Page 17 of Liberating Lily

He could sense she was panicking again. She seemed to have moments of panic interspersed with clarity.

“What time is it? I’ve gone too long without them,” she told him.

He needed to get Michaela out here to check her over.

“I’m going to get you what you need. You just need to trust me. I’ll just grab the first aid kit and clean up those scratches. You are going to stay right here. Understand me, Lily?”

It was a test, and when he returned from the bathroom with the first aid kit . . .

He discovered that she’d failed it.

With a sigh, he brought out his phone and checked the cameras. It wouldn’t take long to find her.

And he couldn’t blame her for running, but she needed to learn that she wasn’t ever leaving him.

4

This was crazy.

What was she doing? She didn’t do well outdoors. She wasn’t like Clem. Everything out here scared her. Animals didn’t like her. Everything smelled so strong, so real.

So scary.

Why had she run off like that? What did she think she was going to do? That an Uber would just suddenly appear and pick her up to take her home?

That’s not your home, Lily.

That’s a place where your mother trapped you.

No, no, no that wasn’t true.

She’d chosen to stay in that house. With that . . . with that bitch.

Harvey had no idea what he was talking about. He didn’t know her.

And you just have to keep moving forward.

That was all. Just keep going. She’d find her way out of these trees eventually and back to civilization.

She tripped over a tree root and went sprawling onto her hands and knees. Pain flooded through her body, and she let out a small sob.

This was pathetic. She couldn’t even run without falling over.

What was wrong with her?

Clenching her hands into fists, she slammed them against the ground over and over.

“Fuck. Stop, Lily. Stop it right now.”

His voice was so stern that she froze. Lily hated disapproval. She hated disappointing people.

And she could tell that she’d disappointed Harvey. He suddenly appeared in front of her on his knees.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she sobbed.

To her shock, she found herself leaning into him, placing her head against his shoulder. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.

“Shh. Shh. It’s all right. This isn’t your fault.”