River.

Chapter 98: I'm in

"You act like its gonna kill me if I stay up late." She said as she crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

River stared at her as he lowered down so that he was face to face with her.

I knew exactly what he was about to do.

"My first year as a surgeon, I had a patient with a heart condition that was in need of surgery. We had to monitor her for a week before we could start the surgery just to see exactly what we needed to do. But you see, the thing was, this particular patient was a 17 year old drama queen that was convinced that social media was more important than getting any rest. For the first 6 days she was there she only slept 3 nights. I tried to talk her into resting but she wouldn't. So on the 6th day, she started complaining about seeing people walking around her room and whispering. We eventually concluded that she was having hallucinations because of the sleep deprivation. Not sleeping was also worsening her heart condition so we had to keep her longer than we were originally supposed to. Throughout the next few days she began to lose her mind and swore up and down that the hallucinations were real. Yet she still chose to stay up all night instead of sleep. On day 12, I walked in to check on her but when I walked in she wasnt in the hospital bed. I called a nurse in and we looked and looked but couldn't find her. Something told me to check under the bathroom counter and so I did. When I opened it, she was in there. But she wasnt moving. I pulled her from under the counter and it was then that I realized she wasnt alive. She had literally scratched her eyes out and cut out her own tongue. She had a pair of scissors stuck in her arm right where a main artery was. And carved into her leg were words that I will never forget.... 'They were real.'"

Jenna was literally shaking at that point.

I wanted to laugh so much but I did my best to hide it.

She looked at him for a few seconds longer then took off running upstairs to her room.

"I'm just gonna go ahead and go to sleep for the night too." Grayson followed up as he ran upstairs next.

"Why are you still standing here?" River asked Rome.

"Because that was the most bullshit story I've ever heard." Rome replied.

River and I started laughing.

"You are one tough kid you know that right?" I said.

"I have my dad to thank for that." He evilly smiled then went to the mancave.

"Just imagine him 10 years from now." I stated.

"Now that's a scary thought." River responded. "I'll let him play in there for a bit. Meanwhile, how about you and I go sit out on the balcony."

Even though I was exhausted I wasn't gonna turn down my chance to talk to him again. It seemed like it'd been forever since he and I last talked.

We went out and sat on the sofa on the balcony.

He grabbed me and pulled me close as I laid my head on him.

"Why do you always do that?"

"Do what?"

"Every time we sit down you pull me over to you and hold me."

"Sorry, would you rather Max do it?"

I quickly looked at him. "That's not funny."

He laughed and kissed the top of my nose. "I'm just kidding."

"So why do you do it?"

"Because the first time I ever did it was the night we first kissed. And when I did it I felt you snuggle up even closer to me. You felt protected. You felt safe. And you knew I wasn't gonna let anything happen to you. Now, every time we sit down, or even when we lay down, I pull you towards me because I know that when I do you'll snuggle up closer. Then it reminds me that you really do trust me. You dont know it yet but you do."