standing up from the couch. Maybe she was being a bit excess but she was worried sick about her son's health and she did not like the fact that the doctor in charge of him wasn't paying more attention to him.

He was a VIP after all and he had to be given more attention than the rest of the patients. It only seemed right.

Dr. Johnson raised a brow, her smile faltering for a second before she fixed it.

"Doing my job." She said. "Taking care of my patients. I was about to take my rounds when I got the message to come here."

The glare on Katrina's face didn't falter but Dr. Johnson didn't look the least affected.

"Chill miss, your brother is-"

"Son." She corrected, but her lips tugged up a bit, being called her son's sister. She wasn't aware nor confident of her obvious beauty but that small error in the doctor's observation gave her a boost of self-esteem.

"Really?" River was genuinely taken aback. According to the reports, Mateo Adesso was thirty-two. His mom had to be at least forty-eight. She looked so young. "Okay...Your son is fine. No one has died from a GSW on the thigh. At least not on my watch."

"GSW?" Mateo asked.

"Gunshot wound."

"How long will it be before I can walk?" He enquired.

"You have to stay in bed for two weeks before you can start physiotherapy." She said passing the clipboard back to the nurse, Susan. "But that will take another month so you have to be here for about two months before you can go back to your normal life."

"Two months?" Katrina asked, her eyebrows furrowed. Mateo being out of the picture for two months was indeed going to cause many problems. She wanted her son to heal quickly and in peace but if he missed work for that long, he will have to make up for it when he was out and that will take such a toll on her precious son.

"His artery was ruptured. There are complications which come with it. You should be glad that nothing serious happened." She replied and then turned her attention to the patient. "There are nerves and blood vessels inside the bone you know. You were less than .1 inches close to losing your leg."

Mateo nodded and finally said, "Thanks for your service, Doctor Johnson."

She nodded with a smile but then cocked her head and said, "Care to translate?"

Katrina let out a chuckle and Mateo felt a smile tug at his lips. "I said thanks."

Mateo turned to his mother and nodded. She pulled out the envelope from her denim jacket and forwarded it to the surgeon.

Dr. Johnson looked at her confused.

"Umm.."

"A gift, for your service."

She reluctantly took it from the Boss wife and opened it, pulling half the check out before pushing it back in and holding it out to the gorgeous woman.

"I don't need it. I get paid for what I do."

"It's a token of our gratitude." Katrina smiled. "We would appreciate it if you accept it."

"Thank you but no."

"Dr.Erwin took it."

"Dr. Erwin has financial needs. I don't."

"Just-"

"No." She smiled. "Thank you. I gotta go now. I need to finish my rounds before my shift ends."

She kept the envelope on the nightstand.

"Have a good day." She smiled again and turned on her heels, walking out the room.

"Is she always like that?" Katrina asked the middle-aged nurse. She had especially requested someone older because her precious son was moody and the last thing he needed was some puttana flipping her hair and showing off her cleavage to get his attention.

(Puttana - bitch/whore)

Mateo could see that despite her initial outburst, Katrina Adesso did like the orthopedic surgeon.

"She's usually chirpy and sarcastic." She smiled affectionately; her voice filled with respect for the young doctor. "You met her on one of her down days."

"Mama, will you ask the accountant to send the money to her bank account?" Mateo asked.

Katrina nodded, ruffling her son's hair and sat back down on the couch, pulling out her phone and typing away on it while Mateo laid back on the bed, feeling the exhaustion take over him.

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