Constant

Chapter 20

(PETER)

He watched the steady rise and fall of Lydia's chest and he was grateful for each breath that she took. Ellie and Ben had worked a miracle and had helped her to breathe again. Peter held onto her hand as he sat on the edge of the large bed. Ellie and Ben had graciously allowed Lydia to take over their bed because Peter's house had burned down to the ground. Lydia was the one thing that had been salvaged from the flames. 

Everything else was dust. 

Peter wasn't concerned with what had burned. Those things felt like they were from his past life. A time when he was lonely. As he looked at Lydia's eyes flutter in her sleep he realized that all the things he cared about were in his future. 

He stood up and paced around the room. So much had happened in the past day that it felt like it had been a lifetime. After the fight, Ruben had disappeared. Peter hoped that he wouldn't come back but he knew that Ruben could turn up when least expected. When Peter changed Lydia into a clean nightgown he saw the dark bruise on her shoulder from throwing herself against the front door to get it opened. Ruben had locked it from the outside ensuring that she wouldn't be able to escape. The windows had been too small to fit through. Peter made a note to himself to make the windows in his new home larger and to put in a door at the back just in case. He shoved a hand through his hair as he listened to Lydia breathing. So many things went wrong and could have gone much worse. 

Lydia mumbled something and Peter was back at her side with her hand in his just in case she opened her eyes. He wanted to see her eyes open and looking at him. He wanted to tell her how much he loved her and how much she meant to him. He wanted to tell her that he loved her with everything that he had. He wanted to say that everything would be alright and they would be together. But he didn't know for sure. He didn't know if they would be alright. He didn't know if Lydia would ever open her eyes again or if she would be alright. 

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(LYDIA)

I could hear the steady sound of boots marching across the room. Every now and then there was a small scraping sound and I knew that whomever was pacing had spun around to make the trek back across the room. I forced my eyes open and had to blink a few times to clear them. I immediately saw Peter with his back towards me and his hand up to his face as he paced. He was absentmindedly rubbing his chin that had at least two days worth of stubble on it. 

That didn't concern me. What did catch my eye was the large bandage that was wrapped around his arm. 

"What happened to your arm?" I croaked and tried to clear my raw throat. 

Peter was at my side in an instant taking both of my hands in his. "Lydia" He breathed as he looked at me. I tried to take a deep breath but my chest hurt terribly. I must have groaned from the pain. "Your ribs will be sore for a while," He said as he sat down in the chair next to me without releasing my hands.

"What happened?" I asked in a voice that didn't sound like my own. 

"Don't you remember?"

"I remember a fire, and Ruben."

"Ruben set the house on fire and locked you inside. He nearly killed you."

"Where are we?" I asked as I glanced around the room. It looked slightly familiar but I knew that it wasn't our house. 

"The house burned down, we weren't able to save it. This is Ben and Ellie's room." 

I tried to keep my eyes open but they drifted shut again. It was very difficult to stay awake. All I wanted to do was sleep. I was exhausted.