Yet, he couldn’t leave Lilly alone. He couldn’t. As much as he just wanted to run, he knew he couldn’t. Lilly had been hurt enough in life and he couldn’t do it to her.
He needed to find her and explain to her what happened in the past. He needed to make her understand and make her believe him. He couldn’t lose her again. He just couldn’t.
He picked up the baby and grabbed the crutch that Gilly had given him. She had given strict orders that he was not to move, but Kai knew that he had to find Lilly. He picked up the baby with one arm, who protested at being removed from the pillow she was playing on, and he started to head out.
He had to ask around before he finally discovered that she was attending a meeting with the council. He remembered the beautiful and soft Lilly he had once met. That Lilly was now so strong, brave, and powerful that Kai felt a flush of pride through him.
He waited outside for half an hour before the door to the conference room opened and the members came out. Lilly was one of the last people out, and she looked tired and exhausted.
“Lilly,” he said limping over, ignoring how painful and swollen his leg was. “Lilly, we need to talk. I have to explain to you-”
“Kai?” Lilly said. “What are you doing here? You are supposed to be resting. Your leg is swollen and it’s oozing pus! The dressing is off and -”
“I didn’t leave you.” Kai interrupted her. “I never would have left you. I don’t know what letter you sent me, but the reason I left was that my clan was under attack. Jake called me urgently and I had to leave. I tried to find you so I could tell you, but I couldn’t. I even tried to leave a note, but I was in such a hurry that I couldn’t. I came back the moment the danger was over and my clan was safe.”
Lilly stared at him, her eyes glistening with tears. “I believe you,” she whispered. “Now, will you please just get some rest?”
Kai nodded, relieved. Lilly took the baby from his hand and slipped her soft hand into his. She gave him a small smile and wink before slowly helping him back to the hospital. Kai followed her obediently, a big grin on his face.
Chapter 13
Lilly looked down at the sleeping form of Kai and got up from the chair, stretching as she did. Elisabeth had fallen asleep next to Kai after a lot of playing around. She gathered the baby in her arms and decided to get some sleep.
Even though she could see the sun coming out from behind the clouds, the villagers were just starting to sleep. It had been a long night for everyone, and it had taken hours to tend to the wounded and to bury the dead.
Lilly walked back to her shack, thinking about how adaptive humans are. So many of their people had died that they had all actually gotten used to it. Initially, such battles and deaths left them all feeling traumatized for days. Now, it was something they had accepted. People died and that’s how life was. It was truly scary what humans were capable of doing.
She returned to her shack and looked around to see if she could find Kevin. He had left the hospital when no one was looking and never returned. Lilly assumed that he was getting drunk somewhere and put him out of her head. She laid the baby down in the cradle and laid down in her small bed.
As she closed her eyes, the memory of her kiss with Kai flashed through her head, and she couldn’t stop herself from blushing. She could still feel the tingle on her lips where Kai had kissed her. Her skin burned where Kai had traced and caressed her. Her heartbeat increased as she remembered the way his strong muscles had felt against her body.
She had missed staring into his eyes and feeling the comfort of his arms. She couldn’t believe that all this time she hated a man for a misunderstanding. Kai said that he had no choice but to leave and she believed him. It still bothered her that Kai never got her letter, but she decided not to think about it. She was finally happy once again and she didn’t want to ruin it. All she felt was relief that Kai had never left her like she always thought.
Her thoughts wandered off to Kevin and her heart instantly sank. She had stayed with him all these years out of a sense of loyalty. Maybe if things were normal, she would have asked for a divorce, but the way things had happened, she hadn’t even thought of it. She had continued living with him and putting up with his abuse.
She didn’t know what to do. She felt guilty about how she felt for Kai. She was a married woman and she didn’t want to cheat. She couldn’t live without Kai, but she also couldn’t cheat on Kevin until they were married. She knew that Kevin wouldn’t let her go that easily. He would refuse to divorce her, even if it was out of spite.
She closed her eyes and tried to sleep, worrying and stressing about things that were out of her hand. Even though she was exhausted, she lay tossing in turning in bed for hours before sleep finally came, and she dozed off.
***
Lilly was woken up by the loud knocking on her door. She jumped up, thinking that Kevin had finally come home. She opened the door to find Helen standing there.
“Urgent meeting,” she said. “Now.”
Lilly grabbed Elisabeth, who was still sleeping, and quickly washed her face. She ran to the recovery room to look for Gilly, but found out Gilly had gone home to rest.
“What’s wrong?” she heard Kai saying from his bed.
“Ummm. I just need to drop Elisabeth with Gilly, but she is not here,” Lilly said, casting a gaze around to find someone else she could trust.
“I can,” Kai said, making Lilly raise an eyebrow. “I mean, I am her father. Why can’t I?”
“Because you are incredibly awkward with her and can’t even hold her properly?” Lilly said.
“It’s not like you have a lot of choices,” he said, waving around.
Lilly hesitated for a second before finally placing the baby in his arms.
