The Limit (Sebastian Vettel)

96. Fade To Black

Seb slipped the already knotted black tie over his head and positioned it under the collar of his white shirt. Tightening it, he turned his head to look at Lily, who was sat motionless on the end of the bed.

He was worried sick about her. She'd barely spoken to him, to anyone, in the three weeks that had passed since Damon's death. Sure, she'd answered direct questions but she'd used as few words as she could.

He'd never forget the look on her face when the doctor had delivered the news about Damon. She'd already looked pale but her face had turned almost completely white. Then she'd vomited all over her bed and wept uncontrollably, saying that it was her fault, that she'd killed her brother, like she'd killed her mother.

He'd tried to calm her down, Joel had too despite his own grief, but nothing had worked and the doctor had had to sedate her.

She'd been kept in hospital until Christmas Eve, then she'd been released into his care and they'd flown directly to Zurich and then hired a car to drive to his house as his car was at Frankfurt airport.

Lily had gone straight to bed, turning her back to him, and that's where she stayed for the majority of the time since, only getting up for meals, showers and the toilet.  They'd only kissed a few times, and they'd not made love at all.  Seb knew she needed time, so he just made sure he kept telling her that he was there for her.

Christmas and New Year had been and gone, both uncelebrated.   It would have been wrong to celebrate when Damon had been laying in a mortuary freezer. 

"Sweetheart," he said softly. "We need to leave soon.  You need to finish getting dressed."

Lily didn't acknowledge him, she just continued staring into space.   

His heart ached for the pain she was going through. Not the physical pain, her arm was healing nicely, as was her twisted ankle.  The mental pain she was suffering was hurting her far more than her physical injuries had.  

She blamed herself. She'd said as much, and even though he and Joel had both tried to convince her that it wasn't her fault, she wasn't ready to believe it.  Perhaps the funeral would finally give her closure. 

It didn't help that despite a massive manhunt being underway, Liam was still at large.  There hadn't been a single sighting of him since the CCTV on the gate had caught him fleeing on that fateful night. 

Seb did his trousers up and slipped his black leather belt through the loops.  He did the buckle up and looked at Lily again.  She still hadn't moved.  
She was still sat there in just her black skirt, tights, shoes and bra.  Her hair was pinned up into a neat chignon, Poppy had been around to do that for her.  

"Lily!"  She looked at him, a blank expression on her face.    He sighed and walked over to the wardrobe.  He took her black blouse off of the hanger and returned to the bed. "Come on, let's get you ready."

He helped her to her feet and slipped the blouse onto her, then began to do the buttons up one by one, like a father dressing his child.  Then he slipped his suit jacket on. 

A few minutes later there was a knock on the door.  He walked over to it and opened it.  It was Joel and Amelia.  Seb thought that Joel looked like he hadn't slept for a week.   His eyes were red and he was unshaven.  

Seb really felt for him.  On top of his own grief he'd had to deal with telling the rest of the family, Lily's withdrawal and arranging the funeral.   Damon had left instructions that in the event of his death he wanted to be buried in Melbourne next to his father, so they'd all made the trip here to say goodbye.