Chapter 8
The Monday had finally come round and lily had been really scared all weekend, she'd been really jumpy and practically didn't leave Rachel's side for the entire weekend. Both joe and Rachel had been really worried and had tried talking to her on more than one occasion but neither of them had been able to get anything out of her.
She'd also barely had any sleep and kept waking up on tears or screaming after having a bad dream.
She woke up at about 2 on the Monday morning and she started crying when she remembered what was happening today, although she started off crying quite gently she gradually got more and more hysterical.
As Rachel and joes room was just next to Lily's they woke up to her crying after a while.
"Oh not again, I thought she was going to sleep through tonight" Rachel sighed
"Poor kid, what on earth can have gone on, to make her feel like this"
"I don't know" Rachel said "look I'm going to go and calm her now, I might just go in with her for the rest of the night though"
"Okay, well I'll try not to wake you when I get up for work"
"Okay enjoy the rest of your sleep and if I don't see you before, have a nice day at work"
"Love you"
"Love you too"
Rachel quickly got out of bed and went into Lily's room.
As soon as she went in she flicked the light on and saw her sat bolt upright in bed crying her eyes out.
She rushed towards her and put her on her knee
"Hey" she said gently "calm down sweetheart, if you carry on like this you'll make yourself sick"
Lily collapsed into Rachel and cried into her
"Lily you've got to tell me what's upsetting you this much" Rachel sighed "and I know you're going to tell me there's nothing, but me and joe are getting really worried"
"I just had a bad dream"
"Look whatever you say to me, no matter how bad or shocking you think it is, I won't get cross but I need you to trust me and tell me what's wrong"
"I'll be fine"
"Well you keep saying that but you haven't been one bit fine since you left school on Friday"
"I'm tired" lily sobbed
Rachel sighed before saying "okay love, do you want me to come in with you?"
"Yes"
"Budge up then love"
Lily moved over so Rachel could get in next to her.
Rachel drifted off to sleep quite quickly but she kept waking up because she could feel how restless lily was next to her and she stayed like that for most of the night.
Lily woke up early the next morning despite having barely any sleep that night, she immediately began to feel really nervous and sick.
After a little while Rachel also woke up
"Morning lily"
"Hi" lily said
"Did you have an okay sleep In the end?"
"Yes"
"Good, wish I could say the same about me, you were ever so restless all night"
"Sorry"
Rachel smiled and ruffled Lily's hair affectionately before getting out if bed.
"I'm going in the shower now, I won't be long"
Rachel went in the shower and enjoyed letting the warm water run over her body, it always did make her feel refreshed.
When she got out she quickly got herself ready before going to wake Rosie up.
"Morning" Rosie said sleepily
"Hey how are you feeling today?"
"Okay"
"Has your stomach ache gone now"
"Yep sort of"
"Told you it would, I've put some painkillers in your bag for school today just in case"
"What I have to go into school today" Rosie said surprised
"I'm afraid so, it's just something you've got to get on with, if every girl missed school every time she got her period there'd never be anyone there"
Rosie sighed heavily before getting up
"Get dressed, breakfast in 20 minutes"
Once she saw that Rosie was starting to get dressed and wasn't going to go back to bed again, like she sometimes did as soon as Rachel left, Rachel went to check on lily.
When she went back into her room she realised lily must have gone back to sleep when she was in the shower, Rachel felt awful waking her as she looked quite peaceful.
"Lily it's time to get up"
Lily opened her eyes and quickly got out of bed and with Rachel's help got dressed for school
Before long everyone was sat round the table at breakfast.
Her and Rosie started eating straight away however lily was just messing with hers
"Lily eat that toast up please" Rachel said sounding a little firm as lily had barely touched any of her food all week.
"I'm not that hungry"
"Well I want you to try and eat it anyway"
Lily managed a few small pieces of her toast but suddenly her stomach went really funny and she had to dash to the toilet.
