Lea

         They say that when something critical happens, the human brain speeds everything up and makes you more alert. In other words, it's known as fight or flight, or adrenaline.

         But right now, everything is slowed down in my eyes, and I'm only focusing on one thing. What has happened?

         Is she dead? Did something happen to her? Where's Nick? Is he still in the room, with her?

         And my last question is instantly answered when two security guards drag Nick out of Emily's hospital room by his arms. He is resisting against their pull, pushing as hard as he can to get back into the room.

         "We need you step out of the room, please." One of the nurses instructs Nick urgently as she blocks the entrance of the wide-open hospital door. Beyond it lies Emily, surrounded by a team of medical professionals.  

         "Stop, no! Let go! Let go of me! Emily!" Nick shouts, struggling against the grip of the large security men.

         I can feel River's body tense as if every single cell of his has turned to ice. His grasp on my hand has gone completely, but that doesn't stop me from wrapping my fingers even tighter around his.

         "Don't let go of my hand." His words repeat in my head.

         Part of me thinks that he meant that sentence with a deeper meaning than just me holding his hand; I think what he meant is that he doesn't want me to leave his side, which I'll never do. 

         What's happening with Emily?

         The question digs into every inch of my brain, pleading for an answer. Did Nick do something to her?

         No, I can't imagine him purposely hurting her. 

         I'm quickly diverted from my thoughts when River's stiff body surges forward, towards Nick.

         "You son of a bitch!" River shouts at the top of his lungs. Nick's eyes dart to River's, and they widen at the sight of rage evident on his face.

Thank God I'm holding onto his hand as tightly as I am since I'm able to stop him from reaching Nick in time. Pulling at his hand forcefully, I halt him in his tracks aimed straight for Nick. He gets dragged backward towards me, allowing me enough time to step in front of him, blocking the way between him and Nick.

Conner and Ky instantly jump into action and help me restrict River from attacking Nick, both of them grabbing each of his arms to pull him away from where Nick is standing.

"River, River," I repeat his name until his gaze finally lands on mine, and is no longer focused on Nick behind me.

The amount of fury and resentment present in his once warm eyes terrifies, but that doesn't stop me from trying to calm him down. When Conner and Ky have managed to secure him within their sturdy grips, I raise both my hands to River's face, cupping his cheeks with my palms. His eyes dart back to Nick.

"Hey, hey, River, look at me. Look at me." I speak quietly, gently, until he does as I say. "You promised me, River." I say, "You promised you wouldn't do anything stupid."

Anger burns on in his eyes, and I have a feeling it's not going to fade for a while.

"Beating the crap out of that bastard wouldn't be stupid, it would be necessary." He growls heatedly, glaring at Nick. His breathing is heavy, shown by the rapid movement of his shoulders heaving up and down.

How can I calm him down? What should I do?

Nick's shouting a few meters behind us cuts off my thoughts. The security guards are still trying their best to drag him away, but it's not working. He keeps freeing himself from their grip and trying to run back into Emily's room.

But it's what he says next that leaves me in utter shock.

"Emily! I love you, Emily!" His words echo through the corridors, and I'm certain everyone could hear them loud and clear. "Let go of me! Let go!"

"If you don't calm down, we're going to have to handcuff you son!" One of the security guards shouts, making Nick's mouth close shut.

The men finally manage to control Nick's pulls and tugs, so they start to successfully lead him away from Emily's room, away from us and down the corridor. I turn back to River, who is still glaring at Nick with the most venomous eyes. However, he's also shocked, as am I. 

Nick's voice rings in my ears, ripping my heart apart. 

Once Nick's figure disappears around the corner of the corridor, and he's out of sight, River's eyes move to meet mine, yet the angst within them is still flaming and powerful. When they're sure River won't sprint after Nick to beat the crap out of him, Ky and Conner's grips on his arms loosen before they both back away slightly. However, they remain close to him, just in case.

For a split second, my eyes hold Ky's gaze, and I can read his emotions like an open book – he looks broken and devastated. He must really, really like Emily.

         "I'm sorry, but we're going to need to clear the corridor. Please go and take a seat in the reception area." Speaks one of the nurses that steps out of Emily's room, she has an uneasy look on her face.

         What's happened to Emily?

         "What's happening to my sister?" River asks her; his voice loud in contrast to hers.

It breaks my heart to see him like this, he's trying to stand his ground and act strong, but in the way he forces the words off of his tongue, I can tell he's holding in so much that I'm afraid he'll explode at any moment.

"We're unsure at the moment, sir. We will tell you once the situation is under control." The nurse says, gesturing for us to move away from the room.

"River, come on. Let's go." I tell him delicately, finding his hand and weaving my fingers through his.

His eyes glance at me, then back to the nurse.

"Is..." His voice cracks. "Is she going to be alright?" He questions, a little calmer this time, but it's obvious that he's still in a state of rage.

The nurse hesitates for a moment, and that makes my heart leap in fear. Please let Emily be okay. Please, please, River doesn't deserve this, he really doesn't.

"Let's hope for the best sir, for the mean time; please make your way to the reception area." She holds up her arm up in its direction.

Locking our hands together again, I speak to him softly. "Come on, River. Come with me."

***

River

When I saw all of those doctors and nurses pouring into Emily's room earlier, I couldn't help but recall back to that night – the night of her accident. I was the last to know, even Ky and Jake knew, but not me. When Ky called me up, I was in bed, with Georgia.

I laugh now at the thought, and to see how much things have changed since then. But when I received that phone call, everything went numb. At the time, it was as if I was standing on the outside, and watching all the chaos unfold before my eyes, and I couldn't do anything.

