Page 112 of A Lesson in Obedience
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Riley
Iimmediately burst out in tears when we were led into his hospital room. Asher had originally gone to speak to a nurse at the front desk, practically leaping over the counter when she wouldn’t instantly let him see his brother.
The security guards eyed him carefully as he calmed down and eventually someone came out to talk to us. It had all seemed so cut and dry to them. He’d been riding his motorcycle, sans helmet and crashed it into a tree. He had a broken arm in two places, shattered his knee, had fractured ribs and a head contusion. Every new piece of information made my stomach turn. Healers could only ever do so much. The more wounds a person had, the more it took a toll on them as magic users. Their magic would be useless if they didn’t have the strength to keep providing it. Some things were better when healed by medicine from both humans and healers alike.
A healer was in his room when we stepped in, cleaning up some of the smaller cuts and bruises around his chest and face. He gave us a small smile before heading out. I had promised Ike Iwould let him know how River was doing, which led to my mom calling me on the way over here since Ike had spilled the news to Jade, who for some reason told my mom.
I wasn’t in the mindset to call her back right now. I didn’t even know how to form a correct sentence at this point. We circled around his bed and I grabbed his hand, still feeling the warmth it always gave me. His chest moved up and down, his eyes roaming from behind his closed lids. They’d given him something to help the pain and fall asleep, which I appreciated because the way I only imagined him in agony from his impact with the tree was unsettling.
Asher held onto the bed, his fingers turning white from his grip. His head was down, but with the way his long sleeves were rolled up, I could see the muscles in his forearms tensing. Grayson rubbed my back in soothing motions which helped but not in the way it used to.
“I can’t get into his mind to try to see if he’ll talk back to me,” Grayson said softly, his voice almost like a whisper.
“What they gave him probably dulled everything,” Asher explained, looking up at us, his eyes a little glassy but he had his lips pressed together as if he was trying to keep all his feelings tight and put together. “It would be pointless for me to even go in there right now.”
I leaned down, brushing some of his hair from his forehead and kissing River on the forehead. There was enough damage to severely hurt him….to hurt me. I looked down at his body to see his leg elevated and beyond that the sterility of the room. I wanted him back in his own room, with all of his things and memories we’d collected throughout our relationship.
“When will the sleep medication wear off?” Grayson asked, walking over to Asher.
My boyfriend’s brother cleared his throat and yanked off his glasses, gripping the bridge of his nose. “Tomorrow morning, I think, but they are going to monitor him for his head contusion. They want to make sure he, uh, does wake up.” He sniffed and put hisglasses back on.
I crossed my arms over my chest and hugged myself, taking in a shaky breath. “Tell them about your fucking dad, Asher.”
“And say what, Riley? It won’t do any good. They might look into him, but it’s our word against his and well, he’s Oliver St. James. It may not mean something to you, but it does to a lot of people. I don’t like it but telling anyone will cause a bigger mess. It will just piss him off more.” He gently ran his hand through River’s hair. It was the caress of an older brother who cared deeply but only knew how to show it in a certain way. It made my heart hurt. “I won’t cause him or anyone else more pain.”
I looked off to the side, chewing on my lower lip. I was tired, my body was tired, but I was so fucking done. “I caused it,” I mumbled.
“What?” Asher and Grayson both said in unison.
I shook my head, giving River one last look and turning on my heels to exit the room. I heard footsteps behind me and a hand grabbing my arm.
“Riley, where are you going?” Grayson’s dark eyes took my hand and let his fingers intertwine with my own.
“I just need some air.”
Grayson looked over his shoulder, seeing a nurse come into River’s room. “If you’re worried about what about happened at Celica, we’ll figure that part out?—”
“I’m pretty sure Chancellor Fowler took care of all that. If he was aware of what happened, there is a high chance he’s ecstatic over what I did.”
His eyebrows turned down. “Okay, well then let’s sit down. Or we can get you something to eat…I’m sure they have snacks here and I’ll pull up an audiobook on my phone and we can listen together?—”
I interrupted him again, even though he was being incredibly sweet and turning him down gutted me. “No, I need to let my mom know what’s going on, update Ike and all that.”
”I can explain things to Ike, you don’t need to worry about that right now.”
I shook my head. “I just need to not breathe hospital air right now, okay?”
He let out a sigh of defeat. Leaning down and placing his forehead to mine, he whispered, “It will be okay,aking sinta. I promise.” I tilted my head up to kiss him, pulling away and walking in the other direction.
I stopped. This is what Chancellor Fowler wanted. This pain I felt, this dread of thinking I was the catalyst of my loved ones destruction…he wanted all of this. River was a low blow, but he’d warned me. I needed to make a decision, make my own plan and I needed to do it now.
I turned on my heels and walked back over to Grayson. He smiled at me as if he assumed I’d changed my mind. “I need you to take me somewhere.”
He cocked his head to the side. “I’ll need to get Asher’s keys, but sure.”
“No, Grayson, I need you to shadow me somewhere.”
