32. Kennedy
CHAPTER 32
Kennedy
I’m in the waiting room, the anticipation of meeting these little ones causing me to pace around the small room. Sam’s mother is no better, going up to the nurses’ station every few minutes to ask for an update.
There aren’t too many families waiting out here, so I don’t feel like my movements are interrupting anyone, but I try to keep myself from walking the entirety of the labor floor waiting room as the twins are most likely delivered at this point.
The next time the large double doors open, they reveal Ashton, his smile from ear to ear. Sam’s mother jumps from her seat that she occupied about fifteen seconds ago and rushes toward him.
“Sam’s doing great. The babies are perfect. They look like their beautiful mama. I’ve fallen in love all over again. We’ve got twenty fingers and twenty little toes. They’re fine but had to go to the NICU. They were struggling a little to breathe without the oxygen mask, but overall, are looking good. Once Sam is moving a little better, we can wheel her over to see them.”
Even though the babies are being monitored in the NICU, the smile hasn’t left his face as he talks to us. All of us breathe a sigh of relief with the news, and I can’t wait to see their sweet faces.
“I’m just going to swing back and check on Sam, then I can walk to the NICU and get an update on how they’re doing,” he says as he makes his way back toward the room where Sam is recovering.
We nod, tears falling down our cheeks with the happy news, and start to grab our belongings. Right then, I swing my gaze toward the television, not registering everything I see when I catch a flash of reflective gear that looks a lot like the kind I see at the firehouse.
I notice they’re covering a fire at a local factory that has been shut down for some time. The flames are taking over the screen, and my stomach drops. My hands go numb as I feel this dread come over me in fear that River is in the middle of that chaos. I know he most likely will be, the structure is far too big for one station to cover alone.
As if I conjured him up, I see his face come through the elevator doors that just opened. I feel instant relief seeing him in front of me, but it takes an extra second to realize it’s Clay, not River, coming toward me.
The look of concern on his face consumes him, and I feel all the contents in my hands fall to the ground. I start shaking my head, fear overtaking me as he gets closer.
He opens his arms to me as I rush into them, immediately talking into my ear, telling me, “He’s okay, Kennedy. He got injured on the job, but he’s going to be fine. I promise he is going to be okay.” He pulls away, then gets at eye level with me. “Did you hear me? Did you understand what I just said?” he asks, probably feeling my body shake in fear even though I know he’s going to be okay.
“Wh-what happened?” My breaths are shortening, and I can feel the anxiety taking over even as I try to calm myself down.
“He was trying to get out of the building, and it was so old, it came crashing down pretty quick. Quicker than we ever imagined. He didn’t quite make it out the door completely, and his leg got caught. But in his attempt to escape getting more injured, he hit his head and was unconscious for a bit. He’s downstairs in the ER waiting for orders from the doctor.”
I don’t know how Clay is being so calm as I’m a mess just hearing the story.
“I need to see him. Please, take me to him.” I start to grab my discarded items, and I look over to Sam’s parents. “Please let Ash and Sam know I’ll be back later to check on all of them. Tell them congratulations for me.” It’s hard to muster a smile, yet I give them a small one, and then I turn and rush to the elevator.
“How did you know I was here?” I ask him, forgetting a number of people know my whereabouts.
“I knew Sam was having the babies, but then once River came to, he told me to get you. Actually, he demanded it, so here I am.” He smiles, and it’s hard not to see all the similarities between the two of them at a time like this. Most of the time, all I see are the two of them as entirely different people. I see little differences in their facial expressions, but that’s probably due to years of inspecting their features.
I hug Clay and thank him for coming to get me. The elevator ride feels like a lifetime until it dings and opens to the hustle of the lobby of the ER. I see multiple firefighters waiting around; some I recognize, and some are new faces to me.
The nurse sees us coming and calls out, “This the wife?”
I must have a stunned expression as I look over my shoulder, waiting for someone else to be trailing behind me. To my surprise, she’s directing her question to us, and Clay answers, “Yep,” and the doors automatically open, and we’re moving along the corridor to River’s room.
“Who’s wife?” I ask, still not allowing all the pieces to fall into place.
“Only family is allowed back here, Kennedy,” he says as if I should have known.
I’m still digesting the idea of being River’s wife when the curtain opens, and River’s handsome face appears. He’s got a cut over his eyebrow that is being stitched by the nurse. A pretty nurse, might I add. If she could focus on her job and not on my boyfriend’s gorgeous features, maybe she’d be done already.
She snaps out of it to look over at us making our way into the room. “Oh, are you the wife?”
I don’t hesitate this time and make my way toward River’s side, grabbing his hand and squeezing it.
“That I am,” I say, making sure I lay claim on him before she decides to try anything further with him. She’s already a bit closer to him than I would like, but she’s fixing him up, so I’ll keep the green-eyed monster at bay for now.
