Better off Without You

Lily opened her eyes a fraction of an inch then shut them again. She opened her eyes again, slowly this time, and saw that she was in an all white room. She turned her head to the right and saw Emmett sitting in a chair against the wall, his head in his hands.

“Hi,” Lily croaked. Emmett’s head snapped up and a grin spread across his face.

“Hi,” he smiled even wider. He stood up and stood next to her bed. He looked down at her while she looked up at him.

“You scared me… uh, us. I… uh, we thought we were gonna lose you,” Emmett said nervously.

“You should have let me die,” Lily frowned. Emmett looked down at her, shocked.

“Why?!” He almost shouted.

“I wanted to die!” Lily snarled. Emmett’s hand clenched around the rails of Lily’s hospital bed, his knuckles turning even whiter.

“You don’t mean that,” he growled. Lily frowned and went to cross her arms, but winced when her wrist and the crook of her elbow stung. Lily looked down and blanched. Her wrist had stitches on it and an IV was jammed in her elbow.

“It was keeping you alive earlier,” Emmett commented. Lily looked at it and then made a move to take it out, but Emmett’s free hand grabbed hers.

“Why are you so intent on killing yourself?” He snarled.

“Because I don’t want to live!” She yelled. Emmett’s eyes shone with hurt and Lily almost apologized.

“I’m gonna go,” he snapped.

“Emmett,” Lily sighed at his retreating back. He ignored her and exited the room. Helen then entered and smiled, seeing that she was awake.

“How are you feeling?” She asked sweetly. Lily sighed, her eyes still on the door.

“Like crap,” Lily sighed. Helen glanced at the door, then back to her.

“Emmett cares for his family. He considers you his family now,” Helen said as she studied her clipboard. Lily gripped the railing and gasped when she saw the part of the railing that Emmett had been gripping. It was like someone had squeezed a toothpaste container too hard.

“Rails aren’t as strong as they used to be,” Helen laughed nervously. Lily smiled slightly and glanced down at her hands.

“I saw them Lily,” Helen said, interrupting Lily’s train of thought.

“S…saw what?” Lily asked.

“The cuts and bruises. Is there something you would like to tell me?” Helen sat at the foot of the hospital bed and eyed her suspiciously. Lily stared at the stitches on her wrist and sighed.

“Do you promise not to tell anyone?” Lily asked.

“I promise,” Helen smiled warmly. Lily took a deep breath and looked into Helen’s caramel brown eyes.

“Before my mom met her fiancé she had a boyfriend named Jason. At first he was nice and sweet. After a while though I found out that he had a short temper. Whenever Caitlyn and mom went out he would get mad for nothing. He would hit me and throw things at me. Then… then one day while Caitlyn and our mom went shopping, I came home to find him drunk. He hit me; it was pretty much a routine thing by then. After that he pushed me to the floor and… and…” Lily stopped, tears running down her cheeks. Helen took Lily’s hand in both of hers and looked at her with somber eyes.

“I promise to never let anyone treat you like that ever again.” It looked like Helen wanted to cry, but couldn’t.

“He was the reason I moved here, and the reason why I started cutting,” Lily admitted sadly. Helen squeezed her hand and stood up.

“You’ll be able to leave tonight. I’ll drive you home when my shift ends.” With that she proceeded to remove anything attached to Lily. Once she was done she leaned down and pressed her lips to Lily’s forehead, then silently left.

Helen pulled up to the house in her black Mercedes. She cut the engine and she and Lily sat there for a moment.

“You can tell Robert. I know he can keep a secret,” Lily sighed. Helen nodded and helped Lily out of the car. They entered the house and Lily was smothered with hugs. Anna and Caitlyn had thrown their arms around Lily.

“Never do anything like that again!” Anna scolded. The two girls pulled away and Lily saw Emmett sitting on the couch, his eyes on the blank TV screen.

“Hey Emmett,” Lily said softly. He nodded his head but didn’t meet her eyes.

“I’m okay now,” she smiled uncomfortably. Lily looked around and noticed that the others had left.

“For now anyway,” Emmett snarled. Lily sighed and sat on the arm of the couch. She saw his eyes flash towards her for a second before looking forward again.

“I promised Helen that I’d stop cutting,” Lily growled. In a blinding movement Emmett was on his feet. Lily gasped and jumped slightly.

“You say that now,” he snarled. He started walking towards the stairs, but Lily caught his hand.

“I promise,” Lily said sternly. Emmett stared deeply into her eyes and leaned down. His lips caught hers and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her closer. Lily put her hands on his chest and kissed him back. Then Lily’s eyes snapped open and she pushed him away, which took a great deal of strength. He looked genuinely confused and surprised that she had pushed him away.

“I’m sorry,” she muttered and ran up the stairs. Someone had apparently fixed her door while she had been in the hospital. She slammed and locked the door, leaning her forehead against the cool wood door.

“Lily?” Emmett asked. It sounded like his lips were right at the crack of the door.

“Please leave Emmett,” Lily pleaded. Emmett sighed and Lily felt a tear crawl down her cheek.

“Not until we talk about what happened,” he demanded. Lily ignored him and flopped down on her bed, instantly falling asleep.