____________________

.

.

.

Sweat trickled down River's face as she picked out the last of the glass splinter from the side of her unconscious son's face.

Her daughter was being operated on by the chief of neurosurgery. A side of her skull was crushed.

Only God knew how this woman was holding up without shedding a tear.

"Get a CT scan done after Dr. Ames patches him up." She said to the intern in charge, letting the plastic surgeon take over. She nodded at Jacqueline, wordlessly asking her to keep an eye on her child while she went to check on the progress of her other little one and their father.

She retreated from the room and to the general ward where Alessia was forcefully getting Mateo patched up.

"You need to get yourself treated, Mateo!" River fast walked to him when she realized he was rejecting any further treatment. He had a pretty big gash on his head and they needed to get a scan to see what was going on but he just refused to budge.

"Not until I know my kids are safe." He said, his eyes red and his veins popping. He looked up at her finally, his eyebrows knitted together. "Why are you not with Luke?"

"Jackie's with him." River said and before he could react, hugged him. Finally, the tears trickled down her eyes. Finally, she let herself be a little vulnerable in front of someone.

Mateo hugged her back without a second thought.

"They will be fine." He said. "They have the genes of two of the most stubborn people in the world."

River nodded. That is exactly what she wanted to hear. She pulled away, sniffing as she violently wiped away her tears.

"I don't want you being stubborn right now, okay?" She said, grabbing his hand. "Just shut up and comply to the tests they want to run."

Mateo wanted to protest but seeing the condition his love was in, he knew better than to give her more to worry about. So he nodded in agreement, though his stomach kept churning thinking of the condition their kids would be in.

He nodded.

River wanted to make sure everyone was fine and wanted to stay with the two of them but she couldn't help but leave for the operating room, scrubbing in along with the neurosurgeon.

Having someone you love go through a serious surgery is scary enough. But when that person happens to be your own little one, the pain and fear is immense and like no other.

Lucas and Mateo had been shifted to a VIP room, both of their scan results came back normal except for a subgaleal hematoma in Mateo's which had been taken care of. Their other wounds were fortunately superficial.

Kiara, on the other hand, had taken the whole impact of the crash.

She had comminuted fractures on the skull and it was not looking pretty.

Taking a deep breath, River decided to scrub in on the surgery.

Walking in, she was not surprised to see the worried expression on people's faces. After all, she had left the hospital two months ago due to some sort of PTSD with the kid's kidnapping and now her little girl was on the operating table.

Many could empathize with how horrible she must be feeling at the moment.

Dr. Matthews looked up at her after a while and said. "She will lose her hearing on the left ear. We can't do anything about it right now other than to get hearing aid."

She was shocked. It was a blow to her and she didn't know how to tell Mateo. That their little girl lost hearing in an ear because of the enemies they had collected.

She knew that her dumbass man-child was going to blame himself for it. But honestly, it was not his fault. He nor she asked for any of this.

But whoever was responsible was going to pay.

River swallowed back the lump in her throat and nodded.

She felt miserable and helpless. There really was nothing she could do, was there?

For a woman like Dr. River Johnson who had been independent and kickass all her life, having no control or solution to a situation was the worst thing that could happen to her.

Having the kids had awakened the mother in her. And she had always kept her children above her own needs and wishes. She handled them so delicately, as if they were the most fragile pieces of art, but now, listening to Dr. Matthew, she wondered if she had fallen short in the amount of safety she provided her children.

The surgery lasted another two hours before the unconscious little one was moved to the intensive care unit to be monitored for brain swelling or any other complications for the next forty eight hours.

And it was finally time for River to go back to her boys.

She dragged herself to the VIP room, not knowing how to break the news to them. Her little girl was still in critical condition. Anything could go wrong though it was only right to hope for the best.

George, Davis and Victor were at the door. They opened the door as soon as they saw her. River murmured a "thanks" before walking in, to find their son sleeping peacefully on Mateo's chest.

He looked up, his eyes widening with anticipation.

Alessia too was quick to jump to her feet.

"She made it through the surgery." River spoke in a detached voice, the heaviness in her chest almost suffocating.

