No Escape

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Lily started training at the beginning of the next week. The first thing they did was build muscle. She quickly learned that it was going to be more difficult and time consuming because of the injuries on her arm and leg. The damage that was caused to her nerves wouldn't be able to be built back up, so it was something that she had to work around or just learn to tolerate the pain she was in because of it.

She had to be careful, because even though she was acing her "drink plenty of water" task Mandy had given her, she was still working on the eating task. Lily was getting better at it but wasn't anywhere close to eating meals yet. She had discovered that this was an issue because she would get lightheaded and pass out if she wasn't cautious.

Ty was tough, but completely understanding of all those issues. Every weekday they woke up extra early to work-out in the gym. The first couple days Jackson had joined them and did his own thing, but since then it had just been Lily and Ty. She was still adjusting to doing the things he had wanted her to because all of it involved using both arms or both legs. Lily had more wiggle room when it came to the legs because she used them both every day, but she was going to have to learn how to do everything one handed.

Lily was impressed with the progress she was making; she wasn't perfect, but she was improving quicker and was more receptive to what Ty had been teaching her than she had originally thought she would be.

She wasn't the only one pleasantly surprised with how far she had come along. They had only been at it for a week, but Ty had noticed slight differences in her. He spotted small amounts of muscle growth and the pace at which she was learning was faster than he had anticipated. She was doing well for a human.

The first half of her training was spent on lifting weights and building muscle, the second half they worked on fighting skills. Most of it was defensive, but Ty did teach her how to properly throw a punch and where most everyone's weakest points were on their body. He also taught her about pressure points; getting access to an attackers pressure point would prove the most useful to her.

It was a struggle for Lily to adjust to this new schedule at first, but she actually enjoyed her time in the gym. It helped her get out all of her frustrations that she had been holding back. She was determined to be stronger so she could fight for herself. She wasn't going to be weak and useless anymore.

After Ty and Lily finished in the gym, Lily would return to her room to shower. Then she would lay down with Charlotte to sleep for another hour or so before she woke up and their day started. She quickly settled into the new routine. Get up early, work out, shower, take a nap, get Charlie dressed, make her breakfast, go outside to play with her, come back inside to watch TV or a movie before making lunch for the two of them, bring her upstairs, read to her, put her down for a nap, then read for herself or take another nap (depending on how tired she was). After Charlie woke up from her nap, the two of them would go outside to play more games, then cleanup for and eat dinner with Jackson, his sister, and their close friends, get Charlotte ready for bed, and then read her a bedtime story until she fell asleep. Most of Lily's day revolved around that little girl, but she didn't mind it one bit. It kept her busy and distracted from breaking down all the time.

After Charlie fell asleep at night, Lily's day continued. Jackson would softly knock on the bedroom door and waited until she came to open it to go sit with her on the couch. The two of them talked for hours each night, most of the time it was about nothing of major importance, but every once in a while, the conversation would steer towards the more serious stuff. For example: pack related things, Lily's morning workouts, how she was doing, Jackson's family.

"You know you don't have to train, right Lil?" Jackson asked her.

"I know, but I want to." Lily reminded him. The topic came up often; she didn't think that he liked the idea of Lily hurting herself while working out. He knew that she did, he had seen the type of strain it put on her while using her injured arm and leg.