The Mafia's Babies by Kaycee Romano (little readers TXT) 📕

Sweat trickled down River's face as she picked out the last of the glass splinter from the side of her unconscious son's face.

Her daughter was being operated on by the chief of neurosurgery. A side of her skull was crushed.

Only God knew how this woman was holding up without shedding a tear.

"Get a CT scan done after Dr. Ames patches him up." She said to the intern in charge, letting the plastic surgeon take over. She nodded at Jacqueline, wordlessly asking her to keep an eye on her child while she went to check on the progress of her other little one and their father.

She retreated from the room and to the general ward where Alessia was forcefully getting Mateo patched up.

"You need to get yourself treated, Mateo!" River fast walked to him when she realized he was rejecting any further treatment. He had a pretty big gash on his head and they needed to get a scan to see what was going on but he just refused to budge.

"Not until I know my kids are safe." He said, his eyes red and his veins popping. He looked up at her finally, his eyebrows knitted together. "Why are you not with Luke?"

"Jackie's with him." River said and before he could react, hugged him. Finally, the tears trickled down her eyes. Finally, she let herself be a little vulnerable in front of someone.

Mateo hugged her back without a second thought.

"They will be fine." He said. "They have the genes of two of the most stubborn people in the world."

River nodded. That is exactly what she wanted to hear. She pulled away, sniffing as she violently wiped away her tears.

"I don't want you being stubborn right now, okay?" She said, grabbing his hand. "Just shut up and comply to the tests they want to run."

Mateo wanted to protest but seeing the condition his love was in, he knew better than to give her more to worry about. So he nodded in agreement, though his stomach kept churning thinking of the condition their kids would be in.

He nodded.

River wanted to make sure everyone was fine and wanted to stay with the two of them but she couldn't help but leave for the operating room, scrubbing in along with the neurosurgeon.

Having someone you love go through a serious surgery is scary enough. But when that person happens to be your own little one, the pain and fear is immense and like no other.

Lucas and Mateo had been shifted to a VIP room, both of their scan results came back normal except for a subgaleal hematoma in Mateo's which had been taken care of. Their other wounds were fortunately superficial.

Kiara, on the other hand, had taken the whole impact of the crash.

She had comminuted fractures on the skull and it was not looking pretty.

Taking a deep breath, River decided to scrub in on the surgery.

Walking in, she was not surprised to see the worried expression on people's faces. After all, she had left the hospital two months ago due to some sort of PTSD with the kid's kidnapping and now her little girl was on the operating table.

Many could empathize with how horrible she must be feeling at the moment.

Dr. Matthews looked up at her after a while and said. "She will lose her hearing on the left ear. We can't do anything about it right now other than to get hearing aid."

She was shocked. It was a blow to her and she didn't know how to tell Mateo. That their little girl lost hearing in an ear because of the enemies they had collected.

She knew that her dumbass man-child was going to blame himself for it. But honestly, it was not his fault. He nor she asked for any of this.

But whoever was responsible was going to pay.

River swallowed back the lump in her throat and nodded.

She felt miserable and helpless. There really was nothing she could do, was there?

For a woman like Dr. River Johnson who had been independent and kickass all her life, having no control or solution to a situation was the worst thing that could happen to her.

Having the kids had awakened the mother in her. And she had always kept her children above her own needs and wishes. She handled them so delicately, as if they were the most fragile pieces of art, but now, listening to Dr. Matthew, she wondered if she had fallen short in the amount of safety she provided her children.

The surgery lasted another two hours before the unconscious little one was moved to the intensive care unit to be monitored for brain swelling or any other complications for the next forty eight hours.

And it was finally time for River to go back to her boys.

She dragged herself to the VIP room, not knowing how to break the news to them. Her little girl was still in critical condition. Anything could go wrong though it was only right to hope for the best.

George, Davis and Victor were at the door. They opened the door as soon as they saw her. River murmured a "thanks" before walking in, to find their son sleeping peacefully on Mateo's chest.

He looked up, his eyes widening with anticipation.

Alessia too was quick to jump to her feet.

"She made it through the surgery." River spoke in a detached voice, the heaviness in her chest almost suffocating.

"She lost hearing in her left ear."

There was silence. Painful, suffocating silence.

Mateo took a moment to take it all in. He then sat up, gesturing to River to take their son.

"I have some scores to settle." He said, his words dripping with venom.

Alessia too had a deathly look on her face.

She wanted vengeance as much as these two, but River knew that none of it was necessary at the moment. The only thing that mattered were the kids and until they were safe and sound and away from further danger, she was not going to let anyone think about anything else.

"First, let's make sure the kids are safe." She said, finality in her voice. "Nothing else matters right now."