Chances

Chapter 46

Lily furrows her eyebrows and buries her head closer against Carina's chest with her hand tightly balling up the fabric of the hem of her shirt. She whimpers a bit, desperately trying to will away the vicious thoughts and memories of last night's events.

But whenever she closes her eyes, all she can see are the masked faces of her attackers, and she can still feel the harsh impact of every single blow they gave her poor, weak body.

She has the deep bruises to show for it.

Lily is assuming that it's around 10 am, or near approaching 11. Carina is still sleeping soundly whereas Lily didn't, and couldn't, sleep a wink. Dreams have the capability of carrying so much realism, and she was afraid that she might have to experience what she did again.

Instead, Lily just lay there all night in Carina's arms. They used to make her feel safe and protected, but she's now worried that she may never feel that same way again.

Lily tried to put on a brave face for Carina, reassuring her that she was okay because she knows just how worried Carina gets, but she was anything but fine. She's grateful Carina didn't notice her body shaking in fear all throughout the night.

Lily shifts a bit in her spot, and that accidentally causes Carina to stir awake. She grumbles and groans a bit, just like she always does, before opening her sleepy eyes up.

Carina slowly yet carefully lifts her hand up and strokes Lily's cheek affectionately. She pushes aside a strand of her away from her face before kissing her forehead. "God, I missed waking up next to you," she mumbles, her lips tickling Lily's skin.

The simple words evoke a smile on her face.

Carina sits up from the bed and stretches her arms up over her head, making the bottom of her shirt rise up, exposing the lower part of her toned stomach.

Lily tries to follow after her, but the slightest movement of her side made her wince sharply in pain. Carina's eyes widen in horror and she leaps into protective mode.

"Oh my god. Are you okay?" she asks frantically.

Lily freezes in her spot with her teeth gritted. Because of the painkillers that the paramedics gave her last night, the pain subsided temporarily and it was simply dull and bearable. Now it's a blinding ache.

"Yeah. Yeah, I just-I moved too quickly."

Carina's face reads helplessness and she looks just as pained as Lily does. Her arms are held out, but she doesn't actually touch her.

Lily knows Carina blames herself for what happened last night. Carina feels like, since she wasn't feeling well, that it was her fault that Lily went out to go buy her medicine. She blames herself for not going with her. The look on her face says it all.

"Lily..." Carina mumbles sadly and full of guilt.

The green-eyed girl shakes her head, dismissing her words. "No. Don't you dare apologize like this was your doing."

Carina opens her mouth to refute, but closes it shut instead. Lily stretches her arm out and holds onto Carina's shoulder as she cautiously and lethargically climbs off of the bed, making sure not to overexert her mid-torso. Her bruised face and eye are nowhere near as painful as her waist.

Once she gets on her two feet, she limps over into the bathroom with Carina following closely behind her. Now able to see her face for the first time, Lily actually recoiled back and gasped when she saw her reflection in the mirror. She could tell that she looked horrible based on how she feels, but she didn't think it was this bad. Carina is frowning beside her.