Chapter Twelve
Lilly opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling trying to figure out where she was. Blinking twice to focus her eyes, last night came back to her. There was a dim light on her left and she could hear steady, heavy breathing. Turning her head towards the noise, she spied a stranger slumped in the chair next to the bed.
Looking at the man sitting next to her, he looked familiar, but she couldn’t work out who he was in her groggy state.
“Elijah?” Lilly croaked out.
The noise of her quiet voice was deafening, and she pulled both of her hands to her head to contain the throbbing it had caused. The man next to her jumped when she pulled her hand out of his.
“Sweetheart, how are you feeling?” Jack asked her.
“Elijah, is that you? You sound different,” Lilly asked again, her eyes closed to block out the light.
“No Lilly, I’m Jack, Elijah’s brother. He’s dealing with your demanding parents outside, in the corridor. How are you feeling?” Jack asked her.
“Oh God, he’s met them. That’ll be the kiss of death to any future relationship between us now. He’ll never want to see me again.”
Lilly scrunched up her face trying not to cry from the pain racing around her head.
“I feel horrific. Distract me and tell me what happened in the alley?” Lilly said in one stream of words.
Jack was about to answer Lilly when the door burst open, banging against the wall behind it.
“I told you she would go off the rails if she didn’t have a job, and look what she’s done, taking drugs. You should have handled this Dylan,” Gale barked at her husband.
Gale strode into the room, tightening the belt of her coat as she pulled herself to her full height.
“So what have you got to say for yourself young lady?” Gale asked, her arms folded, fingers drumming on her forearm.
Elijah closely followed Dylan and Gale, who was wearing an expression of utter anger. His angry stare directed at Lilly’s parents. Jack answered on Lilly’s behalf, she was visibly shaking in the bed and had cried. The pain she felt in her head was unbearable and to have another person yelling in the room sent her over the edge.
“I think you two had better leave if you cannot talk to Lilly in a civil tone,” Jack said as he stood with his back to Lilly, effectively shielding her from her parent’s sight. “She is a victim in all of this and needs to be treated with great care,” Jack advised.
“Who is your father? You look familiar, what’s your name?” Gale barked at Jack.
“Who the hell cares who my father is, we’re here for Lilly. Focus Mrs Harrison, on your daughter and not me,” Jack said, his tone clipped and controlled.
“Don’t use that tone with Gale, you haven’t answered her question. Who are you? Are you the person who sold her the drugs?” Dylan roared at Jack.
The air was palpable with anger.
“I think what you’ll find is that it wasn’t me who supplied the drugs but-” Jack started to say.
“Not now Jack,” Elijah interrupted Jack “Let’s take this outside, Lilly has enough to deal with,” Elijah said and nodded his head towards the door to Jack. “Gale, Dylan, can I talk with you both outside, please?”
Gale and Dylan looked at Lilly and tutted in unison and walked out of the room, not even bothering to ask her how she felt. The lack of concern didn’t surprise Lilly, but the ache in her heart still hurt, regardless. She yearned for the day that her parents showed any love towards her other than her career progression.
Closing her eyes, Lilly drifted off the sleep, hearing the faint rumbling of three men’s voices and the shrill of a women’s voice.
Chapter Thirteen
Elijah grew frustrated with Lilly’s parents. They were yelling at him and Jack in the hospital corridor. Attracting unwanted attention from the nurses on duty. It was the early hours of the morning and Lilly had been drifting in and out of consciousness for hours. The doctors had pumped her stomach and had managed to stop her reaction to the drugs she had consumed.
The doctors had finally let Jack and Elijah into her room. The first hour had been stressful for Elijah and Jack, waiting to hear how much damage there was. The doctors had been concerned for her heart as it was behaving erratically. Olivia had joined them later on and took the second hour’s shift holding Lilly’s hand while she slept. Jack spent his time trying to calm Elijah, who blamed himself for letting this happen at Blue’s.
When her parents didn’t arrive until five in the morning, Elijah was irate. He couldn’t understand why her parents wouldn’t leave the party to come to their daughter’s bedside. When they arrived and started yelling at Jack,blaming him for the drug use, he knew instantly why she didn’t want to tell them about quitting her job. At that moment, he knew he wanted to protect Lilly from her parents and their narrow-minded views. Elijah also discovered his strong feelings for her and not just as a protector. He was now sure he loved Lilly. He saw in his brother’s expression that Jack already knew this too. Elijah was always the last person to figure out his feelings, most of the time it was too late and he missed his opportunity. He wouldn’t miss out this time around. He wanted Lilly in his life and he would do all it took to give it his best shot.
After Jack had issued a few choice words to Dylan and Gale, Elijah and Jack watched as they disappeared from the hospital corridor. They had declared that they were tired and were going home now that they knew she was alive. Elijah told them he would make sure that she got home safely.
