Forever Love (Stauren) {Book 2: Completed}

Chapter 35

°•°Steven's POV°•°

"We will have to kill your daughter in the end."

Lauren and I sat there is silence for a moment, in shock that these people would even consider killing Cleo. "Hell no!" I finally yelled and stood up, shoving my chair back. I could tell that the doctor was startled, for she jumped a bit.

"Sir, I assure-"

I cut the woman off, not letting her finish her sentence. "No! I don't care what stupid reason you have! I'm not letting you kill my daughter, she's not even four yet!"

"I-"

"No!" I yelled. "No way in hell!"

"I think it's time for you to leave," a soldier who was standing by the door grunted, grabbing onto my arm. I glared at him before ripping my arm away from his grasp before reaching out to help Lauren up from her chair.

"Gladly," I huffed, and snaked my arm around Lauren's waist to pull her to my side. The two of us walked away while Lauren placed her head on my shoulder. We exited the small medical building and began walking down the path that lead to the giant mass of tents in the quarantine camps.

As we were walking, she suddenly stopped, making me turn around. "What's wrong, Laur?" She didn't look up at me and simply looked at the ground, avoiding eye contact. "Lauren?" I stepped back to where she was, taking her hands in mine. "Tell me what's wrong."

"I...I don't really know," she answered and finally looked up at me. "I guess everything is just getting to me and I'm worried about Cleo finding out about this and..." Lauren's voice trailed off into a cry.

"Hey," I began, running my hands up to her arms until I reached her shoulders, gently shaking them. "She won't know about it. We won't tell her, and since we won't let them make the vaccine by using her, she'll never know a thing." I paused for a moment, waiting for her to look at me in the eyes. "Okay?"

"Okay." I earned a smile from her after gently tapping her nose. "You're so weird," she chuckled, leaning forward to peck my lips.

Suddenly, a man came stumbling out of a tent, leaning over as he coughed up blood. I pushed Lauren behind me gently. "Come on."

•°•°•°•°•

"Get some sleep, baby boy," Lauren whispered to Caiden, as he laid in his sleeping bag that night. "You're gonna need your energy for tomorrow when we go home."

"But you said that we'd go home today, mommy," Cleo mumbled tiredly, rolling over in her sleeping bag to face Lauren.

Lauren smiled at Cleo, hiding the offer we denied that day. "You're supposed to be asleep, sweetie."

Cleo sighed, ignoring Lauren's comment and continuing. "But you promised that we'd be at home by now."

"Go to sleep," Lauren finished, kissing both of their heads before getting up and coming over to where Emmie and I were laying. "You tired, Em?" She asked, sitting down on the ground inside our tent.

Emmie didn't reply, not wanting to own up, so I did for her. "She's just a bit scared." Emmie directed her gaze to the ground and played with her hands as Lauren pulled her into a hug.

"Don't be afraid, Em. We'll be home by tomorrow morning," Lauren said, kissing Emmie's head and laying her down. "We just have to stay here one more night."

We sat there in silence for a few minutes before hearing a series of screams coming from outside. Emmie shot up, jumping into my arms. "It's okay, I'm here." I covered her ears and held both her and Lauren to me. "Don't listen."