No Escape

Chapter Sixteen

Lily took a deep breath to calm her anger at what she was about to do and reminded herself that she was doing this for Maisie, her little girl. For the past week, she'd been working so hard to be as friendly as she could while keeping her mouth shut. Dylan had come up to her and explained himself. He said that he knew that if Lily had advanced toward the police with how she was acting, they would have deemed her a threat to them and herself and would have hurt her. He didn't want that to happen, so he held me back. "I realize that it wasn't the best decision on my part as you were hurt regardless, but I'm sorry anyway." Lily had smiled and nodded at him. As she had walked away from him, the memory of Charlotte being taken away from her resurfaced and it took all she had in her to refrain from hitting something,

Dylan and Lily hung out a lot after that. Meaning that Dylan made Lily tag along to everything he did in the house. Lily never spoke with him, but she didn't mind having things to do other than just sitting around. They would watch movies and play card games. Sometimes they would go for walks on the few trails around the house. It was refreshing for Lily.

She lingered in front of Jackson's door contemplating whether this was worth. She could have gotten along just fine without doing this, but if it ensured Maisie's safety in the future, this was necessary. Lily knocked on his door, before she convinced herself otherwise, and waited for him to open it and let her in. Seeing his face immediately brought Lily back to the hospital room Haven't I been through enough of this? The anger started to get the best of her, but she quickly reminded herself that this was for Maisie as a neutral expression crossed her face.

Jackson was not surprised that Lily had been the one who had knocked on his door. He could smell her orange and vanilla scent as she had lingered there for at least fifteen minutes before actually knocking. Every second he knew she was standing there killed him. He was excited that she even had even been considering seeing him again, but those fifteen minutes felt like hours to him.

"Hey," Jackson said. Lily forced a small smile on her face as he stepped back and let her into his room. He closed the door and leaned against it, "what's up?"

Lily hesitated for a second, then looked down and read over what she had written on the pad of paper that she carried around with her. Without a second though, she held it out for Jackson to take and read.

Jackson grabbed it from Lily's hands and read, 'I'm sorry for yelling at you like I did a few weeks ago. My intention wasn't to upset you. I'm still not thrilled at the situation, I'm actually kind of mad. And I know it might seem stupid to ask for forgiveness after saying that, but I'm not apologizing for being mad because I have every right to be. I'm apologizing for yelling. It was wrong and I hope you can forgive me.' As he read it, his tense features softened.

Seeing this made Lily release a breath that she didn't realize she was holding. Why do I feel relieved? She hated that she felt that way. It wasn't good. She had to keep a level head by always having her intentions for doing this in mind. For Maisie.

Jackson nodded his head and smiled, before he frowned again. Red flags flew around her head. That was too quick of a mood change. Lily kept calm and attempted to walk out of the room. As she passed him, Jackson grabbed her arm and held her back. "Wait," he asked her. Lily didn't know what came over her, but she nodded in agreement. Jackson struggle for a minute or so before asking, "how come you don't talk to anyone?"

The question threw Lily off guard. The real answer was that generally bad things happened when she spoke. She reached for the pad of paper in his hand, but he pulled it away. "Please," was all he said. There was a sad or disappointed tone to his voice. A pang of hurt struck Lily's chest, but she didn't understand why. It didn't make any sense to her. Jackson didn't deserve anything but her anger after betraying her and Charlie and for what he said to her in the hospital.