Taming River

Chapter Sixteen

KAILEE POV

I briskly walked towards the hospital room. My mind was spinning with the worse thoughts possible and I had to see her. I felt like crap after I kicked her out yesterday, I didn't mean to be so unstirred about it. Sometimes I couldn't help my evocation and it got the best of me without my consent.

I got to the room she stayed in and was about to enter when Ryan emerged from down the hall. He looked unbothered and calm, something that quelled my worries some.

"Hey, how is she? Is she okay? They said she got shot." I fired at him.

He laughed in humor while raising a brow at me. "She's fine. She's in there talking about mom kissing her boo-boos away when she was five."

"Huh?" I was puzzled.

"Nothing, mom kissed her butt once after she fell off of a swing, and now she's asking us to." The man shrugged nonchalantly.

"Ryan, she was shot." I said in a 'duh' tone. Why was he so damn calm?

"It grazed her ass, trust me she's fine. Just hopped up on meds but same old River. Your girl gets hurt a lot, you'll get used to it." He opened the door. "Come on."

I walked in after him to see James and Cameron sitting in annoyance. River laid on her stomach, her cheek against the pillow talking.

"I'm telling you, mom kissed my butt and made it better. I stopped crying and everything." Her eyes were droopy.

James grabbed Cam's hand and walked to us. "We'll be outside." He said to me, before pulling Ryan along.

I watched as the door closed before facing the girl. She was now propped up on her forearm, staring at me with a sleepy grin.

"Hi, I missed you. Why do you always look so good." She smiled big at first but then it faltered. "Why'd you take so long to get here?" She pouted.

I smiled at her and sat in the chair close to her bed. "I'm sorry, baby. I had to make sure the students and things at the school were all good. I couldn't just leave." I took her hand in mine.

She laid back down. "Okay, I guess that's fine, I thought you were still mad at me." She said in a sad voice.

I stroked her hand with my thumb. "I'm not mad at you, Riv."

I felt bad. After she left yesterday, Edward had to come over and calm me down. I knew I needed to talk to her and soon.

"Check it." She mumbled.

"What's that, baby?" I asked, leaning closer.

"My butt, kiss it better." She looked at me with expectant eyes. "I got shot in my butt."

I glanced at her covered ass and back at her. "Riv, it's just a graze, you'll be fine."

"A bullet touched me so that means I was shot. Come on." She whined softly. "Please, it's a nice butt, I promise. It's not as nice as yours but I work out." She continued.

I gently placed my hand on her lower back. "I'm not kissing your ass."

She wiggled her ass a bit, then winced in pain from the movement. She was watching me with those green orbs, seemingly right into my soul. Sighing, I pulled up her hospital gown. Her cheeks came into view, the left one bandaged. She was right, it was a nice firm ass. I leaned down and placed a gentle kiss a little way from the wrapped wound. I covered her back up and saw her eyes were closed.

"Did that make it better?"

She nodded softly. "Yes, pain's gone." She mumbled.

I bit my lip, trying to contain my feelings. "Go to sleep."

"No, I wanna talk to you." She opened her eyes again.

"I'll be here when you wake up, rest now."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

She closed her eyes and dosed off.

***

I sat in my same spot almost an hour later. My eyes stayed glued to the sleeping blonde. She was so painfully beautiful. River had an innocent and enticing aura about her, it made my heart ache blissfully. I gazed at her, taking in her soft angelic features. From her nose, to her cheeks, her soft pouty lips, the slight dimple on her chin. I couldn't see her eyes but they were imprinted in my mind along with her smile.

The door opened and Ryan came in. Closing the door softly behind him, he smiled and sat next to me.

"So?"

I turned to the male version of River. "So?"

He grinned a similar one to her, but it didn't make my heart flutter. "I know she asked you. Did you do it?"

I chuckled quietly. "Maybe."

"You totally did." He concluded. "Hey, I need to ask a favor."

"Sure, what's up?" I looked back to River.

"I have another trip coming up, she's going to need help and I can't ask James."

I looked over at him with a raised brow. "You want me to do it." I stated.

"Yeah, she's a big baby whenever she's sick or hurt. I'm not even kidding, one time she made me sleep and cuddle with her after spraining her ankle." He informed me with a chuckle.

I bit my lip to suppress my smile. I believed that, River was adorable in that way. I didn't mind taking care of her, I could just take some time off.

"I can do that."

"Okay, but Cam-"

"I got her too, Ryan." I assured him.

River groaned and tried to turn. I held her in place, before she could hurt her herself.

"Hi," she blinked away her sleepiness.

"Hey," I caressed her face.

She laid still staring up at me. Her eyes soft and wandering. Moving closer, I placed a chaste kiss on her inviting lips.

Ryan loudly cleared his throat and stood. "As fun as this is to watch, I'm gonna take Cam home. See ya, sis." He quickly kissed her head and left.

"You're still here?"

"Of course, I am." I smiled at her. "I know we have to talk but can we after you get out of here?"

"Okay." She whispered, her eyes glued to me. She seemed less groggy now.

"You and Cam will be staying with me until you get better." I added on.

"Okay." She still stared at me.

"What?" She was just staring at me with that look in her eyes.

She continued to gaze at me, not saying anything. My heart was going crazy because those eyes of hers held so much. River was so open with her feelings, she never shied away from telling me she missed me or that I looked beautiful. Throughout our work day, she'd send cute text messages that were both funny and sweet. I loved that about her, I didn't have to second guess anything.

"You kissed my butt." She finally said.

I raised a brow in amusement. "I did."

"The only other person to do that was my mom, when I was five." She continued. "Only because I wouldn't stop crying until she did."

"Yeah, I've heard."

She sighed but kept her eyes on me. "Can I have a kiss?"

With a smile on my face, I leaned to her and took her lips. It only lasted a few seconds but even that made my stomach do flips.

"There, happy?"

She nodded, closing her eyes as she quickly drifted off again.

-E