"You know that's not a problem," Lily said. "You're always welcome here."
As they drew closer to the clearing, soft music could be heard through the stillness of the early evening air. Amy paused and looked at Lily. "Is that your phone?"
Lily shrugged. "Maybe someone is calling it."
They continued down the path, Amy leading the way. As she came to the clearing, she stopped dead in her tracks. Lily gave Will a thumbs-up and slowly stepped back from the woman who would no doubt soon be her sister-in-law.
"Hey, beautiful."
Lily swallowed hard and blinked away tears as she heard Will greet Amy. Turning, she began to retrace her steps back to the manor. With each step, tears began to fill her eyes. After walking slowly for a couple of minutes with blurred vision, she stumbled over a root and fell to her knees. Grateful that she was a distance from the clearing, Lily leaned forward to brace her hands on the rough ground. Her intent had been to push herself back up to standing, but instead her shoulders hunched forward as she tried to keep her sobs from becoming audible to the couple who were so joyfully moving forward in their life together.
With her gasping breaths loud to her own ears, Lily made the effort to gain control and get to her feet. As she took a step, she knew that she'd done far too much and exposed her body to way too much heat. Added to that was her inability to sleep well over the last three weeks, and she knew she waswell on her way to an exacerbation at the very least or quite possibly an attack.
The trembling in her legs made each step more difficult. Lily grabbed on to the surrounding trees, ignoring the pain as small, sharp branches jabbed into her palms. She was determined to make sure Will and Amy wouldn’t hear her before calling for help. The last thing she wanted to do was ruin their moment, but she knew getting back to the manor on her own wouldn’t be possible at that point.
~*~*~
Nate knocked on the front door of the manor, looking around at the cars parked in the driveway. He knew it probably wasn't the smartest thing he'd ever done, but he'd volunteered to deliver Lily's car once it arrived.
Apparently Lily had been in to sign the necessary papers and get it licensed but there had been damage done to it en route so they'd had to take the time to repair it before releasing it to her. He'd been staying away from her once again, but when his buddy at the dealership had let him know that it was ready to go, he'd offered to take it out to the manor. It just seemed fitting after he'd been with her when she'd picked it out. And after a few weeks of keeping his distance, he had to admit, he just plain wanted to see her.
The door swung open to reveal Lance standing in the foyer. "Hey, Nate. How's it going?"
"Not too bad. I just brought Lily's car out for her. Is she here?"
Lance motioned him in. "She should be back in a couple of minutes."
Nate joined them in the kitchen where it looked like they were preparing food. "I don't want to interrupt your supper." He laid the keys on the counter. "If you could just make sure Lily gets these."
"You don't have to rush off," Jessa said as she swayed with her baby in her arms. "She'll be right back."
Nate shifted from one foot to the other. Maybe it was just as well she wasn't there. "I should get back to the garage."
"You planning to walk?" Lance asked.
"No. One of the guys should be on his way to pick me up."
Lance glanced down as his phone rang. He pulled it from his belt and stared at the display. "Lily?” He paused, his brow furrowing as he listened. “What's wrong?"
Nate's heart stuttered to a stop and then started up again at an alarming rate.
"Let's go," Lance motioned to Nate. "Lily needs help."
Without hesitation, Nate followed Lance out the back door and took off at a run in the direction Lance indicated. It seemed to take forever to find her on the path even though he knew it was just minutes.
He spotted her slumped on the ground, her face in her hands. "Lily!"
She glanced up at him, her face ravaged by tears. Immediately she covered her face again. Nate had already scooped her into his arms by the time Lance joined them.
"What's wrong, Lily?" Lance asked.
"Just did too much. Too hot," she said, her head resting on Nate's shoulder.
He wondered if she could hear how hard his heart was pounding. He was scared out of his mind. The fact that she hadn't resisted his efforts to help her spoke more to her physical state than anything else. The others met them on the back porch as Nate climbed the stairs. Jessa opened the door to let them into the kitchen.
Nate set her down on a chair. "Do you need to go to the hospital?"
Lily shook her head. She lifted her hands and rubbed the tears from her cheeks. Nate frowned when he saw the streaks of blood left behind. He reached for her hands and turned them palms up. "What happened?"
