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"Lunch! Have your lunch!" Caroline Marley, the housekeeper and the twins' nanny followed River as she beelined for her bed.

She plopped down on her double king-sized haven and pulled the duvet over her head, taking in the particular scent of her two children.

She always wondered why her gorgeous little babies smelled like blueberries.

I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with the berry-scented lotion you rub onto them every single day without fail. Her inner voice chuckled.

"What was the last thing you ate?" Mrs. Marley was standing beside the bed, her hands on her hips. She had been appointed three years ago by River's mother, Susan Johnson and she had become like family for the three Johnsons who lived in the apartment.

Susan preferred to have her daughter and grandchildren move in with her but she knew she couldn't persuade her independent daughter to do that nor the workaholic doctor when the apartment was way closer to the hospital than their house.

"A croissant? And a coffee?" River yawned under the covers, snuggling deeper into the pillow fort.

"A croissant?" The lady emphasized. Surely not a croissant!

"A quarter croissant?" River rolled her eyes. There were no loopholes when it came to Caroline Marley.

"Get up!" She smacked her butt through the duvet. "You need to eat, River!"

"What time is it?" River whined into her pillow.

"Around half past one." Mrs. Marley replied, looking down at her wrist watch.

"That's around two hours before the kids get home. Lemme sleep till then." River closed her eyes. "They haven't seen me for almost two days. You think they are going to let me sleep?"

Mrs. Marley didn't speak for a while and she felt herself drifting off to sleep.

"Fine." She heard her mumble as sleep overtook her.

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"Mommy!"

"Mommy!!"

River's eyes snapped open, a smile tugging at her lips as soon as she got over the initial shock. She turned over to her back and grinned at the two midgets jumping on the bed.

"Hi my little marshmallows!" She yawned as she sat up, pulling the two excited children to her.

"We missed you!" They said in unison as they hugged their darling mother. River was blessed with the sweetest and most precious twins in the world!

"I missed you more!" She hugged them tight, not letting go as she climbed off the bed. She quickly adjusted them on each hip and made her way out.

Mrs. Marley was coming out of the kids' room, with their lunchboxes and water bottles.

"Now will Mommy and babies have something to eat?" She asked.

"Yes please!" The trio said in unison while she chuckled.

River settled the twins down on the kitchen stools and moved towards the fridge, opening it to retrieve the probiotic juice she had bought for them the other day.

"Orange or mixed fruit?" She asked, holding up both the cartons.

"Orange!!" The twins threw their hands up in the air while the two women laughed. River placed it on the counter and brought out four glasses, filling them up.

RIP Orange juice. She thought as she chucked the empty carton in the trash.

"Here you go, grilled chicken sandwich with cheesy French fries on the side." Mrs. Marley said as she brought two plates which River took from her and placed in front of the twins while she went to get the other two.

"How was school, darlings?" She asked as she climbed onto a stool herself.

"Boring." Lucas scowled. "We did colors today."

"Isn't that good?" River asked confused, looking between both of her children.

Kiara nodded enthusiastically before giving her brother a weird look.

"We already know colors. We are not imbeciles!" He said, tossing a fry into his mouth while River looked at him stumped and Mrs. Marley let out a chuckle.

"Mommy, what's im-bi-seal?" Kiara frowned cutely at her mother.

"It means stupid person. Like that imbecile who pulled at your hair today." Lucas explained, his tone changing when he mentioned the 'imbecile' who pulled at his sister's hair.

"Which imbecile did that?" Mrs. Marley was laughing to herself. River gave her flat look trying to suppress her own grin.

"Flynn Grady." Kiara scoffed. "He pulled my hair Mommy, but Lukey hit him so I am fine."

River's eyes widened as she looked at Mrs. Marley who mirrored her expression. She turned to her darling son. "You hit him?" She asked in disbelief.

"Over here." Kiara raised her hand and pointed to her side.

River gave him a pointed look, and the signature 'you are so in trouble, young man' look. "You can't just hit someone!"

"He pulled my Ki's hair. Only I get to pull my Ki's hair." He scowled at his mother, bringing down his glass of juice on the counter with a bang, to show his anger.

(Ki as in Sky)

As cute as that was, he was going to get a good scolding for being so short-tempered.

"Why didn't the teacher tell me anything?" Mrs. Marley asked them before River could begin her long lecture.

"Because I told Flynn that if he told Ms. Poppy, I will tell her he eats chocolate in class in secret." Lucas said, smiling smugly.

"Jesus, so you assaulted him AND then blackmailed him?" River asked in disbelief.

I am raising a gangster, aren't I? Even her inner voice sounded appalled.

"I didn't salt him." He looked confused while Mrs. Marley cracked up. "And I didn't give him any black mail."

"Oh god!" River covered her face with her palms and started laughing.

How was she supposed to scold this cutie pie?

