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"One cookies and cream, one chocolate chip cookie dough and one buttered pecan." River listed out to the young girl behind the counter.

She quickly printed the receipt and the doctor paid before she scooped out the icy goodness and passed the three cups in a tray.

"Have a good day."

River smiled at her, mumbling a "You too." before making her way to the table near the window, where her kids sat, talking animatedly to each other.

Ah, she could watch them all day.

But it was almost four now and that meant they had to quickly finish their ice cream and head to Uncle Sebastian's. She had to drop them back home before she went back to the hospital for her six o'clock shift.

"There you go!" River exclaimed, placing the cups of ice cream in front of her very excited kids before taking her own cup of buttered pecan.

"Thanks Mommy." They said in unison.

"Your welcome babies." Kiara grinned while Lucas scowled. He really did not like being called a baby and he knew that his Mommy called him that on purpose to rile him up. But River really couldn't help it, her son looked way too cute when he was mad.

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"You look like you crawled out of your grave." River greeted her best friend of thirty years as she watched her kids run over to little Mia who was playing with her toys sitting on the carpet.

"When are you crawling back into yours?" Sebastian Shane asked, closing the door behind him, his eyes on the bag from the ice cream store in his best friend's arm.

"Six o'clock."

"Can the kids stay?" He looked at her with the stupidest puppy eyes while she gave him a weird look. "Why?"

Like, wasn't one demon enough?

"Because she forgets about my existence when they are around." He pointed at his little devil. Mia was just two but she was the devil reincarnated. Though she did act like an angel in front of her mother and god-mother and only saved the worst for her dear old father.

River burst out laughing.

My poor poor bestie does look like he could use a break! The inner voice was feeling a bit sympathetic. He was the only sibling-like figure she had in her life.

"Fine. But you have to drop them back in the morning. Lucas got school." River finally said after giving it a thought. She placed the bags of goodies she had brought for her two-year-old godchild and thirty-two-year-old best friend.

"Is there ice cream?" He whispered, watching the kids play with Mia's toy train.

"Yeah." River whispered back. "Buttered pecan."

The two besties both liked the same ice cream. And that was probably the only thing they had in common other than their love for bike riding, something they left behind after job and kids. And they also shared the same hatred for a particular part of their past.

The doctor and architect knew each other through their mothers. Susan and Josephine were best friends who were attached at the hips since childhood, so as children they had to spent way too much time together and inevitably became attached at the hips just like their mothers.

And they continued and cherished their friendship though they lived completely different lives now.

"What time is it?" River asked her best friend when she realized that she had left her stupid phone in the car.

"Quarter to five." He said, stuffing his face with ice cream.

"Jesus, Shane! Eat slowly. You are gonna choke at this rate!" River whisper-yelled, slapping him by the arm, knowing very well there would be war if Mia saw the ice cream.

She had wheezing so her parents and godmother kept her away from cold stuff as much as possible but of course, the two-year-old loved ice cream, like any other normal child.

"I am gonna head back to my apartment." She told him before making her way to the kids.

"Gomama!" Mia squealed seeing her favorite aunt. She was yet to frame proper words. She called River 'Gomama' because Alison kept saying she was her godmother.

Yes, the same Alison River had met at her apartment after Sebastian and her one-night stand was now her sister-in-law and mother to her godchild.

"Hi my baby." River cooed, tapping her nose making her giggle.

"Who wants to stay with Uncle Sebby and Mia?" She turned to her other two darling little babies.

"Me!!" The both of them said in unison, throwing their hands in the air.

"Hmm..." The doctor pretended to give it a thought just for the suspense even though she had already made up her mind. "I guess you could stay tonight."

The kids squealed with excitement while Sebastian shook his head at his best friend's antics.

What? I need some entertainment in my life, don't I? The inner voice thought to herself as River grabbed her purse.

She said her goodbyes and instructed what and what not to do with Kiara and her cast. She had painkillers only in the morning so she could just take it once she was back home.

River drove back to her apartment where she found Mrs. Marley waiting for her with pasta.

