Chapter 20

The next morning, Lily woke up with a sense of happiness and was even more overjoyed when she discovered that Granger was asleep beside her. She gave him a light kiss on the nose and carefully climbed out of bed and into a wheelchair to let her boyfriend sleep. Although she preferred not to tell her boyfriend that she loved him for the first time in a hospital room, she was quite pleased about how things turned out. Lily and Granger were in love, and she would not have it any other way.

She was just about to wheel herself out the door to get them both breakfast from the cafeteria when the door opened, and Todd came in. He took one look around the room and then looked down at his niece. "Damn, did you kill him?" he asked in a low voice. "I mean, come on, Lily, he may have just let you get kidnapped two nights ago, but come on, he's been worrying his ass off for those two days, you didn't have to kill him, no matter how close those sedatives are—"

"Shh! Todd, he's trying to sleep!" Lily looked over her shoulder to see if he had woken up, but so far, he had not moved. "Can we get outside this room for a few minutes? It's too, umm…depressing in here."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Todd agreed. "Come on, I'll take you outside, and we can talk." He quietly wheeled Lily into the lobby of the hospital and stopped her in front of a chair. He sat down across from her. "How are you doing, kiddo?"

"I'm…good, I guess. Better now that I'm home. You know, I've only been gone for less than a day, but it feels like a lifetime." She paused for a minute. "I don't know what's wrong with me. Shouldn't I be thankful just to be home with the people I love?"

"And is this Granger one of those people that you love?" Todd grinned.

This is one of those things that Lily hated about Todd; he always tried to make everyone's love life seem like a joke. She blushed before answering in a hurried voice, "Of course. He's one of my best friends, of course I love him."

"You know what I meant."

"Listen…if I tell you, I know what you're going to say: 'You're a teenager, and you don't know what love is.' That's the same thing you told your daughter."

"Starr's situation is totally—"

"Listen; I love Starr and Cole so much that they could be my brother and sister; I also love you and Blair and Marty, and I know you three want what's best for your kids, but from their point of view, keeping them apart is not the best thing to do."

"Hey, wait a minute," Todd interrupted. "I'm supposed to be giving you the advice, not the other way around."

"Would you just listen? Starr and Cole love each other, and when too people love each other that much, nothing can keep them apart."

"Okay, who are we talking about?"

"Let's just say that I answered you question about Granger and me."

"Lily!" Tina ran through the hospital and kissed her daughter on the cheek. "Hi, honey, sorry I'm late. You would not believe who I saw outside of the coffee shop—"

"Mom, where's David?" Lily interrupted.

"He's umm…waiting for us at Asa's house," Tina replied running her hand through her hair, like she always did when she was nervous.

"And why are we going to Asa's?"

"Well, umm…Bo is waiting for us there. Sweetie, I know that you probably don't want to, but Bo needs you to make a statement about what happened with Richard."

Lily's eyes widened. "You wouldn't make me…no, Mom, please, I'm not ready yet! Why do I have to? Richard is dead!"

"Honey…" Tina reached for her daughter's hand. "Bo told me that it is just legal matters, and it really should be done now."

"Mom, I can't! It's too soon!" She tried to get out of her wheelchair, but Todd and Tina both moved to push her back down. "Let go of me!" she protested.

"Honey, please!" Tina pleaded fighting hard to keep her daughter down. "You have to go! I'm sorry, but you have to!"

"Hey! What's going on here?" David and Dorian had arrived in the lobby and took in the scene before them: Todd and Tina trying to restrain Lily, who was desperately trying to fight tooth and nail against them. When Lily saw David approach her, she looked relieved.

"David, finally! Please tell Mom that I can't make a statement, not today, please!" Her muscles relaxed as if she automatically knew that David would side with her, but when she heard her father sigh, she knew she was going to get the opposite of what she wanted.

"Lily, I'm sorry, but Bo really needs you to tell him exactly what happened."

