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Her stomach twisted, and bile rose in her throat.
Tristan believed her lies.
Tristan clenched his fists, but he didn’t try to follow Lillian as she gathered her suitcase from her bedroom and found the keys to the rental in the dish where he’d left them. He let her walk out the door, although everything inside of him urged him to stop her, to protect her. But she’d made her choice. She didn’t want his help—she didn’t want him. He’d never forced himself on a woman before, and he wasn’t about to start now.
A deep chill settled in his gut. He set the folder on his desk and then deliberately walked to a different room with a window overlooking the driveway to watch her leave. Her words had pierced his heart and frozen his insides. She’d used him just like everyone else. She didn’t love him. She’d believed the worst of him. She’d only slept with him to pay a debt. Nothing more.
She didn’t look back at the house but got into her car and started the engine. His limbs were waking up, the blood returning to his heart, his brain beginning to function. Anger burned a scorching pathway through his veins.
The little white car sped down the drive and out of his line of vision. As quickly as she’d entered his life, Lillian was gone. He’d put himself on the line and lost. It was his fault for ignoring the warning signs and allowing himself to be vulnerable. Once again, he’d been played.
His phone buzzed and he checked the number.Brian.The old feelings of betrayal rose up like a ghost to haunt, urging him to let Lillian leave without a fight and to spend his time nursing his wounded heart. But he found he couldn’t bury his protective feelings toward her entirely—not without first making sure she was safe.
Lillian turned on the second road to the right and headed south toward the airport, all the while looking in the rearview mirror to see if Tristan—or anyone else—was tailing her. She didn’t know if the pain in her chest was caused by lack of food or disappointment that Tristan’s fancy car wasn’t behind her.
The sky broadcast a storm, seeming to echo her current mood, but at least it wasn’t raining…yet. Her cell phone buzzed—her dad. She answered.
“Zoey, thank God you haven’t left yet. Can you come to the hospital? Hannah isn’t doing well.” Her dad sounded distraught, but he’d remembered to use her alias.”
“What is it? Is Hannah okay?”
“I don’t know. The doctors aren’t saying. But she’s running a high fever again. It doesn’t look good.”
“Oh my God, Dad. Okay. Hang tight. I’m on my way.”
She made an illegal U-turn and prayed a cop wasn’t watching. Thankfully, no sirens or flashing lights went off. She would do what she had to do to save Hannah. She just hoped she could get in and out of the building safely.
By the time she reached the hospital parking lot, Lillian was determined not to leave her sister’s side until she was cured. This time, she would not give up so easily. This time, she would heal Hannah once and for all.
She opened the car door and looked around, and when she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, made her way to the entrance.
The automatic doors opened, and she slipped inside, keeping her head down and avoiding the gazes of the other visitors and medical personnel she passed along the way. No one paid any attention to her, which helped to slow her breathing and calm her erratic heartbeat.
When she got to the elevators, as luck would have it, the doors were open, seeming to wait for her arrival. She ducked inside and hit the button for her sister’s floor. In a moment, she was knocking on the door of her sister’s room and heading inside.
“You’re here, thank God,” her dad said, getting up from where he’d been sitting by Hannah’s bedside. He gestured toward her sister. “She’s been like this for the past hour.”
Hannah’s face was as pale as the white sheets, and her eyes were closed, her breathing labored. A nurse whom Lillian didn’t recognize hovered over her bed, checking the IV drip.
“What are you doing?” she asked the nurse.
“The doctor wants to give her a sedative.”
“Please, before you do, can her dad and I have a moment with her?”
The nurse nodded. “Sure, honey, but be quick. I’ll be back in a jiffy.”
The moment the nurse left the room, Lillian turned to her dad. “I’m going to heal her.” She reached for Hannah’s hands.
“Be careful,” her dad said.
“Lillian?” her sister whispered.
“Shhh, I’m here now. It’s going to be okay. Try to relax.”
Hannah didn’t respond, so Lillian pulled in air and let her breath out slow and easy. Almost immediately, a dark shape encased in an orange glow formed behind her closed eyelids. The orange light swelled and shifted with each of Lillian’s indrawn breaths, retracting when she emptied her lungs.
Deep breath in. Breathe out.
