One Heart- The Greatest Showman

Chapter 96

Lizzy's Pov 

They say "There is nothing to fear but fear itself," yet in our world that isn't true. Many things are worse than fear. The truth, for me, in those words are a warning that fear can change who we are inside, make us compromise where we should stand firm.

Her body was in an unnatural position, curled together almost as her hands became painted in red as to stop the blood from rushing to the surface. I felt myself fall onto my knee on the ground next to her, ripping chunks out of my dress and Hannah's dress in attempts to make bandages. I could hear Lillia cock the gun again and again, but it seemed as it only had one good bullet in it. Nevertheless, I couldn't care if a gun was pointed at me, all I wanted to do was cover this wound. 

Phillip watched over my shoulder, his eyes flickering from myself to Lillia, who stood their fuming. I tied enough fabric around her waist so as to apply enough pressure in order to stop it from bleeding before standing up next to Phillip. "We need to get her out of here." I whisper softly as Phillip's hand linked around my own, the sound of crashing waves was behind us as I realize how close we were to the edge. Only a few feet away. As well as how unstable the cliff itself was, it had been eroded for years by the looks of it

Lillia was in front of us, smugly. As if she knew their was no way we would be able to get Hannah out from here. Her nostrils flared , like the nostrils of an animal scenting fire and that stony, obdurate look covered her face like a mask. Only her eyes, those tarnished dimes, were fully alive under the shelf of her brow

The cracking of grass, twigs and leaves startled me as Anne ran around the corner of the house, another man I think Thomas was his name and W.D followed her. The two boys stop running as soon as they saw us, but Anne she kept running. Until she, might of, made Lillia fall to the ground....maybe tackling her. But minor details. 

Anne quickly tossed the gun out of Lillia's hand before bringing them around to behind her back, fastening them with a bit of rope she had. It looked complex but i'm not sure if it was secure. I shook off the feeling, I was overthinking. 

"Get Hannah to the hospital now!" I instructed W.D as he came and gently picked a shot Hannah up, and hurried towards the carriage they had brought along. Thomas helped Anne to "escort" Lillia to the carriage, or the back of it. We would figure out what to do with her later.  I limped over to Phillip, who watched his sister and perhaps the cruellest person walk away. 

"Are you okay?" I asked into his ear as my arms hooked around his neck. He pressed his head into my shoulder with a small nod, and I could feel him breath in deeply. 

"Are you?" He asked, to which I smiled. It was a moment of peace. A moment were everything around us was still and I wanted it to remain that way forever. A moment were nothing could change, that we were just like this. In each others arms. 

***

But that was all it was. A moment. 

Barley even a minute after I had held Phillip, everything came crashing down. 

No, no. Literally everything came crashing down. The cliff had decided it had enough and let is self crumble beneath our feet. I only just had enough time to grab onto a small rocky ledge, a good 3 feet away from the top of the cliff. Phillip was on another ledge just a few feet away from me, just enough so I could reach out to him.  Beneath us the sea rise and fell out of sync. I could do anything, if I tried to climb up I could either break the ledge . I just had to hang there, my arm riveting in pain. 

I screamed out for Anne or W.D or Thomas. Anybody. 

"We're going to be okay," I reassured Phillip as I could feel the small rock begin to become unstable, slowly deteariting underneath my fingertips. "Just Hold on Phillip." 

"It won't hold us both for much longer."

"No. It will. It will." 

The rock started to crumble, little pieces falling into the water. The pain in my leg was so bad that I could see little dots starting to cross my vision, the strain on my arm must be too much. But I can't let go. 

"Lizzy!" I heard Anne call out as she peered over the side, seeing the two of us hang there. I looked up at her, letting her know that I remember our promise from when we were at Countess Adele's. I could only look at her once before, I felt myself drift away. A hand catching me as I fell was the last thing I could remember. 

****

I awoke to my favourite place in the whole planet - the hospital. Note the sarcasm. 

There was bustling left right and centre, and as my eyes slowly adjusted to everything around me, I saw Anne and Barnum sitting at the side of my bed. 

"Hey," I gave with a groggy smile as I sat up slowly. "How long have I been here for?" I asked once I had sat up right. 

"Three days." Anne said gently. 

"Three days!" I repeated, before quickly asking my next question. "How's Hannah?" 

"She is well. Doctors said it was lucky that the bullet didn't hit any major organs. She woke up last night, but fell back asleep pretty quickly." Barnum explained. 

"And Lillia?" I asked hesitantly. 

"She um, got away. The ropes weren't secure enough. I'm sorry." Anne apologized as she came to place her hand on mine. I gave it a quick re-assuring squeeze before scanning the room around me, looking for one person in particular. 

"Is Phillip with Hannah?" 

Both of them looked down, neither one of them meeting my gaze. "Anne, where's Phillip?" I asked slowly, my tone low. 

"You collapsed, just before I got to you. Phillip grabbed your hand before you fell and helped to get you up. But when I returned...." She trailed off. I took my hand off Anne's, asking where he was once more. 

"Phillip hasn't retuned yet." She said. I could feel tears welling in my eyes. 

"You promised me." I whispered before saying it again louder. "You promised me! You promised me that you would save him over me. You promised!" 

A nurse came running over when she saw the commotion and injected something into my arm, making me feel really sleepily. But I continued despite the fatigue. "You promised me. You're a liar." My voice cracked as I felt my eyes lids start to close and someone help me back down onto the bed. 

"You're a liar. You promised me." I cried feeling tears fall down my face. My eyesight blurred, but not because tears were welling up. Everything became fuzzy; then I saw nothing at all. My consciousness was floating through an empty space filled with a thick static. Throughout the inky space my heartbeats pounded loudly, echoing in my ears, alongside fading pleas for help. Feeling in my body drained away until finally all was black.

A/N 

Andddd that would be the end of book 1 guys!!!! Don't worry I will start the seqeal tomorrow probably, once I think of a name and a cover. But thank you for reading "One Heart" and I cannot wait for you guys to read the next book . :D :D :D 

Until next time. 

Love, Maya