Taming River

Chapter Forty Two

KAILEE POV

Five hours later, we arrived at another town. The drive was silent and nerve wrecking. He didn't say anything more and I was scared to ask. My dad pulled up at the hospital and I was about to get out but he stopped me.

"I need to talk to you." He said with an odd look.

My anxiety was killing me at this point and I was close to losing my shit. "What is it? I need to see her."

"Kailee, listen." He gripped my hand in his.

His tone made me slump my shoulder and I silently waited.

"She's alive, that's the most important part." He waited for me to answer.

"Okay, then what is it?" I asked quietly, hoping it wasn't bad.

"We don't know what happened exactly but she was found on the road by a passing car. We don't know how she got there and the town he came from didn't have the facilities to treat her. Which is how she reached this far. Sweetheart," he sighed, looking tired. "Wyatt he, um did things to her."

"Dad, you're scaring me." I bit my lip trying not to cry.

"He tortured her. There's scars littered around her body, she had a collapsed lung from a stab wound and her memory is still foggy. Doctors say she's traumatized and it's her way of coping, she didn't even know to contact us when she fully woke up a few weeks ago."

"She doesn't remember me?" I asked in a shaky voice. "Dad, what did he do to her?" I asked as a few tears escaped.

"No no, she does. They say she was calling out your name." I felt both relived and guilty. "She fine now and she's recovering."

I should've been here, I shouldn't have believed she was gone.

"Can we go in now?"

"Just remember she went through a lot and she isn't the River you remember right now." He said, taking my hand.

We made our way into the hospital, dad leading the way. As we walked through the halls, I tried keeping my breathing under control. The pounding in my chest increased the closer we got to the room she was in and it took everything not to sprint to her room. I needed to see her to really believe it. I needed to touch her for myself, hear her sweet voice and look into her eyes. All these weeks, two months without her and she was alive. She was fighting for her life alone. I wondered how scared she had been or how much pain she had to endure without a hand to hold.

"You ready?" Dad asked when we reached the room.

"Y-yeah." My voice cracked.

He opened the door and I was met with the sight of my girl, Ma feeding her from a jello cup. I held my hand over my mouth to keep my sobs quiet. She hadn't seen me yet, her focus was on her hands that laid in her lap. I slowly took her in. There was a scar on the right side of her face, starting from her temple to the base of her ear. Her left forearm had a bandage and bruises around the skin I could see. Dad said she had them all over her body, and I assumed that those were worse.

Along with Ma, Mom, Ryan, Bri and Cam were there too. For the first time in weeks, they had smiles on. For some reason I couldn't move or blink. I was looking at her but I still feared this was all a dream. A dream that would vanish the moment I reacted. If it was a dream, I never wanted to wake up. I'd be happy to sleep for the rest of my life, as long as I got to look at her. This was the most alive I had felt since she'd been gone.

"Riv, look who's here." Cam spoke happily.

Green eyes slowly looked up before turning to me. I unconsciously held my breath when her eyes met mine. For just a spilt second, her eyes lit up but then it dimmed and that tugged forcefully at my heart. She didn't speak, just stared at me and I stared right back.

Ma stood and came over, blocking my vision of her. "She's recovering well but she's not speaking much. We'll leave you two alone." She kissed my head and beckoned everyone out.

Her eyes remained on me as they all left. Slowly, I walked over to her as she watched my every moved. I sat at the nearby chair, my fingers inching to hold her hand but I refrained from doing so.

"Hi," I mentally kicked myself for my stupidity at the moment.

She didn't answer, just kept staring. Her eyes trailed over me slowly before meeting my eyes again. She opened her mouth to say something, but quickly shut it again.

"I'm sorry I'm late, baby. I came as soon as I found out, and I'm so sorry I wasn't here for you sooner." I told her quietly, begging my voice not to break.

Again, I was met with silence.

"Riv, can I touch you?" I asked, blinking back my tears.

A barely there nod was given, and I reached out slowly for her hand. The moment I felt her, I broke. I placed my head on her hand and cried. I cried harder than I cried these past few weeks. But these tears were from relief and joy. She was alive. She didn't leave me. I cried until I started having trouble to breathe, but a hand in my hair soothed me.

"Please, don't cry." She croaked out.

Though her voice sounded dry and hoarse, it was music to my ears. I moved so my cheek was pressed against our linked hands to look up at her. I laid just looking into her eyes, occasionally placing a kiss to her palm while her other hand stayed in my hair.

She was real.

It wasn't a dream.

She started to move, wincing in pain as she did.

"Baby, don't move." I sat up.

She didn't listen and I realised that she was trying to scoot over. She patted the spot next to her for me. I looked at it, then her. Her eyes pleading with me to lay beside her. I carefully placed my body facing her. As soon as I did, she tucked her head under my neck and I wrapped an arm around her. We didn't talk, just laid in silence. After a few minutes I realised she had fallen asleep. Moving back to look at her sleeping face, I stared in awe. I allowed my free hand to trace the outline of her beautiful face, avoiding the scar that was being held by butterfly bandages.

"Thank you for coming back." I whispered to my sleeping blonde. "I love you so much, River. Gosh, you have no idea how much you mean to me." I said through another set of tears.

I felt whole again. All I wanted to do was smother her with kisses and never let her go. But I didn't want to hurt her. She was going to be so happy when I tell her we were pregnant. We were going to be alright. I got her back and nothing else mattered. I held her closer to me and eventually I drifted off to sleep with my girl. It felt surreal to be sleeping this comfortable despite it being in this small bed.

***

When I woke again, it was to the sound of quiet chattering. I turned to the voices and saw River's Moms sitting on the chair, mom on Ma's lap. I noticed how happy they both looked, the sight brought a smile to my face. River stirred and I looked down at her, she was still asleep, her fingers gripping me tightly. My hand under her head felt numb but I made no move to take it out, I could bare a little pain for her comfort.

"You're up." Mom said, gaining my attention.

I briefly glanced at them before focusing on the girl in my arms once again. "How'd you find her?"

"I didn't believe she was gone." Ma answered. "One molar tooth wasn't enough to make me believe I lost my little girl. I asked your dad for help and even though he thought I was crazy, he did."

"Why didn't you say something?" I asked, keeping my eyes on my love.

I heard her sigh. "I needed to be sure. It would've been hell if I was wrong and everyone had to lose her twice."

I leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I love you." I looked over at her parents. "Thank you."

Ma smiled as her wife looked at her like she hung the moon and the stars.

I got comfortable again, waiting for my girl to wake up. I craved to see those eyes looking at me again.

-E