The nurse must sense the tension I’m giving off and blushes slightly, returning to the cut on River’s face.
I move my gaze to him, and he’s smiling like he’s enjoying the fact I’m jealous a little too much.
“Hey, baby, or should I say wife.” He waggles his eyebrows and quickly winces.
“Stay still, please,” the nurse says, clearly disappointed her hot patient isn’t available.
“Are you okay? You’re scared me!” I complain, yet all of the cells in my body are relieved seeing him mostly intact.
I look down and notice his right leg in a splint.
“Did you break it?” I move my hand down his leg, careful not to put pressure on it.
“Nothing a few kisses won’t fix.” He winks with his good eye.
“I see.” I smirk yet squint my gaze in his direction.
Working a little faster, the nurse finishes patching him up and stands, grabbing all the supplies she was using on her tray.
“Okay, Mr. Nichols, you’re all stitched up. We’ll be right back to do an X-ray of that leg to make sure nothing is indeed broken. No falling asleep. Remember, you’re on concussion protocol,” she explains, not once making eye contact with me.
I stand a little closer to River and drop a kiss on his head. I still see the dust from the debris that fell on him, and I close my eyes and throw a quick thank you to my angels above for watching over him.
“So, what do you think, wife? You ready to take care of me for a few days?” River says while Clay snorts in the corner.
“Yeah, right. That’ll be the day,” his brother says, and I look over and cut him a look that shuts him right up.
My gaze returns to River. “Sweetie, you can call me Skipper, girlfriend, or baby, but there’s no wife here today. You’re going to have to put a ring on it for that dream to become a reality.”
“I’m injured, baby. You’ve gotta cut me some slack.” He gives me his big, hazel eyes, pleading with me.
“Not today.” I shake my head. “You may be hurt, but it’s going to take a proper proposal to get me to marry you,” I say.
River mocks hurt by placing his hand on his chest. “Wow, for someone who loves proposals, you’re sort of cold.”
“You never proposed, Riv!” I whisper-yell his way.
“Fine, then I will cross out ‘near-death experience’ as a means to ask you to marry me,” he says, and I start to laugh until I realize he’s seriously talking about marrying me like it’s really in his plans.
He must read the confusion on my features and adds, “Oh, don’t worry, I’ve got something planned. You’ll just have to wait now, Skip.” He’s taunting me, asking for me to bite, but I let this conversation die down and pull a seat next to his gurney.
“Okay, buddy.” I chuckle and lift my head to look at Clay. “How hard did you say he hit his head?”
“You think I’m kidding, Kennedy? I’m serious. I’m going to propose to you so hard, you’re not even going to see it coming,” River teases.
Before I can answer, a tech comes to get him x-rayed. River is wheeled out to radiology while we stay behind and wait for his return. We had moved to the hall to see River out but stayed for a few extra moments, no rush to sit back in the room.
While staring toward the door River just left through, I hear whispers in the nurses’ station. “See, that’s her. He’s taken ladies. They’re always taken.”
I just smile to myself, and I look over to see Clay suppressing a laugh. The chatter continues, and it’s proving to be quite entertaining.
“He’s got a photocopy right there. Just ask him out,” another voice chimes in, and now it’s getting hard to hold in the laughter.
Clay moves closer to me to whisper, “It’s always so reassuring to hear you’re second-best.”
I smack him on the chest and let out a laugh. To add to the entertainment, someone taps Clay on the shoulder. The moment we both turn around, I’m instantly greeted by the nurse who was stitching River’s gash.
“Hey. I’m Jamie. I, uh, am your brother’s nurse. I wanted to see if you wanted to grab a coffee sometime.” I can hear the nervousness in her voice, and I let my eyes dart from her to Clay, waiting to see how he tackles this one.
“Sure, why not?” He extends his hand. “I’m Clay, by the way,” he says to her, and her smile beams his way. She puts a paper in his hand with what I assume is her number.
“Great. Give me a call.” She saunters off, giggling as she joins the rest of her nursing friends.
“Wow, I guess second-best isn’t too bad after all,” I tell him, and he pockets the number.
“I guess not,” he says, turning to face River’s room again.
“She’s cute. I bet it would be fun,” I say, taking a quick look back at the nursing station again.
“Yeah, only one way to find out,” he says, sounding a bit defeated in his tone.
“So you think you’re ready to get back out there for real now?” I ask, sort of surprised he’s ready to start dating now. From what I’ve seen, he’s seemed more caught up on Abby than wanting to move forward.
He looks down at his hands, wiping at some soot still left near his wrist. “My marriage crumbled, but I think it’s time I start dating again. It’s weird. When Abby first left, I was adamant I hated her. I was so mad, but then it took a few months and many drinks later to see that I wasn’t mad at her. I was still in love with her.
