Author's notes: I recently finished the 4th season of Good Girls and I'm so mad I'm not getting a 5th one, like: guys, you had this in your hands and that's what you chose to do? What am I supposed to do now? Just move on with my life?
So I started reading fics to heal my poor soul and now I'm even writing my own. So this is just an attempt. I'm not a writer, and English isn't even my native language! So if you come across any weird sentences (which you probably will), please let me know so I won't die stupid...
Beth sinks into her bubble bath, her feet placed one upon the other on the edge of the tub. A well-deserved moment of relaxation. Her children are in bed, her chores finished, the counterfeit money printed... Her mind finally free... or almost.
She closes her eyes enjoying the soft music that her headphones broadcast to her ears, a glass of bourbon in one hand, small scented candles placed in the corner near the wall. What more could she ask for?
It feels so good, so...relaxing! For a moment she no longer thinks about her life of crime, the stress, the pressure... She smiles and heaves a long sigh of well-being. She puts down her glass within easy reach. God, she could stay in that tub FOREVER! Warm, her muscles totally relaxed, no one would be able to convince her to get out, no one would make her abandon her little corner of para...
BANG BANG BANG!
Beth's eyes widen.
Someone just banged on the door! Not a gentle knock...Kinda too brutal to be one of her kids...Kenny?...Please...She remains frozen for a moment. Did she just imagine this? Because of always being on the alert, she surely becomes a little para...
BANG BANG BANG!
She sits up suddenly, putting her feet and hands on the bottom of the tub. She removes one ear from her headphones.
"Who's there?" she asks, strained.
"Guess darlin' " a drawl responds from the other side of the door.
Beth jumps up, ripping the headphones off her head, nearly spilling her drink in the process.
"What do you want?" she growls, aggressively.
"Open the door!" orders the voice
"Get lost!" she snaps, surprising herself.
After a few seconds of silence the voice mocks:
"You know very well that either you open it or I take care of it"
Beth doesn't answer, she sinks into her bath, up to her chin, frowning, arms crossed, sulky, like a little girl interrupted in the middle of a game.
"Elizabeth..." says the now threatening voice impatiently.
Beth curses and finally gets up reluctantly, grabbing her black bathrobe with red flower prints. She puts it on, taking care to tie it in an extremely tight knot. She takes a deep breath, getting ready to face him and opens the door:
"I can't believe it! I can't stand these intrusions anymore! Who do you think you...!
She stops, horrified.
Rio stands there, nonchalant and smiling. His head leaning against the door opening, he chuckles as he sees Beth blanch, even whiter than usual.
Raising his right hand, he places two bloody fingers to his temple in a salute and winks at her:
"Suuurpriiise..."
Beth is petrified.
"Oh relax sweetheart!"
He's calm as if everything was fine, a deep wound dripping down the left side of his neck, at the base, leaving a bright red streak on his shirt. A cut on his left side also soaks the fabric.
Beth stays still, she wishes her heart would start cooperating again and prevent her from cardiac arrest.
Suddenly realizing the situation, she lunges at him and pulls him by the arm into the bathroom, slamming the door and locking it.
Short of breath, she turns slowly towards him, her back pressed against the entrance. Rio stands close to her, resting his forearm on the door above Beth's head. A smirk on his lips, he beckons her to approach. She does not move, scandalized. He then leans into her ear and whispers:
"You gotta love lockin' yourself up with me in bathrooms".
She pushes him away, a disgusted look on her face and goes as far away as possible:
"My children are here! You break into my house, BLOODIED! What the HELL are you thinking?!" she accuses in a shrill voice.
"As you can see I could really use a little helping hand" he replies serenely.
"Why me! Don't you have someone more...qualified...for this kind of...interventions?"
"With four kids, you seem overqualified to treat small scratches," he laughs.
"Yeah sure! I treat Emma's bullet wounds every day!" she says exasperated.
