Page 9 of Saved By the Mountain Man
Watching as the first tear falls from her brown eyes confirmed River could do this.Make me proud, River.She could hear him like it was still that morning. Nodding to Liz, she told her,“I got this.” She winked and pulled on the handle, shoving the door open. The first flashes blinded her for a moment. Pushing her way through the swarm of reporters, she reached for Craig’s outstretched hand. He grasped hers, yanking River out of the sea of sharks into his arms. Never had she been so thankful for an overbearing man.
It was a blur as Craig shoved her into the waiting elevator, his larger frame hiding her from the cameras. The door closed as the reporters begin their bombardment of questions. His hands were holding on to her while her body shook uncontrollably. “What do they want from me?” Her voice cracked. It sounded so hollow, not at all like her.
“They want a reaction from you. They want to portray you as helpless.”
River looked up in the mirror that made up the back of the elevator, and the girl staring back at her looked terrible. She needed help. She wanted her life back the way it was. She looked meek and terrified. Leaning forward, River rested her forehead against the girl’s in the mirror, letting her know she was there for her. She just needed to find their strength. “Cypress.” She mumbled.
The pinging of the elevator made River look up at the girl in the mirror. She deserved River to be strong for both of them. For the first time in her life, River was alone. The panic was there, rising as Craig tried leading her out of the elevator.No!If she stepped out of that box, it would all be real.
“River, are you okay?”
“No.” She wasn’t, but she walked out into a corridor. In front of her was a waiting room; all that separated her from the people in that room were glass walls. Scanning the room, River didn’t see Laurel. Figured the bitch wasn’t there. From her blast of voicemails and texts, River knew she was pissed that she couldn’t get onto the property. Ben texted River the new code to get through the gates while she was en route. Seemed Laurel had called the cops to try and force the guards to let her in. That backfired when she couldn’t get through the gates.You’re not family, bitch!
River saw Ben speaking to Michael Davenport and Jason Trios, two of Cypress and Fisher’s friends. She still didn’t know the details, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know them. Taking a breath, she stepped closer to the glass room when Ben looked up, meeting her eyes. He came out to speak with her away from everyone in the room, and she was glad they wouldn’t witness what surely would be a complete breakdown. She’d been holding it back for too long for it not to catch up with her now where there were fifty witnesses. She didn’t want to be hugged, didn’t want to be touched. He did it anyway. Maybe he needed it more than River didn’t want it, so she hugged him back. “Are you okay, Ben?”
“Struggling to keep my shit together. You?”
“Same. What happened?”
“Let’s go to the family waiting room where we can talk in private.”
It didn’t take long to get there. The sound of the door closing made her jump. The sound was final. It caused her eyes to burn, her stomach to churn. This was the moment she would find out what happened to her brother. Darkness threatened to take her over as she blindly reached out for something to hold on to. It was Ben who steadies her, guiding her into a chair.
“I know this is hard, River.”
“Just tell me. Please, let’s get this over with.”
“Riot’s in the ICU. Laurel tried going to see him, but we had her removed from the hospital for causing a scene.”
“She needs to stay far away from me and what’s mine.”
“Do you want to know everything or just the basics?”
“I want to know exactly what happened and how my brother died.”
“Fisher Morgan’s car blew a tire after he failed to box, and it launched him into the retaining wall. The debris from Fisher’s car hit Cypress’s car, causing him to catch air. His car, in turn, slammed into Riot.” Ben paused, letting River process what he was saying. “Fisher died on impact from internal injuries. Hitting a wall at 180 miles an hour, it… anyway. Cypress died from hitting Riot’s car, his car was flung back into the wall, where the nose cone hit head-on, flipping his car up and over the wall. He died from a broken neck. He didn’t suffer. From what the doctor said, he was gone before he had time to process what was happening. Riot’s car was crushed, trapping him inside.”
“How is he now?”
“Riot has had multiple surgeries. They had to put a port in to drain the excess fluid off his brain. His right leg was severely damaged, but they managed to stabilize it. He has a broken arm, bruised kidneys and spleen. Broken ribs…”
“I get it, he’s in bad shape.” Leaning her head back and wondered where his folks were. “Where’s his family?
“Sister and mother are flying back from Ireland. His father was in Japan on business. He’s en route, from what I was told.”
“Have you seen Cypress?”
“I identified the body.”
“Should I see him?”
“I want to tell you the right thing, but I just don’t think it would make things better for you.”
“I think I will just remember him like he was when I left for Georgia.”
“That’s a good way to remember him. He was proud of you, River. He told everyone you would get the points to get your pro license.”
River watched his eyes go wide as he said the last part. Yep, today was the day. “I won,” was all she said. She wasn’t expecting it when Ben lowered his head and started to cry. For the first time today, River moved closer to be next to someone, and cried as she took his hand.