"What's up with her?" Rosie asked
"I don't know, I'll go and check she's okay"
Rachel quickly went to the downstairs toilet and saw lily sat on the floor looking really pale
"Are you alright sweetheart?"
"Yeah I thought I was going to be sick or something because my tummy went funny but I'm okay"
"Are you sure? You do look a bit pale"
"I'll be okay"
"Right, we'll take it easy yeah? Go and have a lie down on the sofa or something"
Lily went into the living room and laid down while Rachel and Rosie finished their breakfast.
Once they were done Rachel went into the living room and saw lily crying into one of the cushions
"Lily you've really got to tell me what this is all about"
"It's nothing"
"Well it's not is it, nothing doesn't make you this upset"
"I've just been worried that's all" lily said trying to make up something as quick as she could
"About what lily?"
"Just because I've got reading practice today with mrs Holmes and I'm really bad at it and everyone else is so much better at it than me, I know I'm going to do really bad" lily said trying to sound believable
When Rachel heard her sat this she didn't t know what to think, she knew that it seemed unlikely lily would be all this upset over something so small but she also knew how much of a worrier she could be over little things
"Darling please don't tell me that's what you've been getting yourself all worked up over"
Lily nodded her head
"But lily you know no ones going to be disappointed or angry with you"
Lily wrapped her arms around Rachel and snuggled into her chest, although she hadn't told her anything somehow she felt a lot safer wrapped up in her arms and the smell of her perfume made her feel all relaxed
"There now don't you go worrying about anything at all love" Rachel said rubbing Lily's back as lily continued to give out muffled sobs
Lily didn't want to get off Rachel's knee, she felt really comforted just being with her
"And you're not to let anything make you this upset okay?"
"Yeah, I just wish I was clever sometimes and could be as good as all the others"
"You'll get there sweetheart don't you worry, but i can have a quick word with mrs Holmes before school if you're this upset over it"
"No" lily said instantly
"Okay but remember when you do your reading and stuff it's only to help you"
"Okay"
"And we'll do some practicing just the two of us when you get back from school tonight"
Hearing Rachel say this made lily burst into tears again because she knew she wouldn't be there tonight
"Come on now my love you're going to be okay" Rachel said "hey look, you're getting my shirt all soggy" she said causing lily to laugh a little but through her tears
Lily stopped her crying and tried to wipe her tears away with her sleeve
"Now don't you get your shirt all soggy too, let me find you a tissue"
Rachel found her handbag and searched through till she found a tissue
She went back into the living room and mopped Lily's face up a but
"Are you ready for school now?"
"Yeah"
"Come on then let's go and get your shoes on"
Lily then went and followed Rachel out to the front door and the two of them got ready for school
She drove to Lily's school first but as soon as she got there lily got all teary again and when Rachel walked out with her she started clinging to her
"Lily you're going to be fine I promise, come on let's get you in"
"Please don't leave me"
"I'll be back at the end of school straightaway I promise"
after a few more minutes she eventually did get lily to go in.
As she went back to the car she was beginning to feel awful for leaving her when she was so upset.
All day at school lily had been really worried, she hadn't been able to think or concentrate on anything and there'd been a few instances when mrs Holmes had,had to take her outside the classroom because she was so upset
She knew what she needed to say but the thought of seeing him made her sick
Lily got up off her chair while they were doing some work and went to her desk
"What is it lily, are you feeling upset again?"
"No, I forgot to tell you, my uncles taking me to the dentist so I have to leave 10 minutes early"
"Well your uncle will be in reception, so you should go there"
"Okay"
Lily was about to walk off when mrs Holmes stopped her
"I'll ask miss smith to keep an eye on things in here and I'll walk you down"
When she'd spoken to there classroom assistant they began to walk down together
"I wanted to have a word with Rachel actually after school"
"Why I'm not in trouble am I?"
