Ltfl: Exactly, I found that out during my research. Maybe, you'll soon find out :-)
Chapter Thirty-Four
"Are you not going to work today?"
Iain hovered in the doorway of Gem's bedroom with his arms folded across his chest. Lily was still in bed, blanket pulled up to chin, an old stuffed toy under her head. Gem sat on her own bed, legs crossed, mobile phone in her hands. She too was concerned, and knew that she was thinking the exact same as her brother. Was Lily going back to her old ways?
"You're meant to be back this week," Iain mentioned. "You told Mrs Beauchamp that you would be."
"She doesn't have to go back if she doesn't want to," Gem said. "She clearly isn't ready. Can you blame her anyway, after what happened?"
"Gem," Iain warned her, and shook her head. "Fine, Lily," he sighed, turning his attention back towards his girlfriend. "I'll tell Mrs Beauchamp that you're not well, yeah? I have to go to work though so I'll tidy the rooms and..."
"What?" Lily frowned, sitting upright in bed. "Tidy the rooms?"
"Gem and I have a rota," Iain said. "It only seems fair for her to pull her weight if she's going to live here. It's my turn to clean the rooms out, which means it's her turn to clean the toilet."
"Yeah, I think we need to rethink this rota," Gem chuckled, her eyes fixated to her mobile.
"No chance," he laughed, disappearing to grab the vacuum cleaner before walking back into the room.
"I...I'm really tired, Iain," Lily said. "Please. Let me sleep."
"You can sleep when I've gone to work," Iain said, walking over and kissing the top of her head. "Gem's got a day off today so she can stay and look after you."
He turned the vacuum on and began to clean up the dust and dirt that covered the carpet. Lily anxiously gulped and began to scratch at her arms, as Iain vacuumed under her camp-bed. She hoped that he wouldn't notice the bag, but he soon turned it off and silence filled the room.
"What's this?" He asked, reaching under and pulling out the bag of food.
"Man alive," Gem gasped, eyes widening at the chocolate and sweets that filled the bag. "I have never seen so much chocolate."
"Lily," Iain whispered, eyes on his girlfriend. "What's this?"
"It's nothing," Lily whispered back, turning to lock eyes with him. "Honestly Iain, I...I've had that under there for ages."
"Great," Iain scoffed and glanced over his shoulder at his sister. "Did you know about this?"
"No!" Gem snapped, alarmed at his accusation. "I swear I didn't know a thing about that. Don't you think I would have told you?"
"Lily, I...I need to take this," Iain said. "Come on, you can't do this to yourself and you know it. I just care about you, and I don't want to think about you having secret midnight binge sessions in here. I'm going to get rid of this bag, okay?"
"Iain," Lily whined. "Please don't."
"Gem, can I have a word?" Iain asked his sister, completely ignoring Lily's pleads.
Gem nodded and climbed off of the bed, before following his brother out of the room. Iain chucked the bag of food onto the kitchen floor and faced his sister with his hands on his hips.
"I really need you to keep an eye on Lily today," he said quietly.
"I was going to go out though," Gem complained.
"Where?" He scoffed, folding his arms. "You don't have any friends around the area, and you're not due to be at work today. Lily hasn't been herself since the court case; she's been quiet and spending a lot of time in bed, and then I go and find this bag in the room. I don't want her to be on her own Gem, and I would feel a lot more comfortable if you stayed with her in your room."
"Fine," Gem whispered, nodding in agreement. "I'll keep an eye on her."
"Thank you," Iain said, giving his sister a hug. "I love you, okay? I'll text you on my break."
Gem was in the kitchen making herself some lunch later on. She'd spent all morning with Lily in the bedroom, and although she'd been awake she hadn't actually said anything. Gem knew that Iain had told her to stay with her, but what was she supposed to do? She needed to eat. She needed to go to the toilet. Besides, Iain hadn't even text her yet.
She picked up the cheese sandwich that she'd made and took a bite out of it. Licking her fingers, she heard a bang come from the bedroom.
