Blue Ribbon

Chapter 12 - Thanks for the warning, baby

"You have to be a bit of a liar to tell a story the right way."

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Lilly's POV

I thought that was it.

No more lies. No more secrets. No more surprises.

No more heartbreak.

I thought I had it all figured out. I thought I connected the dots of my parent's complicated past, but no.

No.

This man, he is...he is not him. He can't be. It's not possible. I saw dad aim a gun and fire.

I saw dad kill him.

But, he is here.

How?

He is the same man I saw on the phone that made me discover his existence all those years ago. The existence my father didn't plan on ever telling us about.

Those eyes, if I focus on them only, it's like I am looking at Max...at my little brother, the one who is fighting for his life inside. The one in danger. The one who can be finally saved, by...this exact man.

His biological father.

My uncle.

The man who ruined everything.

The man who hurt my mom.

Oh my god...

"We still have just a couple of more tests to run and then we can prep him for the surgery," The nurse carried on, explaining the whole transplant procedure, but I wasn't listening anymore. I stood frozen, staring at the man ahead of me. His gaze didn't waver either, he didn't say anything, as if waiting for my reaction.

I didn't know what to say, how to think, or what to feel.

He looked so familiar, even though he was a complete stranger to me. Almost as if his face is buried deep down in my memory, stored in a place I never visited before. The place that has been through every secret I am discovering recently, but I was too young to understand anything, so I stored them far away, thinking I will never have to face these memories again.

The nurse talked with him, finally breaking his gaze away and he turned to her. I silenced their words, my eyes only on him and I tried to understand, make sense of this situation but I failed again.

His eyes, his face, his tall strong presence. His worried gaze as the nurse carried on explaining Max's upcoming surgery. The muscles of his jaw worked and his finger on the side shook before he curled them into a fist, nervousness and fear radiated off him in waves.

Worried. How could he be worried?

He is the man who hurt my mom, who hurt my parents. I turned to look at them, but...but they seem so okay with his presence. Normal. Natural.

There isn't one normal right thing about this situation. Everything is wrong. Everything.

I wanted to step forward and do something, scream at him, shout and hit him, hurt him because he is responsible for what we are going through.

But the logical part of my brain argued, the one worried sick about my brother, the one that thought dad might have an explanation; that part stopped me.

He is the one who can save Max, after all, that's more important.

But...Max, when he wakes up, what would he feel? How would he ever accept this news, how would he be able to get back to his old self? Silent tears spilled from my eyes at the thought, oh my god, I have turned my brother's life upside down in just a couple of days.