His Dangerous Ways✔️

Chap. 44 Blood and Brothers

"You always say that." I could imagine the frown on his face and my heart dropped.

"I know, it's just..." I trailed as I ran my fingers through my hair. There was no excuse. "I'm trying. I really am. You know I hate being away from you guys, right?"

"Yeah." He sighed. "We just want our brother back, that's all." His words caused my eyes to become blurry with tears once more, but I quickly blinked them away.

"And you'll have me, I just need a little bit more time to-"

"River!" Brooklyn's voice called through the phone, pure excitement saturating his voice.

"Hey, Brooklyn," I greeted, Blake's words playing over and over again in my head.

"Are you coming home soon? Our conferences are a week and a half away!"

"I know, bud, I know. Just give me a little more time, then we can do whatever you guys want, okay?"

I heard Brooklyn sigh. "Okay," he said, noticeably less happy.

"Where's Cat? Last time we called, you said that she was taking care of something. I want to talk to her," Blake begged.

I swallowed. "She's, uh, asleep right now. She's very very tired."

"When will she be awake?" Brooklyn asked.

My heartbeat raced, but I took a few deep breaths to calm it down. "I...I don't know. She's really tired." I cursed myself as my voice broke near the end.

"Why is she so tired?" Blake innocently asked.

"Because she's been working extremely hard for the past few weeks," I said. "She's been really strong and smart, too."

I was about to say something else when I noticed someone trying to get my attention out of the corner of my eye. It was one of the doctors who were working on Cat.

I felt my hands become sweaty as he motioned me over. I couldn't read his body language. Was it bad? Good? I felt my knees slightly shake. "Uh, boys, I'm going to check on Cat right quick okay?"

"Okay, tell her we said hi!" Blake said. "Te amo."

"Te amo," I said before I hung up and hurried toward toward the doctor, messily shoving my phone into my pocket as I did so. "Why aren't you in there with her? Is she okay? What's happening?" I questioned as I approached the doctor, but his demeanor remained the same: calm and relaxed.

"Mr. Riverdale, Caterina is no longer in surgery. We were able to safely remove the bullet and all of its fragments. She lost a lot of blood, but her father donated a gracious amount-"

"You let that bastard go near her?" I lowly stated, trying my best not to yell as my hands balled into fists.

He remained unfazed. "If we hadn't gotten his blood, she would've bled out on the table. He helped save her life."

"He also put her in the hospital," I said before I sighed and shook my head. "I'm sorry, thank you for saving her. I..." I trailed off, unable to believe that she was okay.

"It's my duty," he merely said. "Now would you like me to take you to her?"

"Please," I instantly said before he started leading me through multiple branched off hallways until we finally made it to a room with her name on it.

"Now I must warn you that it's not a pretty sight. She's also still full of medications so she might fade in and out of consciousness, but she should be fully awake within the hour. She might not recognize you right now, but once the meds wear off, she'll be fine. When she does wake up however, she will be in a lot of pain."

"I understand." I said. This wasn't my first time in a hospital.

He pushed open the door for me and there in the middle of the room hooked up to machines and IVs was my baby girl. My Caterina. I wasted no time walking over to her and taking her cold hand in mine. Her hair was all over her head, her skin looked pale due to the excessive loss of blood, and her lips were chapped. But I was only focused on one thing: the movement of her chest going up and down in a slow, steady pattern.

She was breathing.

She was alive.

Just seeing her made me want to cry, but I held it in.

"I'm so proud of you, baby girl," I whispered as I swept her hair off her forehead. "You are so strong and beautiful and incredible. Thank you for...for not leaving me alone." I placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, wanting nothing more than for her to open her eyes and hear my name slip past her lips. I wanted to hold her forever and never let another second go by that our bodies weren't touching some how. But I couldn't. She wasn't ready. So I did the only thing I could: I watched her chest slowly rise and fall as I listened to her heart rate monitor and imagined all of the ways to tell her I loved her when she woke up.
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Hey y'all. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if so please comment and vote. Tell me what you think! Also, don't forget that the next chapter is already available on Inkitt!!

I also promise that the next chapter will be longer😅

Love y'all- Jordan

PS I drove for the first time four days ago (I'm sixteen but I just got my permit) and it was so fun yet so scary at the same time.