"Mommy?" River looked up at her daughter, pursing her lips to not let out any more chuckles. "Lukey was protecting me."

"I know baby!" She pulled her cheek and turned to her other precious four year old. "But next time, you tell the teacher, okay?"

"Yes Mommy." They said in unison.

"And you don't hit people." She added pointedly, her eyes specifically on her little boy.

And they nodded. "Okay Mommy."

River smiled at them. "Now finish your food so that we can go to the park."

And their face lit up at once.

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Mateo gritted his teeth as Adam took another puff of his cigarette, watching his best friend and Capo with a smug look plastered on his face. If he could reach over, he would have wasted no second in wiping that look off his face but sadly Mateo couldn't move his leg and was too tired from the medication.

"I am sorry sir but could you not do that?" The nurse, Susan, asked him timidly.

"I will do as I please." He replied, his voice cold.

She nodded quickly and looked down.

Mateo raised an eyebrow at him. He winked taking another puff.

This was bloody torture!

"When is Dr. Johnson coming again?" He asked the nurse, who looked up, her eyes darting uncertainly between him and Adam before settling back on him.

"Probably tomorrow evening." She said in a low voice.

"Why?" Adam sat up, glaring at the woman. "Shouldn't he be checking in on his patients regularly?"

"She." Mateo corrected him. "Dr. Johnson's a woman."

"No wonder!" He scoffed.

"Dr. Johnson is a very busy surgeon." Mateo turned to the nurse, a slight smirk tugging at his lips at her sudden raise in voice. "The residents and interns will do the routine check-ups and rounds."

"Did I ask you?" Adam glared at her and she quickly looked down again, gulping visibly.

"That's enough Adam." Mateo gave his best friend a look.

"I am bored." He shrugged, taking another puff.

Mateo shook his head. Of all the men she could have asked to take care of him, his mom had to go and choose the most exasperating human to ever walk the earth.

Adam Smith was his best friend since he was in his teens and he trusted no one as much as he did him, but this moron was not the best to be around when you were bedridden.

"Go home." Mateo smirked, knowing very well what his response was going to be.

"And get ripped to pieces by the Boss wife? No thanks." He narrowed his eyes at Mateo while he laughed. Pussy.

"But honestly you moron, are you alright?" He asked, crushing the cigarette and tossing it in the bin to the side. "It isn't one of the usual flesh wound we attain during a shootout. This one really caused some serious damage."

"It may look serious idiot but I was shot in the leg. I don't think I would have died from that." Mateo rolled his eyes. Adam really was a softie inside.

"Could he have died?" Adam turned to the nurse, sounding polite now.

She looked up and cleared her throat before she spoke. "If they had rushed and skipped the blood test, they would have administered the anesthetic and he definitely would have died."

Adam took a sharp intake of breath which made the nurse pause, her eyes showing fear.

"Continue." He said coldly.

"But he was luckily assessed by Dr. Erwin first. He is very calm and doesn't take any rash decision. So Dr. Johnson was shown the blood tests and she took measures accordingly." She finished.

Mateo turned to Adam. "Send another envelope to Dr. Erwin."

He nodded and quickly sent the accountant the message.

"I am glad he got to you." Adam chuckled as he sat down. "Just imagine how humiliating it would be if a Capo of the Sicilian Mafia died from a bullet on the leg!"

The duo realized his mistake a bit too late and looked up when they heard a visible gasp. Mateo mentally cursed Adam for saying that out loud.

Mateo dug his hand under the pillow and pulled out his silver gun. Her eyes widened as she stood there shocked, trembling with fear.

"You didn't hear what he just said." He said emotionlessly, cocking the gun in her direction.

She nodded her head quickly, still trembling.

"I need another nurse." She nodded again.

"Leave." Adam growled. "And remember, not a word about this. To anyone."

She quickly gathered her stuff from the desk and hurried out, struggling to open the door with her shaking hands. As soon as she left the room, Mateo turned to his second in command,

"That was all your fault!"

He shrugged before smirking. "I don't care."

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It took Mateo all of his self-control to not put a bullet through the brunette who was desperately trying to get him to notice her cleavage.

Adam and Leonardo sat on the couch laughing while he just glared at the closed door.

His hands itched to pull out his gun and shoot his best friend in the crotch for the torture he was putting him through.

After Susan left, a male nurse had stayed in her station until his shift ended. The nurse doing night duty was a woman named Rachel. She was young, around the age of Dr. Johnson, and did her job without gawking at the Italian Capo too much. But the nurse who took over Susan's shift today morning was a puttana who put on a show whenever possible. (puttana – whore)

Leonardo had flown back to New York as soon as the meeting was over. He promised he will stay back with his cousin so that Katrina could go back to Italy with Alessio, Luigi and Abrianna because Abrianna needed her there at her Sicily villa for a few days to prepare for a party she was holding and she had thought her party was more important than her own grandson's health.

