Chapter 46
Lily
“Becky Boy!” I sing into the phone. “Aren’t you at work?”
“Yeah, I am. Look, Lily…” I can barely hear him over the thumping music and the laughter in the bar. “Lily, I…”
“Hang on, babe.” I stand from the table pressing my finger to my ear. “I’m just going to go somewhere quieter. Trixie has taken us to this bar, and I swear the whole of London has decided to join us.” I chuckle and mouth to the girls that I’ll be two minutes.
Stepping outside onto the canopy covered patio, I instantly shiver as the cool breeze hits my face and bare arms. The rain is beating the fabric of the canopy so intensely that I worry it may break. “Jesus, it’s really raining tonight, isn’t it?”
“Lily, concentrate,” he demands. “I need you to be serious for a moment.”
“Oh, Becky Boy, is this your Assistant Fire Chief voice?” I tease.
“Lils, please, I need you to listen to me.” The slight wobble in his voice makes me pause.
“What is going on?”
“You’re with the girls, right?”
“Yes. I mean, they’re inside, but yes, I’m with them. Beck, what’s going on? Is Olivia okay? Do I need to get Jade?” Fear creeps in as my mind races, thoughts tumbling through my head as to what he’s gearing up to tell me.
“Olivia is fine.” Sirens blare in the background, and I hear someone shout Beck. “I’ll be there in two,” he shouts back before he sighs into the phone. “Lily, I need you to go get the girls and meet me at City Hospital.”
“City Hospital? But you said Olivia is fine?”
“She is. Shit, I’m doing this all fucking wrong. I love you, you know that?”
“Beck, please just tell me what the hell is going on?”
“It’s Marcus.” His voice is shaky. “He… shit… Lily… I… Fuck I can’t do this.” He groans, stumbling over his words.
“Beck, what has happened?”
“He’s been in a car accident, a bad one.” His voice trembles as he says the last word. “I had to pull him out of the wreck,” he strangles out.
Everything freezes, the sounds of the club fade into the distance, along with the color of the bright fairy lights twisted around the canopy I’m under.
I can’t get any part of me to move. No part of me is fighting.
I’m falling.
Allowing the pull of despair to tug me down. Down into the spiraling abyss of darkness.
“Lily, did you hear me?” His frantic voice is registering, but I don’t respond. He sounds so far away.
Breathe, Lily, just breathe.
“Lily, answer me.” His panicked voice sounds like it's underwater and fuzzy. “Lily, please don’t go there.”
Everything is fading around me.
“Lily, please,” Beck pleads. “I love you, please. Don’t.” His voice cracks. “Just don’t go there.”