"Great David, side with Mom," Lily thought. "No!" she yelled. "No, I can't, it's too much! David, Mom, please!" Finally breaking out of her mother and uncle's grip, she jumped out of the wheelchair and sunk to the ground sobbing.

"Honey…" David crouched down next to his daughter. "Listen, I know you really don't want to do this, but it's one of those things in life that you have to do. It's going to be okay; your mom and I are going to be there; Todd and Dorian and Viki are going to be there; Bo will be there. Anyone you want can go over there and be with you, okay?"

"O-okay…"

"Okay. Okay." David pulled his sobbing daughter to him. "It's okay. You're okay. You're going to be okay."

"It's so stupid!"

Lily straightened her blouse that Dorian gave to her to change into as Granger gathered up various gift baskets that people brought the previous day.

"Lily, stop. I know that you don't want to do this, but your parents want to help you, and your uncle Bo is just doing his job."

"They could have asked me before they set up this whole arrangement!"

"Lily…" Granger put down the gifts and wrapped his arm around his girlfriend's neck. "Come on, it's not going to be as bad as you think. Just tell Bo what you know, and then you'll be able to go home. Besides, the longer you take, the longer I have to wait to take you to my apartment for the surprise."

"Oh…the surprise?"

"Yes, the surprise."

"And when will I find out about this surprise?"

"Tonight, I promise."

"Okay." Lily sounded like she was pouting as she gathered up her gifts. "Come on, Michael is waiting for us so he can sign me out."

When Lily and Granger walked out of the room, Michael and Marcie were waiting for them. "Hey, you guys," Marcie greeted.

"Hey Marcie," Lily replied. "Umm, I don't mean to be rude, but can we get this sign out thing over with? I want to just get to my Grandpa's, make this statement thing, and go home."

"Sure thing, kid," Michael smiled. "Okay, your parents already signed these papers, so basically, you're free to go."

"Thanks, Michael. Thank you both for…everything." She hugged both of them and turned to Granger. "We'd better go before Asa sends people to personally pick us up and take us there."

"Okay, then we'll let you go," Marcie said warmly.

"Good luck," Michael added.

"Thanks!" Taking Granger's hand, they walked out of the hospital together.

Knock, knock, knock! Granger pounded his fist against the front doors of Asa's mansion. Lily swallowed hard; the last time she was here, it was for happier occasions like when David first reintroduced her to Asa, Clint, and Renee. They planned for her to spend all of her holidays there like Christmas and Thanksgiving and her birthday…

"Miss Patterson! It's great to see you out of the hospital looking so well!" Nigel had answered the door and was beaming down at the two teenagers.

Lily managed to crack a smile. "Nigel, you know that you can call me Lily. You're like family to me; I think we can stop the formalities."

"Well, I'm glad you're coming home. Everyone is inside waiting for you."

"Okay, thanks." Nigel had started to walk into the house, but Lily waited a few moments to let the events that were about to happen sink in; she had to do this. She had to tell them about the rape no matter how painful it may be.

"Ready?" Granger whispered in her ear.

"As ready as I'll ever be." She took Granger's arm, and together, they joined the rest of the family.

When they got into the living room, they were greeted by Asa, Renee, Clint, Bo, John, Antonio, Tina, David, Dorian, Viki, Todd, Cord, CJ, Sarah, Jessica, Natalie, and Kevin. To Lily, all of the faces looking up and smiling at her were kind of frightening. Why did everyone have to be there? She did not care either way, but she did not think making a simple statement was a family affair.

"Hi, Lily," Jessica smiled waving to her cousin. Lily relaxed; Jessica was the only one besides Granger or Jade who knew how to calm her down.

"Hey…everyone." The awkward silence returned. Viki stood up.

"Hey…why don't we all start getting brunch ready for when Lily is done with her statement?" she suggested. Taking the cue, Asa, Renee, Clint, Todd, Cord, Dorian, Jessica, Natalie, and Kevin stood up.

