+ marks the grave {Completed}

Chapter 76

•~••~•~•~•*change in POV*•~•~•~••~•
I didn't grieve for her.
I just used her death to concoct a grudge.
And that grudge pushed me to become the best of the best.
But with Amber, I felt as if I didn't need to be the best.
She made it easy to grieve.
She made it easier to move on and accept.
Vixen wouldn't mind lending Amber a dress.
She always played dress up with Maggie.
"Take it. Please. For me, for Vixen."
She looked down and twiddled her thumbs.
She sighed. Then nodded.
"Do you need help changing?"
She shook her head.
"Well I'm gonna start the car, be back soon,"
I closed the door on my way out.
I could tell that she was still digesting what happened.
But short outbursts were my specialty.
I keep so much bottled up that it spills out whenever it gets a chance.
And with Amber, it seems to always have a chance.
She was like my safe house.
I walked back to the hatch and climbed up to the garage.
I did a little 'inny minny miney mo' to choose a car.
There wasn't much of a choice as all my options were black.
Nevertheless the choice was made and I turned on the engine.
Once I was back to the room, I knocked on the door.
"I'm ready!"
Her voice was getting alot better.
The hoarseness was almost completely gone now.
I opened the door.
She was sitting on the bed, where I left her, with my shirt balled up in her hand.
Once she saw where my gaze landed she tried to defend herself.
"I just- Its not like I- I didn't know where to put it..."
Her words died down in her throat.
I let out a small laugh.
"No prob. Bring it along. We'll wash it at the base."
She nodded, her head was still hung low.
We were already on borrowed time, so I walked over to her and hoisted her into bridal style.
I carried her over to the hatch, then I angled her so that she could climb upward and not fall down.
Her dress was posing to be a problem.
She also noticed this as she tried to pinch it with her knees, but it was too short.
I chose the dress so that it wouldn't be difficult to tend to her wounds when that time comes.
To make it worse, I had to push her butt up since she couldn't support her own weight.
Talk about awkward.
I tried not to grope.
But I felt it whether I wanted to or not.
She climbed out and I followed to suit.
I picked her back up and placed her into the back seat so she could rest in peace.
She didn't object.
She propped herself up against the window.
The garage was in the south eastern district, where Amber used to live.
Which is why when she ran away, we had to being her here.
At that time, Vixen was still alive.
She instantly knew I had feelings for her from the first glance.
Amber would've died that day, if I hadn't agreed to help her.
The hospital of the eastern side was funded by the Vipers.
Just like the one to the western side was funded by us.
Taking her to the hospital would've cost us a great deal, and her survival wasn't guaranteed.
To save her, Kent had to agree to a bargain.
Amber would be mine.
Her was scared that he'd lose his only family that he didn't give it second thought, even when Jason didn't want him to.
That was when I realized that Jason had feelings for Amber.
But being the man that he was, he never made his feelings known.
Amber was mines.
He had to find another.
There were no other major hospitals on the island.
There were small health centers here and there but all would still send patients to the major hospitals for treatment.
Amber would've surely died if we had attempted to take her to our hospital.
As a result we had to take her to our base, where Franklin took care of her.
At the time, the bargain wasn't created.
So she was put into the basement when she was finished with her treatment.
My father took a few days to agree to the deal.
He respected my decision.
But he made it clear that I couldn't have her until she was of age to understand.
It was take roughly eight hours to reach back into the north if we took the highway.
Traffic through central was iffy at this time of day.
I could get stuck there for hours.
As I drove onto the highway, I could see Amber through the the review mirror.
She was gazing outside with bright eyes.
There wasn't much to see, but this was probably her first time seeing this side in years if ever.
The mainland folk racked up plantations all over the place.
The dock was empty.
"Whats that place?"
She pointed to the condos that boarded the port.
"That was where the special people stayed."
By special I meant the drug dealers and traders.
But she didn't need to know what.
Along the way, we drove past cassava, edoes and dashine fields.
She made me pull over by every farmer's shed and purchase whatever he was selling.
I didn't mind.
Father always loved himself some oildown.
Provisions could stay fresh for long periods of time without being refrigerated.
Three hours in and I heard her yawn.
She didn't lay down though, she kept herself propped against the window.
A half hour later she was out cold.
After passing a few farmer settlements, I reached the western stretch of central.
We passed by the road that led to mainland's cove.
It also led to where Maggie and Amber was rescued from, where they were brutally tortured.
My stomach churned.
They'd pay.
Dearly.
I was about half way up the western stretch when I heard a belly grumble.
It wasn't mine.
I looked back at her, she was still asleep.
She would surely wake soon.
So, I decided to take the right on the highway intersection into central.
Central was just that.
The centre of, everything.
An hour and a half later I was making the right.
I drove for another hour, before making a left into northern central, where most food stores took up residence.
I drove right up to the tippy top and into the drivethru of my favorite Chinese food outlet.
"I'll take two large boxes of the rice, noodles, veggies and chicken with two large sprites please."
The owner was one of the direct descendents of the imprisoned Chinese locals that were brought over by the British invaders.
Which meant that the food was top tier.
My favorite thing about getting food here was the quick service.
Within twenty minutes I was on my way out of central.
The base was a little way from the store.
About roughly a half hour, if you were to include one lap for safely.
Once I pulled my brake and turned off the engine I heard her groan.
Maybe she woke up just in time,
Maybe I woke her up.
Either way we were here.
She was safe.
And that was all that mattered.
She looked up through her cloudy eyes.
The dress had rode up a bit to show her scarful thigh.
But I wasn't a tad bit disgusted.
I was proud.
That such a strong woman was mine.
There was no way I could let her go.
Even if I wanted to.