"I had a feeling the twins would be staying with Sebastian today." Mrs. Marley said as she added some chocolate bags into River's emergency duffel bag.

River changed into her scrubs and left after kissing her housekeeper and mother-like figure goodbye.

Now I just have to report to work...

And apologize to a certain Italian.

Even her otherwise shameless inner voice was embarrassed to a level about having fallen asleep for so long at a patient's room.

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It was half past six in the evening. And Mateo was already super exhausted.

Who would have thought having to walk after staying in bed for a week would be so difficult?

He had only practiced walking about an hour in the evening after all the massage and therapy they gave him, but he was tired. And mad. Hella mad.

"Bro, you need to take it slo-"

Mateo glared at Adam before he could complete what he was saying. Why was he here today?

Mateo was feeling at his lowest today since the whole incident. He felt useless and he felt ashamed.

How could he, Mateo Adesso, the Capo of the New York unit of The Sicilian Mafia, end up like this?

He didn't want his best friend Adam, cousin Leonardo or mother Katrina here today. He didn't want anyone here. He didn't want anyone to see him when he was in such a pathetic condition!

He wanted to be alone.

There was a knock on the door and Mateo was about to yell at Wells when he said,

"Dr. Johnson is here."

Though his first emotion on seeing her was some kind of contentment, it was quickly replaced by anger.

Mateo narrowed his eyes. He thought he had asked that fucker to give her two days off! Did he think he can do as he pleased just because Mateo was bedridden?

"Hey..." She said slowly.

"Hey doc, you deal with this grumpy ass while I get some coffee!" Adam grinned, winking at his best friend cryptically before leaving them alone.

Mateo felt all the more irritated by that. Yes, he wanted her. But she was also the last person he wanted to see him in such a condition. It was true that right now, she was his doctor, but he didn't want that. He wanted her to be his woman.

"Dr. Johnson, what are you doing here?" He asked, gritting his teeth. What are you doing here instead of getting your well-deserved rest?

"Um... I came to apologize for what happened." She said quietly, looking really embarrassed. "I must have been super tired. But I know that doesn't mean I can-"

"Doctor." Mateo said, though he was itching to call her River. "You don't have to apologize for that. I deliberately didn't wake you up because I knew you were beyond exhausted. What I meant was what are you doing here when you should be resting. Aren't you supposed to be off-duty?"

She blinked a few times before replying, "Oh, I was off duty the whole day. I just got back."

"Why did you get back?" Mateo really wanted to take his phone out right then and call that motherfucker. But he couldn't risk her finding out that he was using his position to keep her away from her work she was so obsessed with.

"Because I am on call tonight. They let half the faculty off in the morning. We are back now so that the rest can go home. There's going to be a temporary arrangement before we go back to following our schedule." She blabbered.

Cute. Mateo found himself thinking.

"It's pretty complicated huh?" He asked, completely forgetting his previously foul mood as he relaxed, happy to hold a conversation with his new most favorite person.

She nodded. She looked more relaxed now. The bags under her eyes were still prominent but she didn't look exhausted anymore. She must have rested well in the morning.

The door was pushed open right then. River turned around to face the new visitor while Mateo looked over, his mood souring yet again.

"I know visiting time's over but I pulled some strings." Dmitri Petrov, the son of a bitch, chuckled, his eyes wandering all over the gorgeous doctor in front of him.

"You are very pretty." He took her hand and kissed it, his thick Russian accent a treat to the ears. "Correction. You are extremely gorgeous."

"Thanks." Dr. Johnson blinked, giving the guy a weird look then discreetly wiping her hand on her white coat. Mateo noticed her actions and he felt a certain amount of contentment. Good.

"I will be off then." River turned to he patient and gave him a polite, a smile that he returned, surprising even her. Mateo wanted her to stay and he wanted to know more about her but he was not letting his woman stay any more minutes in the vicinity of the disaster named Dmitri Petrov, Mona's younger brother.

The two men watched River open the door and stop.

Marsileo and Wells lay unconscious, blocking the way.