"Maybe you guys should go with them," Lily said to CJ and Sarah.

"Are you kidding me?" Sarah snapped. "You're our sister; we want to be here for you."

"Sarah…I'd really feel better if I knew you were helping Renee and Viki get ready. I'll be fine; I promise."

"Sarah, maybe Lily is right," CJ agreed. "If she wants us in here, someone can always come and get us."

"But—"

"Sarah…" Cord took his daughter's hand. "Right now I think it would be better to respect your sister's wishes."

"Fine." Sarah hugged Lily tightly. "I love you so much. You're really brave; I'm really proud to call you my sister."

"Thanks, Sarah." Sarah stepped aside, and CJ took his turn to wish his sister luck.

"Good luck, kid. I know it's hard living through all of what Richard did to you, but I think talking about it will help." He kissed his sister's forehead.

"Don't worry, you guys, I'll be fine. It's not like I'm facing a split personality or anything." She grinned at Jessica. "But thank you, all of you." When all of her relatives left, she turned to Bo, John, and Antonio. "Okay, I'm ready."

Bo smiled at his niece. "Okay, well, you can sit wherever you feel comfortable, and we'll begin."

Lily settled herself on the couch and took Granger's hand. For some reason, she could not look into the eyes of Bo, John, or Antonio. Something about them gave her a weird feeling, like her first night in Llanview; she thought they were trying to take her down…but they never wanted to do that at all. Lily immediately hated herself for judging everyone in Llanview when they just wanted to help her.

"Okay, Lily…I need you to tell me everything; from start to end; about what happened when Richard kidnapped you."

"Okay…" She closed her eyes, allowing all of the painful memories that she had been trying so hard to tuck in the back of her mind come flooding back to her. "Umm…Granger and I were at the movies, and uh…we were coming out of theater to go to our friend's house for a party. My cell phone started to ring, and I got a text message…from Richard, and I got really freaked out because it was the fifth one that I had gotten from him. Granger's motorcycle was broken, and I was scared that this freak would be on a bus or driving a taxi, so I convinced Granger that we had to call one of our friends to pick us up while we saw another movie. I went to get us tickets, and when I got out there, this guy just came up to me and started screaming at me…I don't know, I guess he was pretending to be my father…but he was dragging me away, and I was trying to scream and tell everyone that I didn't know this person, but they wouldn't listen…they wouldn't…" She shook her head as if a bee was buzzing in her ear. "Umm…the guy took me to the back parking lot and threw me in the back seat…I couldn't see anything, I couldn't see where we were, where we were going, and he was so above the speed limit; he must have been doing about eighty or something." She swallowed. "Umm…we got to the house, and the guy took me in, and then we saw…Richard…"

Antonio glanced at her quickly. "Lily, do you want to stop for now and get something to eat? You can take all the time you need…"

"No, it's okay, Antonio, but thank you." She closed her eyes and sighed deeply. "Richard was there, and he told me that I was going to die slowly and painfully…so he and his assistant took me to this one room, and I thought they were going to keep me there, but he then they lifted up this throw rug, and there was a trap door. They threw me down, and I was in this brightly lit yellow sponge room. Richard told me that he was going to let me rot there until I go insane and die." She shivered slightly; Granger took off his leather jacket and put it around Lily's shoulders. "I didn't sleep that night, not at all, and already I was going insane; I was talking to myself and everything…the next morning, Richard came in, and I told him that he wasn't going to get away from it, and I was going to go home…he started hitting me and beating me…" She took a long pause.

"Then what happened?" John inquired, prompting her to tell them more.

"Uh…I started seeing things, I started seeing people, my parents…they were telling me to hold on…and then Richard's assistant came down and saw me talking to the air. He told me that the walls were not sound proof, and the neighbors were getting suspicious, so they had to kill me now." Tears started to form in her eyes. "But before they did, Richard promised him…something."