"No..nothing like that, I'm just a bit worried and I think she needs to know how upset you've been"
"I'll be okay"
"Well I think I might ring home tonight, just so I can have a quick chat"
Lily was about to start crying again but bit her lip
As soon as she was in reception she saw her uncle and she instantly felt sick again, and started to feel really dizzy.
"Hi lily" he said walking towards her
Hearing his voice made lily feel really funny and she turned white.
A few seconds later she collapsed to the floor
Mrs Holmes immediately rushed over to her
"Oh my gosh, lily are you okay" she said worried
A second or so later lily opened her eyes and started crying
"Come on let's get you sat down, I'll get some cold water"
She helped her over to a seat and sat her down
"Look we need to get going, lily come on you'll be fine"
Lily was still crying but she knew she needed to stop as her uncle would get angry if she didn't and she really didn't want that to happen, as she felt scared enough as it was.
"Don't you think it'll be a good idea for lily to rest here for a bit"
"No I'll look after her, come on lily" he said his voice getting firmer now
Lily got up and followed her uncle out, leaving mrs Holmes feeling quite worried.
About 10 minutes later the bell went for the end of school, so Rachel rushed out and went to the car, she was looking forward to seeing lily as she'd been worried about her all day and really hoped she was okay now.
When she got to the primary school she was a bit late so there was no other kids there.
Mrs Holmes spotted her and went straight up.
"Hey sorry I'm late, where's lily"
"She went about 20 minutes ago, her uncle picked her up"
"What" Rachel said
"Actually though I'm glad you came because I wanted to see you about lily ..."
"No you don't understand I had no idea her uncle was coming, he's dangerous, he's been in prison and ..." Rachel said suddenly feeling really sick
"But she said you knew all about it"
"Oh my god, what if he's going to hurt her"
"Right we need to stay calm, do you know where he lives"
"No and you know why... I don't want to know anything about her dad or her dad's relatives, they are dangerous and that's why they haven't been allowed anywhere near Rosie or lily and now you're telling me you've just let her out"
"Well you've never informed us that..."
"I shouldn't have to inform you, you know that lily was taken off her dad and ..." Rachel began tears starting to form in her eyes because she was so worried
"Yes but you've never discussed why she was taken off her dad and you didn't inform us that he had dangerous family" she said gently, seeing how upset Rachel was
Rachel was about to start to loose her temper but realised this wouldn't really get her and she knew that she was being irrational
"I'm sorry"
"It's okay, why don't I phone the police let them know what's going on, they'll find her Rachel I promise"
Rachel sighed before going into reception with mrs holmes and collapsing into one of the chairs
A few minutes later she returned with a cup of coffee and handed it to Rachel
"Thank you"
"Police are coming to the school, to ask us both some questions"
Rachel didn't say anything for a while just sat there drinking her coffee and thinking to herself
"She was so upset all weekend you know, I should have picked up on it, I know I should have picked up on it"
"You can't blame yourself, she was so upset all day at school too, I kept having to take her outside because she was that worked up, I was stupid for letting her go"
The two women talked for a bit longer until the police arrived, Rachel had told her mum what was going on and she too was very worried and had gone to take Rosie home from school and back to her house, while Rachel got lily.
They asked them both some questions for a while
"And do you have any reason to believe lily might come to any harm while she's with her uncle"
"I know he's got a criminal record and I also know how frightened lily is of him so yes, I believe we do have reason to believe she'll come to harm"
"Okay well we've got a good idea where he lives and we believe he'll have gone home so we can try and get her now, if you'd like to come with us"
"What if she's not there" Rachel asked still feeling really scared
"Well then we'll send out a search team"
Rachel quickly got up and started gathering her things together
"Rachel do you need me to come with you?"
"No I'll be okay don't worry about it"
Rachel got in her car and started following the police car, they seemed to have been travelling for ages when they finally pulled up outside a grotty block of flats.
Rachel felt sick to her stomach praying nothing terrible had happened, as she'd never forgive herself for not realising what lily was so upset about.
The two police men got out beside Rachel and walked up.
Once they reached his flat they banged on the door.