“And no matter how much I tried to deny it, it wouldn’t change that fact. So now I own up to it, and hopefully, one day, it won’t feel so heavy to get someone’s number and actually pull the trigger and call them. And maybe that day will be today with Nurse Jamie. Maybe it’s with someone else. But I can’t keep waiting around and sulking. What I had with Abby is in the past. I can’t go backwards anymore. I have to look ahead.”
As much as he’s saying these words, I a see the look of defeat in his features. It’s in moments like these I see the differences between the brothers come to the surface. River has always been sarcastic and ready to goof off. Clay has always had a softer side. That’s probably why I never felt an attraction to Clay. I preferred the side of River that was always wanting to spar with me. Clay was the one I went to for a comforting hug and something kind to say.
“I’m sorry it still hurts,” is all I can think of to say. He nods and puts his hands in his pockets.
Once the X-rays are done, we return to the room and sit to wait for the doctor on call to come in and give us results.
“You’re lucky, Mr. Nichols. Looks like it’s just a bad sprain. The swelling should subside after a few days, but no fracture is evident. If, for any reason, the pain worsens or you notice more swelling in that portion of the leg, please don’t hesitate to return. You’ll be off duty for the next two weeks. Don’t try to be a bigger hero either and disregard my orders.” Dr. Jonis looks at River, hoping to get through to him.
“Don’t worry. We’ll keep an eye on him,” I reassure the doctor. “Thank you for everything.”
“You’re still on concussion protocol even though there’s no indication you have one. I’d feel better if you have someone with you tonight. The nurse will give you discharge papers with a list of symptoms to watch out for,” he explains.
“Oh, my wife ,” River emphasizes the word, “will be with me all night. She’s a great nurse.” River has the nerve to wink at me, and I roll my eyes. Seems that head injury isn’t messing with him right now.
The doctor nods and turns to leave when River chimes in again, “Uh, Doc, what about other things? You know, other extracurriculars,” he asks with no shame while Clay lets out a loud laugh by my side. I simply shake my head. I cannot believe his mind is on that right now. Of course, my face goes crimson.
“As long as you continue to do well and don’t feel any headaches, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, or double vision, you should be good to go in twenty-four hours. Just be careful with the leg. Make sure you’re staying off it while you recover.” With that, the doctor leaves, and we wait for the nurse to come back with discharge paperwork.
Clay leaves to update the firehouse with the news, and then it’s just us in the room. I sit there and continue to look at River with a baffled expression.
“Oh, come on, Skipper, you had to know I would ask. I’m injured, not dead. I have needs, and so do you.” He smirks, and, once again, I can’t help the eye roll.
“Your safety and health come first, Riv,” I say as I stand and get closer to him.
“Believe me, all that is part of my health.” He moves his hand onto my cheek.
The feel of his warmth against my skin calms me, and I close my eyes and lean into his touch. The fact he could have been severely injured or taken from me is not lost in that moment, and I can feel a tear fall down my cheek.
“Hey, why are you crying? Look at me. I’m fine,” he says as he moves his thumb to catch the tear.
I move closer to him, kissing his face, careful not to hurt the patched-up spot above his eyebrow. I move my lips over his and just savor that moment between us.
“I love you so much, and I just can’t fathom a moment where you’re not here with me, that’s all,” I say, vulnerability etching my words.
“I love you too, and I told you nothing is going to happen to me.” He moves his hand into my hair and brings my lips to his again, deepening the kiss.
“You can’t promise me that though,” I whisper.
“Let’s move in together, Kennedy,” he says, and I can’t help the gasp that escapes my lips.
“River, listen, I am not expecting you to make big decisions right now. Let’s get you better, and if you still want that, then we can revisit this at another time.” I think he does have a concussion. There’s no way.
“Kennedy, you want to know what gets me through my day when I’m not with you?” I give a slight nod, and he continues, “Knowing I’ll get to spend my nights with you. The fact Lola is there waiting for me and so are you. Getting home after a long-ass shift knowing I can hold you and breathe you in. Those are the things I put high on my list. But tonight, all I wanted was to come home to you. Our home. Not my apartment or yours. I want us to be under the same roof, sharing things, annoying each other. Everything. I’m not kidding when I say I want everything with you.”
I look at him as he speaks to me, my eyes taking in his big hazel irises, sincerity and truth behind his gaze.
Without thinking through it too much, I start to nod, the smile on my face growing.
“Yeah? Yes? Fuck, Kennedy, baby,” he says, bringing my face closer to his and kissing me. “I’m so happy right now.” He kisses me, and I swear I see stars.
In that moment, I fall a little deeper for the one man I pushed away for so long.