"Lily!" She called, frowning to herself and placing the sandwich back on the plate. "Are you okay?"
She received no answer so left her lunch and headed back towards the bedroom.
"Lily?" She questioned, opening the door to her room.
She was shocked at the sight that she saw. Lily was lying in bed, eyes closed, one of her arms soaked in blood. She let out a loud sob and her gaze diverted to the bloody knife that had dropped onto the carpet.
"Lily!" She screamed in tears, crouching at the side of her bed. "Lily, wake up," she cried, shaking her violently. "Lily!"
Tears rolled down her cheeks and she picked up the knife with a shaking hand. She wasn't even sure where the knife had come from, had Lily been hiding it in her room this whole time? She knew what she needed to do.
"Stay with me, Lily," she said, pulling her mobile out of her pocket and frantically dialling Iain's number. "Stay with me."
She noticed that her arm was continuing to bleed and she needed to do something to stop it. She held the phone under her ear and grabbed the end of Lily's duvet, holding it over her arm.
"Come on Iain," she muttered. "Please, please pick up."
It just rang straight to voicemail.
"No!" She screamed, removing the phone from her ear. "Lily, it's Gem," she whispered. "Please wake up. God, what have you done to yourself?" She pressed the duvet harder onto Lily's wound, when an idea struck. "Please, I need you to wake up!"
Quickly, she started to dial another number and held the phone to her ear again.
"Noel!" She shouted. "It's Gem, Iain's sister. Is my brother there?"
"No, sorry Gem," Noel answered her. "He's out with Jez. Can I help?"
"Is Connie there?" She shouted louder than ever. "Please Noel! I need someone, I need Connie! Something's happened to Lily and I don't know what to do, I'm scared."
"Calm down Gem," Noel said in a calm voice. "Connie's right here. I'll pass her over."
Gem waited, tears streaming down her cheeks, until Connie's voice could be heard on the other end.
"Connie," Gem began to cry harder. "I need you. It's Lily, I...I think she's tried to kill herself. She's cut her arm, really badly, and she isn't waking up. There's blood everywhere. I don't know what to do Connie, I tried ringing Iain and he isn't answering, and please! I really need your help!"
"Okay Gemma, I need you to stay nice and calm for me," Connie said, allowing her to cry and shout. "Are you at Iain's?"
"Yes," Gem choked out.
"Okay, I am going to inform Iain and we'll bring an ambulance out to you," Connie said. "I just need you to stay with Lily, try and stem the bleeding, and keep talking to her. Iain and I will be there as soon as possible, okay?"
"Thank you," Gem cried. "Thank you so much."
She hiccuped and hung up the phone, before placing a hand on Lily's back. She sniffed and began to run her thumb over her cheek, pressing the duvet onto her wound just as Connie had instructed. She tried to remember what people had told her whenever she felt scared or worried, and the majority of them had told her to put on one of her favourite songs.
She switched to 'YouTube' on her phone and typed in 'Photograph by Ed Sheeran' and she just sat next to Lily, as the song began to play. It didn't take long to make her feel better.
"Just stay with me, Lily," she whispered. "Everything's going to be okay, I need you to be okay. I...I can't do this without you, and...And my brother, he needs you too."
Her lip wobbled and she squeezed Lily's hand, leaning down to bury her face in her shirt.
"We need you," she sobbed. "Please be okay."
"Is everything okay?" Noel questioned, as soon as Connie was off the phone to Gem. "She sounded pretty hysterical, said that something had happened with Lily." His eyes were wide and his stomach was filled with concern.
"No, things aren't okay," Connie said, handing the phone back to him. "I need to contact Iain, and I'm going to have to go."
"What's happened?" Noel asked.
Connie sighed and held back her tears, before replying, "Lily's tried to kill herself."
That was a really hard chapter to write but I hope it was okay. I've lost my beta reader now so grammar might be a bit off. I've had a pretty bad day I'm afraid but I really wanted to update x