Fighting for Her

Riley woke up as she felt the SUV come to a quick stop. Her eyes slowly opened. She felt groggy and everything was blurry. Tommy's voice brought her direction to the front of the car.

"We just got here. Okay. Call me when you're here." Tommy threw the phone in his pocket and hopped out of the car. He opened the back seat and slowly pulled Riley into his arms. Her green eyes lazily met his. She groaned as he adjusted his grip.

"I'm sorry. Just stay awake okay baby?" He spoke softly to her but in a rush as he carried her through the emergency room doors. The lights were bright and Riley immediately closed her eyes. She was exhausted. Sore, in pain and tired. All she wanted to do was sleep.

Tommy's voice was a vibration she felt in his arms. He held on to her tightly. He was warm and comfortable and protective...

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A bitter scent flooded Riley's nose and jolted her awake again. A round faced nurse smiled at Riley who stared back with a frown.

"Do you know where you are?" The nurse said, flashing a light in her eyes. Riley blinked her eyes quickly and heard the nurse repeat the question.

In a grunt she answered back, "Hospital."

"What's your name?" The nurse asked.

"Riley." She grunted back.

"Good. And how are you feeling?" She placed a gloved finger over Riley's face and wiped away the dried blood under her nose.

"Fine. Sore. And tired." Riley grumbled.

The nurse kept talking but Riley heard nothing else. She just wanted to sleep. She laid her head back in the chair and closed her eyes...

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Riley's eyes fluttered opened as she grasped her stomach. The hospital room was bright and sterile and made her want to be sick. The light was too much to bear and the smell of anti-bacterial everything was stinging her nose.

"Ugh." She rubbed her face and flinched at the soreness.

"Riley, you're awake!"

She looked over to her brother who flung his newspaper down and rushed over to her side.

"You're here? How long have I been..." she didn't know what to say. She was tired not comatose. She woke up every so often to voices or nurses poking and prodding but didn't remember how long it was since the last uniformed person was in her room.

"Its been a week Riley." Jack said with a straight face.

"What?!" Riley lurched forward, grabbing her stomach again.

"Shit, sis I was only kidding. We just got here a couple hours ago but you've been sleeping." He put a hand on the top of her head and took her appearance in. She was pale, her face a little swollen. But she looked a whole hell of a lot better than she should have looked.

"We?" Riley's face frowned. "Mom and dad are here?" She felt even more sick now.

"Yeah, Anna called and told me what happened so we rushed over" He watched her take in deeper breaths, as if to steady herself. "Let me call the nurse."

"I'm gonna throw up. Just..." Riley put a finger in the air and closed her eyes. The bile was rising in her throat and she didn't know if she would even make it to the bathroom. Jack grabbed the bedpan that was on the table and shoved it in front of his sister.

"Nurse!" He flung the door open and called for help. A nurse followed by Tommy came running to the room.

"What happened?" Tommy asked Jack in one breath.

"She woke up and threw up." Jack frowned. He looked on as the nurse tended to Riley.

"Did you tell her?" Tommy's voice was now a whisper. Jack said nothing, he only shook his head.

"I'm going to get the doctor. Usually vomiting is a sign of concussion." The nurse said to the boys as she walked away from Riley.

"I thought she didn't have a concussion." Tommy replied.

"That's why I'm getting the doctor. He'll run some tests. In the mean time, keep her up." She gave a small smile and left the room. Tommy walked slowly to Riley with sad eyes.

"Hey. I leave you for two seconds and you wake up, huh." He smiled sympathetically as he brushes her hair back. She closed her eyes at his touch.

"I'll go tell mom and dad that you're up." Jack excused himself and left the room. Riley slowly opened her eyes, afraid to meet Tommy's gaze. They hadn't really had a chance to talk all night.

"I'm sorry." Riley spoke first. She wanted to cry but her nausea was overwhelming. Tommy tilted her chin up so their eyes were locked.

"You defended yourself. I'm very proud of you." He managed to choke out. He was angry that she went there in the first place but knew fighting would get them no where.

"If Anna hadn't called you..." She closed her eyes picturing Ryan pulling her into his bedroom. She shuddered at the thought.

Tommy kissed her head and pulled away slowly. "The doctors said you can go home soon, but now that you threw up, I don't know."

"Everything's fine. I'm fine. I'm just tired. I want to go home and sleep." She pouted and tugged at Tommy's sleeve. "Lay with me."

Tommy let out a low sigh and slid onto the small hospital bed. He held her in his arms and kissed her forehead softly. There was something weighing on his shoulders, she could tell. Something he wanted to say but all he could say was, "I love you, Ri."

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The hospital room was full of people. Much more than visiting rules allowed, Riley was sure. But she didn't care. She was going home. After a long night and even longer day, waiting and answering questions, she was happy to be lacing up her boots.

"Thankfully you didn't get a concussion and just some minor cuts and bruises." Jack said, leaning up against the wall.

"Oh but now you'll have a black eye for Anna's wedding." Riley's mom walked over and placed a cold hand over her daughters cheek.

