[[[all of your flaws]]] [[[part i]]]

62.

The last twenty four hours had been the longest in my life.

Lily had passed out in my arms and it wasn't until I lifted up her shirt that I realised she hadn't been stabbed. Yet the pool of blood around Steven got larger and larger. I pulled out my phone with bloodied hands and rang for an ambulance and the police. I still wasn't sure what had happened. Just minutes ago our lives were perfect. And now everything was wrong.

Police and paramedics stormed the apartment, performing CPR on Steven as I tried to explain what had happened. Lily was attached to oxygen and whisked away, all the while I was crying that I had to go with her. The police didn't understand how Steven had found us but they had been looking for him for years.

It had been an agonising three hour wait while Lily was in surgery repairing a tear to her left kidney. I was beside myself with guilt. If I hadn't of gone out, this wouldn't have happened. I had failed her. What should've been the happiest day of our lives had turned to tragedy.

It was at four am, as the sun was rising above the hospital, that a doctor came to speak to me.

'Shes ok. She's out in recovery now. We've removed her kidney, and she can function with one, but will be keeping her on dialysis for a while until she heals. There is a bleed in her brain and until she's awake we can't say if there's any permanent damage. She has extensive bruising to, pretty much, her whole body. Broken ribs, wrist, fractured cheek bone. We'd like to keep her sedated for now until we can manage her pain and keep any trauma to a minimum.'

Most of what he'd said didn't sink in, I just wanted to see her. I was taken to the intensive care unit, despite them not allowing visitors at this time, and I sat by her bed for fourteen hours. I held her hand and spoke to her the whole time. All her belongings had been taken as evidence, including the engagement ring. I promised her I'd get her a new one, a better one.

She looked peaceful. I ignored the breathing tube down her throat and the blood and fluid going into her arm. The only saving grace was that at least she was in no pain and she didn't have to face what had happened. Not yet.