She couldn't help it. She lacked feelings.

It was past three and Mateo had been visited by resident doctors twice, one of them took him to do some tests as well. He said it looked better now.

Good.

Mateo didn't want any more complications.

But he did want to see a certain curly haired lioness.

"Would you like something to eat, Mr. Adesso?" The woman said in a squeaky voice which Mateo guessed she meant was to be sexy. Well, it wasn't.

"I thought I was on a liquid diet." He said coldly. He was not going to give her any reaction.

"But I can sneak something in if you want me to." She continued with her annoying squeaks.

"I will pass." He said and turned his head quickly when he heard the door creak open.

"Dr. Johnson is here." One of his men, Wells, said as he let her in.

"Dr. Johnson." Mateo nodded in response to her greeting smile. She was followed by a man twice her size.

"This is my intern, Dr. Eric Fentell." She smiled, pointing at the guy.

"Um.. You are the doctor?" Adam asked out of nowhere. The man doesn't hesitate to flirt when he sees a decent woman. Emphasis on decent. That's why he didn't make a move on big-boobed brunette over there.

"Yes, I am an Orthopedic surgeon." She smiled, holding her hand out to the brunette nurse.

She looked at her confused and took her hand which made the doctor roll her eyes while the intern let out a laugh before coughing to cover it up.

"The test results, Bianca. I had asked for a CT scan?"

Bianca nodded looking quite embarrassed.

Mateo was enjoying it. He liked to see Dr. River Johnson assert her authority, though he had seen it only twice before.

"How old are you?" Adam butted in again.

"I don't answer personal questions while at work." Before he could ask her any more questions, she turned to her patient. "How are you doing today?"

"I can't feel my leg." He told her truthfully, almost annoyed about it.

"Like literally?" She asked as she removed the comforter from Mateo's injured leg and ran her fingers along the sole, tickling it.

"Felt that?"

He nodded.

She took her stethoscope out from inside her coat and used the metallic part to knock on different parts of his leg, up to his injury.

She looked up and he nodded every time he felt it.

"Then it's all good. I know it's irritating to stay in bed all day but it's for your own good." She said as she took the report from the nurse who was glaring at her.

What's her problem? And why am I in the care of such an unprofessional woman? Mateo thought, annoyed at Adam even more because Susan was a perfectly decent nurse and he had fucked it up. She would have been extremely cautious if she had stayed and would make all of them uncomfortable and that was the reason he scared her off.

River was looking through the papers when the brunette spoke,

"When was the last time you washed your hair, Dr. Johnson? It looks like poop covered pubic hair."

Cringe! Oh my god, I am dying from second hand embarassment?? Like, what the hell??

She had the attention of the entire room, repulsed and irritated by her sudden idiotic question. Except Dr. Johnson of course. She let her inner voice do the screaming and kept a poker face.

What does that even mean? Can we just punch her crooked nose into place please??? It pleaded. Oh wait, now that I think about, she actually has a point.

River didn't even look up from the report as she spoke,

"I guess how you know what that looks like, is a question for another time."

The brunette was mortified as the entire room burst out laughing.

Dr. Johnson looked up and gave her a smile, handing the clipboard back.

"And I don't answer personal questions while on duty." Her face hardened. "Neither should you ask them."

"I am sorry Doctor." The woman mumbled before going back to her station.

"Everything looks good. I think we can remove the nurse in two days." She said, her smile never wavering. "And you can start taking solid food as well. "

"Oh?" Leonardo spoke up, gaining all the attention. "But Bianca here was offering to sneak anything he wanted in for him." He pointed at the nurse who looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

This was quite entertaining.

"Bianca, leave." Dr. Johnson's smile left her face.

"Doctor I-"

Dr. Johnson cocked her head at her and that woman shut up and finally left, for good.

"What did Susan do?" She asked, turning to Mateo.

"I didn't like her."

She nodded. "I will ask them to get you someone sensible."

"So you have senseless nurses working here?" He quirked an eyebrow, a smirk forming on his face.

"Mmm.. More like nurses who lose their sense in front of hot Italian patients." She shrugged, putting her stethoscope back in her coat pocket.

Mateo felt his smirk widen while Adam gaped at the obvious yet subtle flirtation in front of him. He felt the sparks and he was sure so did the rest in the room. "So you admit that I am hot?"

"I was never one to disagree with facts." She gave him a smirk of her own.

"Is flirting allowed while on duty, doc?" Adam asked, killing the mood.

"I didn't know stating facts was called flirting." She turned to him and winked.

Mateo let out a laugh while Leonardo shook his head with a wide grin on his face.

Things were going to get interesting in these two months Mateo was in the hospital.

"Anyway, you are doing good. I will see you tomorrow." She breathed out.

With that she and the intern boy walked out.

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