Heath's POV
Feeling her warm skin underneath my fingertips, I felt as though I could breathe for the first time in hours. Her father being who he was meant that she had been immediately transferred to one of their best suites and I could admit that I was grateful that she would be so carefully looked after. Although in a lot of ways I felt that I didn't have the right to intrude as her parents hovered over her, when Alexis had pulled me over I couldn't resist touching Alira.
She was beautiful even as my stomach twisted from the sight of the mask over her face and the wires creeping out from beneath the blankets. In my eyes she had always seemed like an adorable kitten but now all I could think that she was oh so breakable, her fragility obvious.
"Hey baby," Her mum whispered as she leant over and kissed her forehead. "We're all here." She shook her head as though unable to get any more words out as Mr Heath picked up and cradled his daughter's hand.
"When I realised that we were having a little girl, I knew that we would be in for a world of trouble but I never thought of this, Jellybean." He lifted her knuckles to his forehead, "Thank you for being so strong and staying with us."
I closed my eyes, unable to watch them as they struggled to contain their grief. After everything I'd heard about them, and even after meeting them, the two older Heaths had seemed larger than life and to see that crack, that absolute devastation in their eyes was almost more than I could comprehend.
I moved backwards and lowered myself slowly into one of the surprisingly comfortable chairs, eyes never leaving her face and my ears tuned into the sound of her heart beating. She had fought to stay alive and now I felt as though it was everyone else's turn to ensure that she recovered without incident.
"Has there been any word from River?" Mrs Heath asked quietly, one hand smoothing back Alira's hair while the other clasped Timothy's.
"No," I answered, my voice devoid of the burning need to make him face what his decision had wrought.
"You know where he is though, don't you?" Mr Heath asked, his eyes flashing as they pinned me in place. It was disconcerting to say the least but after the little chat we'd already had, I was able to hold his gaze with a general lack of wariness.
"His ex," I bit out. "I know that you know about River's past with alcohol."
"Yes," He replied quietly. "I never dug into his therapy records though so I'm not aware of the causes behind his addiction."
I sighed wearily, "He got into trouble with a girl who apparently only wanted him as a way to get to me. When he found out she was cheating, he had a breakdown. Getting him into rehab was the only way I knew how to help him and I thought that he was over her but she called a few weeks ago and wanted to meet."
"So, my daughter being the person that she is decided to help him even though she knew that the consequences could be horrific," Her mother guessed sadly, her smile filled with exhaustion.
"I'm not angry with her," I whispered, clutching her fingers as I avoided looking at her too pale face. "Or him, really. Not about going to see her. I made them promise me that they wouldn't do this but I knew that he needed closure with Camilla. I just...I wanted to be able to protect him, you know? I didn't before and it nearly broke the both of us. I'm his big brother and I keep failing him. I never wanted him to know what it was like to let someone down but for this..." I shook my head. It was true, some part of me had already known and accepted that River would try to resolve his issues with Camilla alone but what I didn't think I could forgive him for was leaving Alira's side when he had sworn that he wouldn't. For fuck's sake, he knew from first-hand experience what it was like at that school. He also knew that Miranda and her cronies were out to get her. How could he have let her go alone!
A hand slowly covered my own, my eyes lifting until they met Alexis', "River couldn't have known what was going to happen and not no one even contemplated the possibility that Miranda would go this far." She bit back a sob, "River made a mistake and he's always going to live with that guilt but that girl..."
I clenched my teeth. The confirmation had come in once Mr Heath had finished making arrangements with Blackbourne Investigations to have the hospital guarded against the reporters still gathering outside. Miranda Cole had organised for her friends to ask as a distraction while someone slipped by and dropped the drug into Alira's glass and then she had pushed her out into the middle of the road with no intention of calling for help before the GHB killed her.
While Alexis had already forgiven River his decision, I knew that both Mr Heath and I were not going to be so easily satisfied.
"Miss Cole and her associates will all be taken care of," Timothy assured us both, his voice so cold that I felt a shiver creep down my spine. No matter that my profession was as a world-class martial artist, I was definitely not the scariest person in the room. "And as for River, he will..."
As though by some twist of fate, the sound of his name appeared to summon him. The solid door was pushed inward as my little brother came storming into the room.
I tried to prevent, every calming technique Grey had ever taught running through my mind but I couldn't slow the racing of heart or push away the feeling betrayed devastation. I had entrusted this person with one of the most precious things that I had ever held. Rage punched through me so swiftly that I gasped under the onslaught.
I couldn't see his frantic eyes, pale face and trembling fingers. With red descending over my vision, I never noticed the ripped and dirty state of his shirt or the scrapes, bruises and blood. The split lip and busted knuckles meant nothing as I heard a sound reminiscent of a freight train, my bare feet barely touching the ground as I charged him.
There was no time for him to do anything other than cower as I lost complete and utter control. My body had been honed to fight, my punches powerful enough to do serious damage...and I turned all of that training, all of that leashed feral emotion on a person who in the eyes of every UFC contestant was defenceless.
With one right cross, I felt and heard things in his face breaking. His glasses flew somewhere across the room as I watched his eyes roll up behind his lids. There was nothing he could do against me and one more hit would kill him if I aimed for the right place.
I would have done it, there was no sanity, but strong arms restrained me. The grip locked forearms just below both my shoulders, ensuring that I had to pull back unless I wanted to have them both dislocated.
"Calm down," A heavily accented voice cautioned as he pulled my back against his brutal front. "Killing him will do nothing except hurt everyone more."
My chest heaved as I tried to find some sort of control, River collapsed at my feet with his face a mess and his eyes closed.
A doctor came running in, his body joining others as I began to realise that the room had filled with members of Timothy's protective team.
"What on Earth?" The blonde man in green scrubs exclaimed, dropping to his knees to ensure that there was a pulse. "What happened to him?"
"The two Mr Daimons appear to have had a disagreement, Dr Neas," A smooth voice answered, the speaker somewhere behind me as I finally began to slump in the relentless hold.
"I'll need to move him to his own room," The doctor announced. "His cheekbone, at least, is fractured."
"I'll want to speak to him when he wakes up," Mr Heath announced, his voice gruff as he walked over and gestured for his guard to release me. "Make sure he gets the best care and one of you should retrieve his parents." Those intense eyes locked on my own, "Enough, Heath. You brother has some explaining to do when he recovers and it's obvious that Alira wasn't the only one to get into trouble tonight."
I barely acknowledged him. My eyes were on River's body as it was loaded onto a bed and wheeled away. Everything was still a jumbled mess as I dropped my chin to my chest, breathing through the burning need find someone else to hurt.
I was completely fucked up and I knew that River would need his chance to explain but in that moment, I didn't give a shit.
"Alira..." Alexis suddenly cried, the tears in her voice making me spin around to face the bed, the sight of my broken brother forgotten as I realised that those beautiful eyes were slowly starting to flutter open. "Timothy, she's waking up!"
Her father and I both raced back over, each of us clasping a hand as we all silently willed the drugged fog to recede just long enough for us to find some reassurance.
"Hey, baby," I whispered, my cheeks wet as I tried to make my lips tilt up.
"Hi," She breathed before giving into the trauma and slipping back into unconsciousness, her fingers curling tight around my own.