"Right...right...perfect little nurse!" he says, eyeing her up and down, his gaze resting for a moment on the knot of the bathrobe.
"Why me?" she insists.
Rio stops smiling: "I'm offerin' you the chance to redeem yourself on a silver platter, 3 bullet wounds inflicted, 3 wounds to heal, that seems like a good deal to me".
She stares at him, incredulous.
He remains silent and tilts his head to the side as he studies her. He backs up against the opposite wall, without taking his eyes off her. His cold, defiant gaze, hard to bear. They both remain silent, sizing each other up.
Rio purses his lips, his dark eyes still locked on Beth's. She doesn't move an inch, paralyzed. Even injured, he remains intimidating. He heaves a weary sigh and slowly slides down the wall, a long red trail forming in his path. He sits on the floor, his forearms resting on his spread knees.
Terrified, Beth stares at the bloodstain on the wall above him.
"So?" he finally says in a jaded, insensitive voice.
Beth jumps, panics, she needs an antiseptic, bandages, compresses, she searches her medicine drawer with trembling hands. She collects everything she finds. Large tweezers? They'll do. They're the ones Dean used to pull out long hairs that grew on his shoulders here and there. Why is she even thinking about this? Probably to disregard all this absolutely grotesque situation.
She can't believe it, just a few minutes ago she was in a state of ultimate relaxation. Then in no time, she finds herself on edge, kneeling on the cold floor between Rio's legs, tweezers in hand, staring at the bullet stuck into the side of his neck. It's impressive but rather superficial, the bullet is probably easily removable. It was close, a few more inches and it would hit his jugular...Just a few inches and Beth was still dabbling in happiness... Whoever was the idiot who fired the shot, he could have applied and aim better.
All things considered, she is in no position to criticize...since after 3 attempts...THAT GUY IS UNKILLABLE OR WHAT!
Beth feels her heart racing and her throat constrict.
"What should I do?" she asks him in a trembling voice.
"Don't worry about the blood darlin', it's only mine" Rio replies, indifferent.
Beth is on edge, is he for real? As if he was not concerned with the problem!
Paralyzed, not daring to act, she swallows, staring at the wing of his tattoo splattered with blood from the impact of the shot.
"Go ahead!" he grows impatient, his eyes closed.
She takes a deep breath trying to focus as best she can. Luckily she's on her knees, her legs won't give out. She grabs the tweezers with both hands and pushes them gently into the flesh around the bullet. Rio's jaw twitches in pain, he clenches his teeth, tense, head down. She looks at him for a moment, almost feeling sorry for him. Then she pulls sharply. Rio tilts his head back against the wall, groaning in pain as blood spurts out. She grabs the pads and presses to stop the bleeding. She maintains the pressure point but everything soaks up very quickly. The pile of clean compresses is diminishing much faster than the flow of blood.
Rio has his eyes closed, his brow furrowed as if in concentration, all his muscles tense, in pain. She continues to replace the compresses until the last. No way he completely bleeds out here, on her tiled floor! Desperate, she grabs the towel from the sink and presses it against the wound. Her heart quickens, under the panic, she begins to lose her means.
"Rio..." she suddenly pleads, her voice a shaky whisper but the effect is immediate. Rio's eyes open and lock on Beth's, as if surprised to hear her finally use his name. He places his hand over hers and presses harder. The blood flow gradually decreases, as does Beth's heartbeat.
They stand there motionless for a few moments, panting, their bloody hands on top of each other. Beth looks away, she withdraws her hand carefully letting him continue to press on his wound. She gets up and looks at herself in the mirror while rinsing the blood from her hands. She looks bad, as if it was her who just lost several liters of blood. She unfolds a large bandage and finishes the care as best she can. Uncomfortable, she feels Rio's gaze resting on her. With his unharmed hand, he gently pushes a strand of hair behind her ear. She looks up at him.
"Well done champ" he whispers sweating, with a slight smirk.
She stares at him for a moment, silent.