"Mom." Riley said with sigh.

"I'll take care of that." Tommy smiled at Riley in the corner of the room. There was a soft knock on the door, followed by the doctor.

"Oh. There's quite a crowd in here. I wonder if I could get a word with Riley before she's discharged?" The older man spoke kindly, wrinkles at the corner of his eyes forming as he smiled.

"Is everything all right?" Riley's mom spoke with a tinge of worry.

"Yes. As I said before, she's clear to go. I just want to discuss some test results with her." He tapped on his chart and pulled it closer to his chest. Riley stared at Tommy and nodded an 'okay'.

Tommy nodded back and left the room, followed by the rest of the group. Anna stayed behind and held Riley's hand.

"You okay?" She asked, pushing blonde hair behind her ear.

"Yeah. Go. I'll be out in a second." Riley pressed her lips together in a smile.

Anna stared at her best friend for a second and then matched her smile in return. Anna slowly closed the door behind her and walked up to Tommy and Jack, who were huddled together speaking in whispers. Jack cleared his throat, interrupting Tommy as Anna drew closer.

"Please, don't let me interrupt." She pursed her lips and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "What's going on?"

Jack looked at Tommy in silence.

"Nothing to worry about right now." Tommy finally said.

Anna looked at them both with narrowed eyes. "Is this about Ryan?"

Jack held his hand up and leaned toward Anna. In a hushed tone, he went on. "Look. Riley doesn't need to worry about this now so its best for everyone if we just keep it to ourselves."

Before Anna could rebuttal, the door opened and the doctor exited the room with a blank expression. Nothing to give away. Riley quietly followed after with the same expression.

"Okay?" Tommy asked as she walked up to him and immediately wrapped her arms around his chest.

She was quiet for a moment, taking in a deep breath before simply saying, "yes."

He stared down at her and saw that she was biting her lower lip. He knew she wanted to say something, but he didn't want to press her. She'd tell him when she was ready.

"Okay, let's get you home then." He kissed her forehead and watched as Anna tugged her away from him.

Anna wouldn't be so patient.

"What happened? What did the doctor say?" Anna stared at Riley with wide eyes.

"Nothing." Riley shrugged and followed Tommy down the hall. She only managed to take a few steps before Anna grabbed her by the elbow.

"Seriously, Ri." She raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously, nothing." Riley freed herself and kept walking. She turned around and laughed. "Jeeze, A, ever heard of a little thing called doctor patient confidentiality?"

Anna put her hands on her hips and smirked. "Well, glad someones feeling better."

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Riley sat up in her bed as Tommy applied his arnica cream around her eye and other spots around her face. She wanted to flinch at the pain but stayed strong. She didn't want him to worry.

"So, here we are again. You putting this on my face because Ryan hit me." She laughed a little, trying to break the silence in the room.

He smirked because he knew if he he showed his true emotion, it wouldn't be pretty. "I didn't know what I was going to see when I ran into that room. But I didn't expect to see you nailing him like that." He swept a few more fingers above her eyebrow and then closed the jar. "Where'd you learn that?" He chuckled as he brought her close to him.

"I guess all that time I've spent watching you train has really done some good." She smiled and kissed him. It felt as if she hadn't kissed him in forever. They stared at each other, noses barely touching. She slid her hand behind his head and pulled his face to hers and kissed him with intensity. He answered back and kissed her passionately and patiently. When they broke free, Riley was out of breath. He sank down next to her and started to rub her back.

"You should get some rest, Ri." He lifted up the back of her shirt and noticed a few black and blues from when she fell off the bed. He pulled the cream out again and smoothed it over her back.

"How can I when this feels like heaven?" She closed her eyes and smiled to herself. "Please don't stop."

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Riley's hand grazed something unfamiliar on the bed next to her, and she woke startled. It was a note.

Snuck out to train, didn't want to wake you.
Call me when you're up.
Love you, T.

She smiled at his neat handwriting, and reached for her phone. Before she could dial, she felt a sudden pang of nausea. She jumped out of bed and ran to her bathroom. As soon as she threw up, she felt a little better but she stayed hunched over the toilet to make sure. After a minute or so, she got up and turned around to see Anna standing in the doorway.

"Are you okay? I heard you from my room!" She put a hand to Riley's forehead to check her temperature.

Riley pulled away and laughed. "I don't have a fever, Anna. I'm fine, I just need to eat." She pushed past Anna and walked into the kitchen.

"This has something to do with what the doctor said doesn't it?" Anna followed and took a seat at the breakfast bar.

Riley said nothing as she drank a glass of juice. Anna was getting frustrated.

"You are so damn stubborn sometimes, you know that? I have your back no matter what! Like when you thought it was a good idea to go into Ryan's house alone!"

"Anna..." Riley warned.

"...and not even tell Tommy! I mean that was probably the stupidest thing you've ever done!"

"Anna!" Riley had to scream to match Anna's high pitched yelling.

"...but still I was there! Through thick and thin! And you can't even tell me what's going on! You could be dying and I'll never know!"

"I'm pregnant."