No Escape

Chapter Twenty

Lily's eyes adjusted to the light as she opened them. Her head was pounding and her throat dry. Memories from the day before ran through her head, until she remembered Jackson's words, "Lily, you lost your daughter." The moment she remembered, she wished she hadn't. The phrase just repeated itself over and over again in her head on an endless cycle. Tears had fallen from her eyes again as she couldn't find it in her to fight them. He did it. He broke me.

She looked over to the spot that Jackson had been sitting in to see that he was watching her closely. He gave her a sad smile as she turned so that she was facing forward again. It took her several minutes to accomplish it as she was still very weak, but she got there. Lily wrote on the notepad, 'I only have two questions.' Jackson nodded at her then she continued writing, 'who else knows?'

"Just my parents, Adrienne, Dylan, and the doctor." Jackson told her.

Lily sighed, frustrated. Six other people knowing about this seemed way too many to her. She nodded and wrote, 'nobody else.' Not that Lily knew anybody else or why he would tell anyone. She just felt that it needed to be said. Jackson nodded in agreement, then Lily wrote her next question down, 'when can I get out of here?'

As soon as Mandy says. She should be coming in later today. Most likely soon." Lily nodded in response to him but didn't bother with anything else. It was silent for a while; Lily was lost in her thoughts that wouldn't steer away from Jackson's words. Tears steadily flowed down her face most of that time, but she didn't care.

Jackson felt so useless and he hated that. He knew that there was nothing he could do to make his mate feel better and it was driving him crazy. Lily never let anyone see the true effects of what she had gone through, Jackson knew it. So, the fact that she was crying in front of him over the loss of her child and that he could feel her heartache in his chest made him worry that she would never be able to bounce back from this. Not that he blamed her, not in the slightest.

Eventually the doctor, who Lily recognized as Mandy, came into her hospital room. The woman smiled as Lily turned the notepad around and pointed to the second question that she had asked Jackson earlier.

"As long as you are careful and get lots of rest, you can go home today," Mandy told her. Lily nodded in response and Mandy talked more about some things that Lily wasn't paying any attention to before leaving.

Lily started to get up, but Jackson stopped her and asked, "where do you think you're going?" She just gave him a look that she hoped said I'm getting the hell out of here. Lily continued sitting up and moved her legs over the side of the bed. Jackson again stopped her, "slow down Lily. I texted Dylan to bring you clothes. He should be here any minute now."

It wasn't even two seconds later when Dylan walked in, handing Lily the clothes. She glared at the boys to get out so she could change; Dylan left right away, but Jackson just stared at her in concern. Lily gave him a death glare, and after a few seconds Jackson walked out.

Lily got dressed at a snail's pace. Everything hurt as she moved around and she only had one arm to use to put everything on, the other being in a cast and sling. Eventually she got annoyed at her lack of mobility, so she took the sling off to help. It didn't word so much because moving it around hurt her shoulder. Lily then realized that the sling hadn't been for her broken arm. As she tried putting the pants on, every time she moved her injured leg it stung. Attempting to get the t-shirt over her head and arm was a pain as well. It took her at least ten minutes to put everything on. She didn't even bother with the shoes. She was already exhausted.

Lily had just sat down for a moment to relax after the whole ordeal, but when she did, Jackson came back in asking if she was ready to go. In response, she stood. Up and took a step.

Jackson wondered what the hell she was thinking, "Whoa, easy killer! You shouldn't be walking on that leg. The stitches could come out." She ignored him and kept going. Jackson could see that she was in pain, but she was trying, and failing, to mask it. "I'm serious Lily, you need to stop. If the stitches come out, you'll just end up back here to get them replaced. I know you don't want to be here any longer." He watched as his mate sighed and sat down in the chair. Jackson picked her up and could tell that she was about to push him away. Before she could he said, "it's this or a wheelchair." He sighed in relief as she didn't fight against him anymore, letting him carry her out of the building to his car.

The car ride back to the house was silent, but Lily didn't mind one bit. She got lost in her thoughts; "Lily, you lost your daughter." She couldn't keep her safe and give her life. I'm such a horrible person. Lily hated that she couldn't do something so simple. All she had to do was keep her safe and she couldn't even do that. The tears fell down her face rapidly, she didn't even bother wiping them away. The other child was one thing, Lily was protecting other kids that needed it. Charlie wasn't just her fault, everyone in that room and just watched it go down was to blame as well. But this, this was all her fault.

Every once in a while, Lily could feel Jackson's eyes on her, but he never said anything. She never looked over or acknowledged him. When he pulled up to the driveway, he got out and carried her up to her room and sat her on the bed. Lily leaned over to grab the framed picture of the most recent ultrasound she had gotten of Maisie, then laid down. Lily cried and cried as she stared at the image and thought to herself, I'm a failure. I deserve every single bad thing that happens to me.

Adrienne gave Lily about an hour or so to herself, before she couldn't keep herself from seeing her friend any longer. She walked into Lily's room and greeted her, but Lily didn't respond. Adrienne made her way to the side of the bed that Lily had been facing and sat down. She watched as the tears flowed consistently down Lily's face and they didn't stop. Adrienne was quiet for a minute or so before she spoke again, "I'm so sorry Lily."

Immediately, Lily started sobbing. Adrienne scooted closer to her and wrapped her arms around Lily. "I'm so sorry. You don't deserve this." Her words only made Lily's sobbing worse; they made Lily feel even more terrible. Losing Maisie was the end of. Her world.

Adrienne stayed with Lily until her sobbing calmed down to just crying. She tried soothing her friend by running her hand through her hair. She didn't know if it was working as the tears continued falling down her face. Adrienne glanced at the time, she felt guilty for leaving her, but she had to feed her son. "I gotta go," Adrienne started softly, "but I'll come back later."

Whether Adrienne came back or not didn't matter to Lily. It wouldn't make any difference anyway. Maisie was gone and there was nothing anyone could do to change that.