How I Wish

CHAPTER VII

Chapter VII (Edited)

How does one move past the life altering realisation I had been forced to swallow?

At least within the cell I had a focus – survive until the next sunrise. Help the others to survive – and wait for the next punishment.

Now... These males were throwing me for a loop – telling me they were sorry for what they had done, treating me for wounds with no expectation of payment, and now sharing with me the story of how I had come to be imprisoned again.

How did I move forward from here?

Be strong.

Sighing, I rubbed my eyes and lifted my head – not realising I had pulled away from Sean and hidden my face from view upon hearing Sir Blackbourne's words.

I will keep moving forward – at least until I knew the full story and got to see Brandon again.

"P-please continue." I urged, noticing the reluctant look upon Sean's face as he gently patted my back. Frowning down at me, he searched my eyes as he leaned forward – capturing my attention with his beautiful evergreen eyes.

"I think you need to rest Sang, you have been delivered some hard news and your body is still recovering." He pressed, his concern for me shining from within his tired gaze.

A soft smile flitted across my lips, and I leaned slightly into the comfort of his hand before reluctantly pulling away.

"I will rest, but I need to hear the full story first. I need to know the truth." I beseeched, knowing I would not be able to rest until I had all the information about everything that had happened since I had passed out.

Sighing, Sean nodded and rubbed his face – drawing my attention to the dark circles under his eyes and the pallor to his skin. My heart clenched at the sight of the tired male, and I suddenly wanted to take back my words, feeling guilty that I was forcing him to stay here with me, when he could have been resting.

"If you need to rest Sean..." I began, my stomach tightening as I looked up at him, my expression apologetic for not thinking about the others before my selfish desires.

"No, it's okay Sang, I'll take a nap later but for now – let Owen finish telling you what happened, and we'll get you something to eat and settled in a real bed." Smiling down at me, he placed a hand at the bottom of my back.

Frowning, I opened my mouth to argue – but Sean must have known exactly what I was going to say, because he grinned, and turned back to Sir Blackbourne.

"Would you like to continue Owen?" Shaking my head with amusement at the portrayed innocence in the Healers tone, I leaned back into his warm hand with silent gratitude and turned to face Sir Blackbourne.

I wasn't surprised to see him seated in the same position as he had been before my inner melt-down – but I could have sworn there was a minor thaw, a softening in his expression as he met my gaze.

"Are you sure Miss Sang? I do not mind waiting." He offered, and though the gesture was a thoughtful one – I shook my head and pressed a finger to my bottom lip, waiting. "Very well then. After we had detained your father and questioned him, we were able to discern the location of the missing males. We decided due to a lack of information around the number of prisoners being held or whom was keeping them imprisoned – we called in reinforcements. We discovered that we were not the only one's working the case when the Toma Team were called in. Apparently, they had been working missing person's cases for many summers." Sir Blackbourne paused to lean forward, holding my eyes as they filled with tears.