"What did he promise him?" Bo asked, but he had a feeling that he knew very well "what."

"The assistant has a wife who cannot have children…but they both wanted to have one, so he told me that…I was going to give him one, and have the baby implanted into his wife…." She hugged her knees to her chest and started rocking back and forth. "He…umm…oh my god! Oh my god, I can't do this, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" With that, she ran out the back door leaving Tina, David, Bo, John, Antonio, and Granger staring after her.

David punched the wall. "I can't believe that he did that to her! I can't believe it!" He turned to Tina. "We should've paid more attention. I should've told her that she couldn't go to that party! I'm her father, and I sure wasn't acting like it…"

"David…" Tina sniffed and put her hand on his shoulder. "There was nothing we could do…I'm just as furious as you, but it is not anybody's fault." She looked at the door. "I'd better go talk to her…"

"No, Tina, please let me," David replied. "I think I should."

"Oh…okay." She watched as David opened the door and disappeared into the yard.

Granger groaned. "It's all my fault…"

"It's not your fault, kid." John McBain put his hand on Granger's shoulder as comfort. Granger chuckled.

"Well, I shouldn't have sat down and waited for her to get kidnapped. I should've done something."

"It's all over now, and we can't change that. What Lily needs now is our support and love."

"Yeah…yeah, I'm going to go talk to her."

"Don't. David just went out there. You should let them have some time alone."

Lily meandered into Asa's horse stable, the one place that always made her feel happy. For some reason, the smell of the horses always calmed her down. She walked slowly over to the hay loft and threw herself into it. Maybe if she fell asleep for a few hours, Bo would forget about the statement.

She was almost asleep when she heard the door open with a creak followed by footsteps. She desperately tried to submerge herself into the hay, but someone had already climbed into the hay loft. "Hey, sweetie."

David relaxed himself amongst the hay and stroked Lily's hair. "You know, Clint and Asa promised both of us that they'd teach us how to ride. They didn't do it yet. I think we need to remind them." Lily tried to stifle a smile, but she could not help it. "I knew that would make you smile," David sighed, but the smile on Lily's face quickly disappeared and was replaced by soft cries. He put his arm around his daughter and pulled her close. "Shh, you don't need to talk about it, okay? It's okay…it's okay."

"It's all my fault, David. I was so stupid when I got that first text message. I should've told Bo in the first place, and now…now…" She started sobbing openly now.

"It's okay…it's okay. It's over now, and Richard is dead. And we're going to forget all of the pain he caused you and our family. Okay?" Lily nodded. "That's my girl."

Lily wiped her eyes. "You know, growing up, some part of me knew that Richard was never my dad. Every night after Richard would…hurt me, I would pray that my real daddy would come and rescue me."

"I'm right here, honey. And I'm not going to leave. Never."

Together, father and daughter, they laid in silence. They were almost asleep when Lily broke the silence.

"David? Umm, last night I decided something."

"What's that?"

"I wanted to change my last name. I don't want to be a Patterson anymore."

"Well, what do you want to change it to? Lord? Buchanan?"

"No. I want to be Hillary Vickers." She looked into David's eyes. "What do you think, Dad?"

David hugged his daughter and kissed her head. "I think it's a great idea…Hillary Vickers."

Tina wandered into the horse stable a few hours later; David and Lily still had not returned to the house, and she was worried about them. She was just about to leave when she heard a soft snore from the top floor. Quietly, she climbed up into the hay loft to see the father and daughter pair asleep amongst the hay. Tina smiled to herself; why had she been worried about telling David about his daughter? They were getting along just fine. She kissed Lily's cheek and went to leave, but she turned around before leaving. She walked back over taking off her jacket. Gently, she covered them with the jacket.

Lily was home safe again.

The End

So that was it! That was the end of Lost on the Road of Life. Thanks to all of you who read this story. You all rock! Don't worry, there will be a sequel, so stay tuned!

Toddmanningfreak1112