The second wound on his side is just a cut, rather invasive but no bullet...Thank God!
"Take off your shirt" she says
"Oh keep it up honey, you turn me on!"
Beth rolls her eyes. It's unbelievable, how can he still flirt at a time like this. He obeys, chuckling despite the pain.
Now that he's shirtless, Beth tries to keep a straight face, focused on the cut, only the cut. Avoiding Rio's teasing gaze. She feigns indifference, even though the temptation to look for the three scars that she is responsible for is great. Lung, spleen, shoulder... She doesn't need to look at him to know he's smiling. Unbearable... How can he be so damn attractive and annoying at the same time! Focus Beth...
"You seem to be taking your time," he teases her.
Beth feels her cheeks heat up. This skin that blushes so easily... What a traitor!
"Looks like you enjoy what you see, uh?" he adds, delighted.
"What nerve!" she exclaims, pressing far more than necessary on the wound when putting on the dressing.
"Oh oh wow!" he moans in pain, his smile persisting despite everything, and as she walks away to wash her hands he whispers:
"Always the spicy ones..."
"Sorry?" asks Beth
"Nah nothin' " he laughs
After a short while, he gets up somehow. Standing, facing her, he turns serious again, raises his right hand and wiggles his fingers:
"Last one."
Beth has no more compresses or antiseptic, she rummages through a drawer and pulls out a bandage. She pours the rest of her glass of alcohol on Rio's bruised hand, it will do the trick to disinfect... or just burn. He winces, she smiles. Then unroll the stretch band around his banged up knuckles. Rio watches silently.
"There you go, like new!" she says relieved, tying the band around his wrist. Then after a second look at the cascades of dried blood along his chest: "Well if we ignore that..." she adds, wrinkling her nose.
"You have to finish the job" he says
"You asked me to treat 3 wounds, it's done!" she replies indignantly.
"If I walk around like this in the street, even the most incompetent cop might find me slightly suspicious!"
"So what? It's not my problem, I did my part of the deal. If you think I'm going to wash and iron this for you, you're dreaming!"she answers with a nod towards his shirt on the floor."It's over!" she adds.
Rio approaches, dominating: "It's over when I say!"
"I'm out of compresses anyways!"
"Not my problem." he replies with a raised eyebrow.
"What am I supposed to do ?" she growls.
"Dunno, surprise me." he shrugs.
Beth takes a deep breath, when is this all going to end? What agony! Then, with a mischievous smile on her lips, she pulls out one of her menstrual pads and begins to wipe away one of the streaks of blood from the bottom of his stomach up towards his chest.
"Suuurpriiise" she teases, trying to make her voice as deep as possible.
He looks at her for a moment, puzzled. Then pulls himself together: "I don't sound like that!" his voice even deeper than usual. He keeps going: "Whatever you do, it was worth takin' a bullet just to see your face when you opened that door."
Beth doesn't honor him with an answer, she ignores him, feigning serenity and continues her care. However, she quickly becomes discouraged, only smearing blood.
"It would be faster to just take a shower!" she finally complains.
She regrets her words instantly, a big smile lighting up Rio's face.
She looks at him, squints and frowns.
Rio stares at Beth then at the bath then back at Beth, biting his lower lip, suppressing a laugh.
"Don't. Even. Think about it!" she says, picking up his shirt and throwing it over his shoulder.
He lets out a contagious laugh, his head tilted back.
Annoyed, she heads for the tub and before she can think about it any longer she tugs at the knot of her robe letting it fall to her feet. She sits naked on the ledge, her back to him, and takes the time to tie up her hair. Then she slips into the water while remaining impassive despite the now too cool temperature. Shit... she should have thought of that before... Eyes closed as if she was relaxed again she tells him:
"Would you please leave my house now?"
After a few moments that seemed endless, she hears the bathroom door open and close. She opens one eye, he is gone. Phew!
She smiles, takes a deep breath and dips her head under the water.