"Oops, I might have forgotten to clean that little mess up." Dmitri chuckled while Mateo already had his hand on his gun.

"Dr. Johnson, leave the room and the entire floor." Mateo directed her but she just turned back with a frown etched on her face. She looked shocked but not scared, something that surprised Mateo even more.

"The one who is going to leave is this guy. Now. From the hospital compound." She walked forward and pointed at the Russian Mafia man.

Dmitri let out another laugh, himself impressed by her courage. "I thought you were going to call the police or something!"

"You don't look like the kind of person law can touch." She sighed and looked him in the eye. "That's why I am requesting you to leave without creating a mess."

"Dr. Johnson, I will handle it. You should go." Mateo said. He was proud of his choice at this point but he was also anxious for her. Dmitri was an animal. And he also didn't want her 'requesting' the Russian dog.

"Yeah Doc, you are very pretty but I wouldn't think twice before putting you to sleep like I did them." He nodded towards the two bodyguards on the floor and then turned to the Sicilian Capo. "Though I gotta say Mateo, I am disappointed in you for having bodyguards who couldn't last a minute."

"I am fine with them." Mateo gritted out. "I rarely need them and I know very little people who can last a minute against me." He emphasized the last few words knowing very well that he had managed to remind the Russian of a few past incidents he had been trying to forget.

Dmitri was angered but he really didn't want any bloodshed so he simply shrugged and said, "Whatever, Mona asked you to get better soon and asked me to hand this over to you." He pulled out an envelope from his vest pocket and River noticed the shining metal handle of a gun inside.

She let out an anxious breath as he placed the envelope on the night stand and turned to her, stepping closer. "They have been just tasered Doc, chillax. I was just playing." He gave her his killer smile and walked out; her eyes did not leave his frame until he was completely out of sight.

"You seem to be interested in him." Mateo couldn't help the words that came out of his lips, making him sound stupid and immature even to himself.

"He is an interesting guy." She shrugged as she messaged a few medics to take care of the unconscious bodyguards, still lost in her thoughts. Of course, she knew her patient wasn't clean. She knew it when no police showed up and when his family treated his injury as if it was the most normal thing in the world. But this encounter made it all the more real, and intimidating.

She wasn't scared for herself, but she was worried about his stay in the hospital which would last another seven weeks. What if bad people attacked the hospital in an attempt to get to him? That was the only thing that worried her.

"Why don't you go get his number then?" He sounded more childish by the second.

She gave him a flat look and finally asked, "How did physiotherapy go today?"

Mateo narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath. And somehow, he found himself narrating the events of the whole day to her, whining about his disabilities and confessing his insecurities and he was happy to see that she did not respond with sympathy.

Of course she didn't.

She scolded him like she would a child for being so shallow and judging himself based on one of his lowest point, a point that wasn't going to last much longer if he did his physiotherapy wholeheartedly.

They talked for another half an hour by when Wells and Marsileo were completely awake and completely ashamed. Mateo let them off, knowing very well how capable Dmitri was. The man was a born assassin and he could not expect for all of his men to be better than him. He was just glad that Dmitri was feeling charitable and spared them their lives. River left after a while to tend to a new emergency case. And Adam still wasn't back.

Mateo finally took the envelope from the nightstand and tore it open.

It had a note.

I am sorry about my driver babe. Don't worry, I killed him. And I have another surprise for you.

Love, Mona.

Mateo moved the paper to see a photo. A photo of a woman killed, her chest torn open, her eyes wide open in anguish and horror. It was a gory sight which made bile rise up his throat. More so because he knew the woman. She was one of the women at the club he had gone to a few days before the incident. Adam had hit the dance floor and this woman was feeling Mateo up, promising him a good time. This was her punishment.

Mona truly was a lunatic.

Mateo felt a need to keep River close so that Mona couldn't get to her. It was either that or keeping her away.

And after today's incident and seeing her two sides: one of a brave lioness and the other of a caring companion, he knew that he was incapable of going with the latter.

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