I don't even remember how I made it to the hospital, but when I did, I was only able to see Emily for a few moments before they had to drag me out of the room like they did with Nick earlier.

Nick. If only I can describe the resentment, I feel towards him. This should have never happened; he should have never caused this. Why? Why?

"Hey, man. Came as soon as I heard." Says a distant voice, which belongs to Jake, but I'm too intrigued by my thoughts to respond to anything that's happening around me.

I can't lose her; Emily can't die. What if she's already dead? How the hell am I supposed to get through something like this? She's the only blood-related family I know, I can't lose her.

"Hey, River, do you want anything from the cafeteria?" This time it's Ky who speaks – again, I don't reply.

"She's...she's in a coma River, she's not waking up. Get here as soon as you can." Ky's worried voice from a year ago echoes repetitively through my ears.

"River?" It's Lea's voice this time, and it's the only sound that interjects the horrid memories from circling in my head.

I look up at her to see her beautiful brown eyes staring nervously into mine. My eyes roam her face until they reach her lips, and if I weren't so caught up in all this mess, I would happily kiss her right now.

"River?" She calls my name again, making my eyes revert away from her lips back to stare into hers.

Does she see how weak I feel? Can she tell that I'm so tired inside? Can she guess that she's the reason why I still have a little hope left inside of me?

"Yeah?" I reply.

"Do you want anything from the cafeteria? I'm gonna go with Ky." She says, but I instantly reject. I want her by my side.

"No," I shake my head, "come outside with me for a bit?" I offer, standing up from my seat while reaching for her hand.

She intertwines her fingers with mine and nods - leaving Ky to go to the cafeteria with Jake instead. Taking her to the elevator, we reach the ground floor and head outside. There are a few people out here already, so Lea and I find a quiet spot.

Letting go of her hand, I dig into my coat pocket and reach for my pack of cigarettes. I haven't smoked since the time Lea caught me on the balcony, and I definitely don't have an addiction, but I need to get my mind off of this whole thing for a few minutes. So, smoking is one of the only options.

"What are you doing?" She asks, eyeing the cigarette pack in my hand.

"What does it look like, babe?" I place one stick between my teeth before returning the pack to my pocket and fetching the lighter.

There's a clear look of disapproval plastered on her face, but she doesn't say anything. I guess she knows that desperate times call for desperate measures. I'm glad that she can agree to disagree.

Lighting the cigarette on my first swipe of the lighter, I take a long drag and turn my head away from Lea to exhale the smoke. Magically, my insides start to calm down and I feel more relaxed after a few drags.

Lea is now looking at the ground while leaning her body against the side of the hospital building; her arms crossed over her chest in an annoyed manner. Yes, she undoubtedly disapproves.

"You don't like me smoking, do you?" I state the obvious.

"Of course not." She answers, looking up at me.

"Why not? I don't smoke that often." I admit, taking another drag.

"Because, that stuff..." She points to the smoke around us with her finger. "Can kill you."

"We all die in the end."

She gives me a stern look. "I know, River. But this stuff can kill you before you're actually meant to die."

"So? What if I want that?"

I shouldn't have said that.

As soon as the words leave my mouth, Lea places both her hands on my chest and pushes me with all of her might, resultantly making me stumble backwards. The cigarette lets loose of my hold and I watch as it dives to the pavement and lands beside my feet.

I glance up at her, then down to my chest, and then back up at her.

"You've gotten stronger since the last time you tried to push me."

The distant memory resurfaces of Lea's first night at our house when she attempted to push me away from her, but failed miserably.

"Don't change the subject River. You can't say stuff like that, ever." She yells, irritated.

Oh crap, I didn't mean to get her angry. I'm just...Angry myself. And it seems the only way I can cope is by hurting other people in the process. I'm such an idiot.

 I step towards her, "don't get upset." I say, wishing that I never said what I said.

"I'm not, I'm just...Look life is shit sometimes, I get it. But you can't say those sort of things, not in front of me anyway." She speaks with a weak voice.

I'm starting to worry that all of this is too much for her. I never intended for to get involved with my problems and me, but she just so happens to be the only person who I can easily confide in. I wish I didn't have to drag her into this though; she shouldn't be worried about issues that aren't her own.

I don't want to make her upset. I don't want Lea to hurt because of me.

She averts her eyes to the floor, so I place a finger underneath her chin and pull her head up gently. I could happily look into these mesmerising deep brown eyes forever. 

"You know that I'm not myself right now, I didn't mean it," I tell her, edging closer. My fingers travel to the side of her face to push some stray hairs away behind her ear.

She blinks several times, which makes me wonder whether she's holding back tears.

Lea should not be crying, at least not because of me.

"I know," she nods. "Just, please, promise me you'll try to stop smoking." She finishes, her eyes glue to mine.

Dropping my hand from her face, I dig into my coat pocket to pull out the half empty packet of cigarettes that I bought almost a year ago. As I said, I hardly ever smoke.

"Here," I say, showing her the pack. Then, I step towards one of the bins lining the building and toss it in, before returning to stand in front of her. "No more smoking."

Her lips curve upwards into a pretty smile, one of those smiles that make me feel like the luckiest guy to have someone like her in my life.

"No more smoking." She repeats, satisfied.

I examine her face for a moment, taking all of her in, every single inch – she's so perfect.

"You look so good when you smile," I voice my thoughts, and watch her signature blush appear on her cheeks. I never lied when I said that her blush turns me on. And I can't help myself anymore.

I lean my head down until our faces are almost touching.

"And I love you so fucking much," I whisper, before closing the gap between our faces and kissing her.

***