Lucky's Real Life Romance Novel

Chapter 7

I was careful bringing Mia into my house. I kept her head away from the couch so she wouldn't see the state her brother was in. I took her up to my room and laid her down before pulling the covers over her. She was already fast asleep again. I sighed and moved a strand of long brown hair away from her face before I got to work. I pulled the first aid kit from the bathroom and grabbed an extra pair of pajamas from my dad's drawers before going back downstairs. I set River's key on the coffee table along with my kit before helping River sit up. I unzipped his jacket and carefully pulled his arms out before just using fabric scissors to cut him out of his shirt. Surprisingly, he didn't complain. His ribs were bruised badly and so was his shoulder under the taunt muscles.

"You fought again," I noted as I wrapped an ace bandage around his rib cage and shoulder for a little bit of pressure. My face was stoic. At first I found it amusing, but now, knowing that Mia was involving, I wanted to rip him a new one, but I couldn't. I couldn't yell at him before having all the details. I got to work cleaning up the blood with cotton pads and hydrogen peroxide. He hissed in a breath every time I touched a new open wound but I didn't make any moves to make it more comfortable for him. I followed the peroxide with ointment and bandaids. I tossed the pajamas to the couch beside him.

"What if Mia saw you passed out like that?" I asked, my eyes watering.

"Why do you look like you're the one about to cry? I'm the one with bruised ribs," He asked, pulling the shirt on with difficultly.

"You couldn't even make it to your front door! At least make it make sense! I just patched you up and got your sister for you. The least you could do is tell me what the hell is going on," I glared at him. My weakness was seeing people hurt. I couldn't handle it. River had been beaten badly, there was no question about it, but why?

"I fight sometimes to bring in money, alright? My dad isn't in the picture and my mom doesn't give two shits about me and Mia. She's off somewhere with her boyfriend, so I do what I have to do to take care of us," he said, getting slightly worked up. He winced and held his side as he looked away from me as he took a second to calm down. I sighed and covered my face with my hands.

"Okay, okay," I said, calming down.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come come at you like that. It's just... you couldn't even stand, and I was terrified when I realized it was you. Plus, Mia was just home by herself?" I asked.

"She was asleep before I left," he replied.

"But what if she woke up? You don't mind her seeing you like this?" I asked hypothetically. His hazel eyes shifted away from mine as he swallowed roughly. I took a breath before pointing at the pajama bottoms River hadn't gotten to yet.

"There's a bathroom adjacent to the kitchen. If you're hungry, help yourself to anything in the fridge. I'll go grab you a blanket and pillow. You can sleep on the couch tonight. There's a guest room, but you probably won't be able to make it up the stairs. Mia can sleep with me in my bed," I offered, changing the subject. He took the bottoms and went to go change while I pulled out the extra blanket and pillow, setting up the couch, taking the extra decorative pillows off. After making sure River had everything he needed, I tiptoed back up to my room and laid down in my bed with Mia. She was out like a light. When my weight made the bed dip, she curled into my side. I sighed, patting her back gently, before closing my eyes and going to sleep.

***

"Pretty neighbor lady," I heard being repeated as I was shaken. I peeked an eye open to see Mia smiling down at me.

"Good morning, Mia," I said groggily.

"Good morning, pretty neighbor lady," she smiled back.

"Mia, you can call me Lulu,"I said before sitting up. I yawned before looking over to my phone to check the time. I had two messages. One from Trevor and one from Aiden.

Trevor: Hey, do you want to just go look at glasses together?

Aiden: Hey! What time do you want to do breakfast?

I totally forgot about breakfast with Aiden. There was no way I was going to be able to go now. I had to take care of both River and Mia. I looked at Mia who was watching me inquisitively.

"Have you seen your brother yet today?" I asked her. She nodded excitedly.

"Riv is downstairs asleep on the couch, but I'm hungry. That's why I woke you up," she answered. I went and brushed my teeth quickly before holding my hands out to pick up Mia.

"Let's get you something to eat then," I said, carrying her on my hip. True to Mia's word, River was knocked out on the couch. I set Mia down at the dining room table and texted Aiden back telling him I wouldn't be able to make it before getting to work on cooking breakfast. I made Mia eggs and pancakes with bacon. I made extra for myself and River for when he woke up. When I set the plate down in front of Mia, her face lit up. It made my heart break thinking about how bad they must have had it that Mia was this excited over a simple breakfast.

"Is this mine?" She asked. I smiled lightly and moved her hair behind her ear.

"Yes, sweetie. If you want more, I'll get you more, but don't overeat, okay?" I said to her softly as I handed her a fork. She started eating and I went to go check on River. He was out. I felt bad for both of them. River was destroying his body just to put food on the table for Mia. Why he was constantly bruised and beaten, why he never ate lunch, and always always hid; I finally got my answer. But now I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the answer.