Chances

Chapter 48

They found the men who did it. They found who hurt Lily.

It was dead silent in the room aside from Lily occasionally replying to questions to whoever was on the phone with her from the Police Department. She was scared, the way her voice trembled slightly with every word she spoke, and the way she was pulling at the fabric of the blanket with her fingers. Carina could read and detect every emotion she felt without her explicitly stating it.

Carina couldn't hear every single word, but she was able to make out the main gist of the muffled voice coming through the receiver.

" ... ID amongst your wallet and credit and debit cards were found in a house belonging to one of the individuals... three men... into custody..."

Carina gasped upon hearing that and her eyes widened as her heart raced in her chest, relief and anger surging though her veins. Relief because they finally fucking found who hurt her, and anger because someone actually hurt her.

But Lily's reaction was different. If anything, she seemed to be even more terrified. Her hands began to shake more violently and her face grew pale.

Then she said something that Carina was not expecting.

"No! No, don't tell me who, please," Lily was practically on the verge of tears as she begged desperately. "I-I don't want to know. Please ."

Carina looked at her in utter astonishment, but Lily was staring away from her, running a distressed hand through her hair as she released a quivering breath.

The phone call ended right about there when Lily seemingly hung up on them intentionally.

"W... what are you doing?" Carina asked, deeply puzzled. "Why didn't you want to know who did it? Why did you hang up on-"

"-Stop!" Lily interjected sharply, bringing both of her palms to her temples, shutting her eyes in intense anxiety. Tears were seeping through her closed eyelids, and her breathing was intermittent. "Stop, Carina, please."

The younger girl flinched at her unexpected explosion, and she didn't know what to do at that point. But when Lily broke down and started to cry freely, that's when Carina's protective instincts took over and she scooped her up in her arms and held her body. Lily's warm tears stained her neck, and her fingers grabbed fistfuls of her shirt as she sought comfort in the younger girl.

"Shh..." Carina tried helplessly to calm her down, planting small kisses on the side of her head and encircling her arms tighter around her. "You're okay. You're safe."

She wound up consoling her for what had to have been at least an hour into the night before Lily calmed down and her tears ceased.

Now, they're quiet and still and there's no other sound except the faint humming of the AC in the corner of the room.

Carina wants to say something . She knows that Lily is awake because she's fumbling around with Carina's necklace, but what is there to say at a time like this, especially after the breakdown that she just had?

Thankfully, she doesn't have to initiate the first move.

"I know you want to know who did it," Lily's small, fragile voice mumbles. "I know you want to know the names and the faces of the people who hurt me, but I don't."

Carina waits for her to elaborate, but she doesn't say anything else.

"May I ask why?" she presses cautiously, pulling the blanket up to cover both of their bodies as Carina slides them both down so Lily is lying with her head on her chest.