"She lost hearing in her left ear."

There was silence. Painful, suffocating silence.

Mateo took a moment to take it all in. He then sat up, gesturing to River to take their son.

"I have some scores to settle." He said, his words dripping with venom.

Alessia too had a deathly look on her face.

She wanted vengeance as much as these two, but River knew that none of it was necessary at the moment. The only thing that mattered were the kids and until they were safe and sound and away from further danger, she was not going to let anyone think about anything else.

"First, let's make sure the kids are safe." She said, finality in her voice. "Nothing else matters right now."

Mateo wanted to protest but the look on her face told him now was not the time to argue with her, so he silently complied. But Alessia had other ideas. She thought that as long as River didn't know about it, it wouldn't hurt her.

Alessia Adesso was not going to wait around to take revenge on whichever scum bag had the audacity to hurt her niece and nephew.

.

.

.

It had been two days since the incident. River had no choice but to take on her duty as a doctor while she was at the hospital.

Kiara was still recovering. The little girl had a broken jaw, sprained neck and a broken arm along with the other wounds on her head.

It was a sight River wished she wasn't punished with to see. After all, which mother can sleep in peace after seeing her daughter battered and bruised?

But more than sadness, River harbored anger. And not just towards whoever the perpetrator of the accident was.

She was angry towards Mateo because he had done it again. He had fled instead of facing the problem. He visited their daughter once and after seeing the condition she was in, he refused to visit her anymore.

Kiara cried for her father plenty of times and River had to make up a new excuse every single time so as to not harm their bond because of her baby daddy's stupidity.

She always got mad at him when he ran away instead of discussing their problems with one another. But this was the next level unforgivable thing to do. This was their daughter, their daughter who wanted to see her Papa.

River sighed as she placed her hand on her eyes, hoping the heat from her palm would help with the throbbing pain in her head.

"You okay?"

River opened her eyes to see that it was Victor. Well, at least he and Davis stuck around.

"I am fine. Just tired." The surgeon shrugged. She had had a rough day.

"Your shift is over right? Maybe you should go home?" He asked.

River gave him a look.

She loved her son. And she missed him. But she was not going anywhere until her babies' father showed up and assured her that he would take care of their little girl while she rested.

But no, Mateo had decided on being a coward this time. Alessia told her that he had made a vow to not show his face to his daughter until he killed whoever hurt her, but River was pissed at him for his foolishness. His little girl didn't care about who hurt her. What she needed at the moment was her father's unconditional love and what was the use of his revenge and vow and whatever if he could not give his kid the one thing she wanted?

Her gear beeped and she looked at it. She had a message from Aaron Grady, Dmitri Petrov's right hand man and father of Lucas' best friend.

She whipped out her phone from her pocket and opened the messaging app.

River's eyebrows knitted together when she read this. What was that supposed to mean?

She was not aware of the patient in the VIP room but she trusted Aaron enough to go there, asking Victor to go to Kiara's room.

There was no one outside VIP room one unlike other occupied VIP rooms which had at least one bodyguard outside.

She knocked before pushing the door open, her eyes widening in shock at the sight in front of her.

"What happened?" She asked, walking closer to the battered and beat up Dmitri.

"Well, my men think it's Mateo's doing." The Russian Mafia man shrugged, flinching when the mere motion jolted a painful shock up his spine.

"And you don't?" River asked.

Personally, she didn't know what had happened to Dmitri but given what Mateo was probably doing, he could be the reason for the condition the younger brother of the Boss of the Russian Mafia was in.

"No, I don't."

River was surprised to hear the surety in his voice. It was like he knew exactly who did it, and yet, he didn't know anything except for the fact that Mateo Adesso had nothing to do with it.

"I think someone wants us to fight." He looked her in the eyes. "This is a dangerous third party, we are talking about."

.

.

.

"And you believed him?"

River did not like the mocking laugh that bubbled out of Mateo's throat while he looked at her with a disbelieving expression on his face. "Oh come on River, you are better than that!"

"Well, you took the words right out of my lips." She rolled her eyes, watching her baby daddy taking out his metallic flask o alcohol and taking a huge swig out of it. He had gone completely cuckoo, hadn't he?

