Söbriety • Mötley Crüe •

78. The Fallout

Nikki's POV

"Momma!" Wylie's scream jolts me awake, and I groan when I realize that my arm is completely numb from Ryan's head laying on it all night.

What time is it?

The sun creeps through the gigantic windows, letting me know it's at least 6:30 AM. We slept for a solid seven hours without any interruptions.

"Momma!" Wylie screams louder and I nudge Ryan in the side to make her wake up. "Wake up, momma!"

"What?" Ryan groans as her eyes flutter open, her hand instantly reaching for the bruised side of her face. "Good morning, Wylie."

"Good morning, sunshine!" Wylie claps her hands as her face darts back to the TV.

At some point someone must've turned it onto cartoons for her. I let out a yawn as I stand up to stretch my legs, my whole body sore from the uncomfortable sleeping position I had all night.

I haven't slept that hard in years.

"Are you okay?" I whisper to Ryan when I see big tears fall onto her cheeks. "Do you need me to call the nurse?"

"Please. My face is on fire." She nods in response and I quickly press the call button above her bed.

"How are you feeling, Wylie?" I walk over to the perky child's bed and sit on the edge as her big eyes look up at me.

"I'm okay, daddy!" She shrugs as she moves her head to the side to see the TV behind me. "Mr. Heath already gave me some medicine." Her 'th' comes out as an 'f' as she says Heaf.

"I wonder why he didn't wake us." I quirk an eyebrow at Ryan as she shrugs her shoulders, lifting herself off the bed, but quickly sitting back down when her face contorts into pain. "Hey, are you okay?" I rush to her side as she lets out a sob.

"My whole body hurts so bad, Nikki. It didn't even hurt this bad when I got shot. And I'm really dizzy." She sucks in a loud breath as she covers her mouth with her hand.

"Are you okay, momma?" Wylie's voice is full of concern as she disregards the Power Rangers on the TV for her mom. "Do you need help?"

"No, baby, I'm okay. Stay in bed." Ryan lifts her hand to stop her and Wylie gives her a dissatisfied grunt in response. "Daddy can help me."

"Good morning!" A short, pudgy blond woman walks into the room, her face falling in worry when she sees Ryan crying. "Are you in pain, honey?" Ryan only nods in response as she takes a deep breath and looks at the ceiling. "Yeah, your face is bruising up even worse this morning. We need to control the swelling before it gets into that eye. I'll be right back with some medicine. Just sit tight for a minute, love."

"That must be Farryn. She's awfully sweet. I think she might be hitting on you." I let out a laugh and Ryan shoots me a death glare.

"Not everyone that is nice is hitting on me, Nikki." She grits her teeth as she continues to shoot daggers into me.

"It was just a joke, but you're right. I'm sorry." I rub her back as she starts to cry again, my heart twisting in pain at the fact that I can't make it better for her.

"I really have to pee. Can you help me get there?" She reaches for my hand and I gratefully wrap my fingers into hers as I lift her off the bed. "Jesus fucking Christ, this sucks balls."

"Just go slow." She nods at me as we slowly make our way to the bathroom, and she lands on the toilet with a grunt.

"You okay, momma?" Wylie's tiny voice calls from the room. "You peein'?" Ryan cracks a smile as she shakes her head, mouthing 'she's a weirdo' to me.