Reaper's Lily

54

(this is the second to last part of this book. i will be making a part 2 but i am going on hiatus to go on vacation and get the second book ready! happy reading and thank you all for reading and sticking by me! i appreciate you beautiful and amazing souls so much!)

Kaiden's P.O.V:

I sat in the hospital room, Lily's heart monitor beating rhythmically, then I held her hand in both of mine. She was naturally cold due to the medicine that was being poured into her veins by an IV drip. It'd been hours since we came, and I finally tore my gaze away from Lily. The sun was setting, showing off a new start hopefully from this hellish nightmare. I wanted to feel the warmth of the sun, to show off my joy that I was finally able to hold her in my arms without a single worry of that fucking parasite. Either of them, to be frank.

Looking back at Lily, I watched her sleeping with an oxygen mask on. Her left arm was in a sling, three of her ribs tapped up from what the doctors had told me, and a few shiners on her face. Her bottom lip was busted pretty bad, scraps all over her knees and hands too. As for her back, the doctors considered it incredibly lucky that all the bullet shrapnel was in places to be pulled out and nothing was severely damaged in her spinal cord.

The guilt of her in this hospital was nearly consuming me whole. I didn't want to be in this position. Hell, I wished it was her sitting where I was and I in the bed even. But wishful thinking wasn't going to happen any time soon. This was reality in my fucked up life and Lily's. We were both broken but the pieces had fit together perfectly.

My head snapped up to the hospital room door opening, and Gia said as she brought in a duffle bag, "I got your stuff. Jace is having half of his pack crash at my place and he and Aimee took your place with the other half."

Great, I was going to have to buy new furniture and a bed. I didn't mind his pack staying over, but I minded Jace and Aimee having freedom to fuck in every room of my house. I didn't want to even think about that anymore...since deep down, it made me a little jealous. Lily and I should've been in my house, enjoying our lives together until it was time for her to go back to California and pack up her stuff. It should've been us having the privacy and this new found freedom from the leeches to slowly build a life here.

Gia called my name, getting my attention, and said, "You're really blaming yourself for all of this? There's no way we all could've guessed this would've been an outcome. You know she'd be kicking your ass for feeling this way."

I could only smirk for a second, and said lifelessly, "Yeah, she would try to then yell at me in Spanish probably."

"What's really bothering you? It can't just be—"

"If this were Nate in this bed, and you were in my boots...wouldn't you feel the burden of guilt? Knowing if you'd just stayed, this would've been all prevented?" I stopped Gia, getting her to stare at me, shocked and speechless.

After what felt like hours of Lily's heart monitor beating, Gia finally said, "I can understand that, Kade, but I do see Lily's point. She wouldn't want you to feel like this and I know she'd want you to shave...and shower."

"I'm not leaving—"

"Lily is in the best medical care the council could be providing. The bathroom is right in there and you're only going to be less than a few thirty to sixty feet away. Go shower, Kaiden. You have dried vampire blood, not to mention the both of y'all's, all over you." Gia cut me off, then looked at Lily.

I looked at Lily, then moved closer to her head. Her eyes were still closed, the oxygen mask was on her face tight, and she seemed to be in a peaceful sleep. As I slowly stood to my feet, I pressed my lips on her forehead. I pulled away from her, stepping away, and grabbed the duffle bag from Gia.

Walking into the bathroom, I had no idea what I was about to come out too.