"Mateo-"

"The discussion is over, go to bed." He sighed and then a cheeky grin appeared on his face. "I will join you soon."

"We are at the hospital, Mateo." She pointed out and then pointed up, at the room up on the ninth floor. "And our daughter is up there."

Mateo's eyes hooded as soon as River mentioned their precious Kiara.

"She misses you."

Mateo took in a deep breath and let it out before getting up from the stone bench he was seated on.

"I will see you soon." He said and before River could say anything more, walked away.

River was beside herself with the frustration. She didn't know what made her do it, but she took off one of her sneakers and chucked it at her baby daddy's head, the footwear hitting bullseye.

He clutched the back of his head, as he turned on his heels, his face contorted in pain.

River felt the least guilty. She was seething with anger as she walked over to him to retrieve her sneaker.

Mateo waited until she put on her footwear before he hugged her, but River was having none of that. She shrugged him off and walked away in the opposite direction.

Mateo sighed as he watched his love walk away. Even he agreed that what he was being a coward, not having the guts to visit his little girl, but he had made a vow and he was going to fulfill it because he felt that he could not be called a father if he did not do it.

.

.

.

River looked confused as she stared at the ID card the man had shown her.

This was Detective Ian Sanders from the Wyoming Police Department.

"Didn't my alibi check out?" She asked as she returned the card to him.

"It did. But I would like to know more about your relationship with Mateo Adesso." The detective had a powerful aura around him, making him hella attractive.

"He is the father of my children." She said plainly. It was the absolute truth.

"The helpers at the Wyoming Ranch say you are married?" He asked.

"It was a lie." She said. She was studying this character as much as he was studying her and she could say that this man was a walking lie detector just how observative he was. The only way out of this was by being as honest as possible.

"Why?"

"Mateo's grandmother is old-fashioned." It was not necessarily the whole truth but it was the truth nevertheless.

Ian nodded and then sat back on the chair, a smile gracing his features. "Thanks for your cooperation, Dr. Johnson. I hope I can expect it in the future as well."

River gave him a simple nod. She wondered if Mateo knew that the detective from Wyoming had reached New York looking for answers.

"I hear that the brother of the woman who was murdered is admitted in the same hospital?" Ian turned around at the door.

River wanted to pretend that she didn't know, but she sensed that he was waiting for her to make the mistake of lying so she said nonchalantly. "VIP room twelve. It's on the ninth floor."

"Thanks." With that, the thirty something year old detective was out of the room.

River supported her face on her elbow as she tried to untangle the mess that their lives had become.

What could be done at this point?

Finding no answer to the hundred million questions swimming around in her mind, she decided to go to her little girl since her OP appointments were done for the day and she had almost an hour before her next rounds.

River did not forget to pick up some rainbow cupcakes and banana muffins before making her way to the VIP floor. Victor followed her all the while.

"Afternoon ma'am." Davis smiled as soon as he saw her.

"Afternoon." River smiled and passed the bag of banana muffins to Victor. "Enjoy." She said before she entered the room to see that Kiara and her aunt Alessia were hooked to Paw Patrol which was running on the TV.

"Mommy!!!!" Kiara snapped out of it immediately and grinned widely at her mother. She was healing so well that the Otorhinolaryngologic surgeon had spoken of the scope of fixing the ear completely by surgery thought it would take a year or two until she would be completely healed and ready for the surgery. It was such a good news compared to the previous one of her not getting her hearing back ever again.

"Hi, my little baby!" River smiled widely at her daughter and hugged her, careful not to hurt her fragile little one in any way.

"Mommy, when will Lukey and Papa come to visit?" She asked.

Alessia gave River a knowing look, knowing very well how her brother was.

"Soon." River said and then waved the packet of cupcake in her little girl's face. "Meanwhile, who would like some rainbow cupcakes?"

"Me!!!" Kiara was distracted at once and River had to thank the heavens for her daughter's blessed five year old heart for not thinking into anything. She sat down with her daughter, helping her with the cupcakes.

.

.

.

______________________