After what seemed like forever there was an answer and Lily's uncle came to the door.
He was exactly like Rachel had imagined, really tough looking, with tattoos all over him.
"Sir we believe you have lily in the flat with you"
"And so what if I have, she's family"
"Can we come in"
"No"
Suddenly Rachel heard a scream, that sounded a lot like lily so she barged past him and raced to find her.
"Lily?" She shouted
She heard crying coming from one of the bedrooms so went in and saw lily curled up crying her eyes out, her nose all bloodied up.
Tears began to form in Rachel's eyes as she rushed to her and wrapped her arms around her
"What did he do?"
"He made me come... I know I shouldn't have but he made me" lily cried "he hit me because I said I didn't want to stay with him"
Rachel out lily on her knee as she cried into her, she was getting her too covered in blood from Lily's nose.
After a while she said "let's get you cleaned up, come on"
Lily was to shaken up to even stand, so Rachel had to carry her through
One of the police saw the two of them and rushed over
"Have you seen what he did to her?"
"Lily did your uncle do this to you?"
Lily nodded her head through floods of tears
"I hope to god your going to arrest him"
"Of course, are you okay to take lily back home or do the two of you need a lift"
"We'll be okay, I'm going to get her checked out at the hospital, just to be on the safe side"
Rachel spent a while getting Lily's face cleaned up as best she could before carrying her out to the car
"It's okay sweetheart, look your with me now your safe"
"I don't want to see him again"
"You won't have to I promise, just try and relax, I'm going to take you up to the hospital, just so you can get checked out, but first I need to give joe a call and let him know what's happening, he was so worried when I spoke to him earlier"
Once Rachel had finished talking to joe she turned her attention back to lily who was still crying her eyes out, to the point she couldn't catch her breath
"Lily, deep breaths" she said "that's it good girl"
"I'm sorry, don't be angry"
"Darling no ones angry I promise, we know none of this was your fault"
"He hurt when he hit me"
"I know, come on love take some more deep breaths"
As soon as lily had stopped crying so much Rachel started driving to the hospital.
"I'm going to be sick" lily cried when they were about half way there
Rachel pulled in as quickly as she could but lily had already started being sick all down herself and on the seats.
"Sorry"
"Never mind, thank god for leather seats huh?"
Rachel then cleaned her car up and took Lily's top off her.
"You'll have to just wear your coat"
"Okay"
Once she'd finished cleaning everything up, she got lily back in the car.
Before long they were at the hospital and rachel had to carry lily in because she was all upset again.
She sat with her on her knee until they got called in.
Luckily they weren't too long with the doctor. She cleaned lily up a lot and gave her some ice to put over her nose, but she didn't think it was broken.
"Come on love, let's go home and get you a nice hot bath" Rachel said when they were done
Lily sat in silence all of the way home and by the time they were home felt quite dizzy and faint, like she did earlier.
When they opened the door both joe and Rosie came running up, and started giving her lots of hugs and attention, but all of this was a bit overwhelming for lily and she started crying, seeing her sister so upset made Rosie cry to.
"Joe you get Rosie some hot chocolate and I'll give lily a bath"
Rachel took lily up and started running a bath
Once it was ready she got lily undressed as she got her in, but she noticed her flinch as soon as she touched her
"It's alright darling, I'm not going to hurt you" she said gently
"I know"
She then helped lily into the bath.
"Rachel I'm scared" lily cried
"I know, but you know when you're with me and joe you don't need to be scared"
"Okay"
"Do you fancy anything to eat after your bath"
"I don't know"
"Well maybe give it a go, you were sick earlier so you'll have nothing in your tummy"
"What time is it"
"7"
"It feels really late"
"That's because a lots happened sweetheart. I bet you'll be ready for a good sleep"
"I'm too scared to go to sleep, I'll have a bad dream"
"Well I'll tell tout what we'll do, we can kick joe out of my bed and you can come and cuddle up to me would you like that?"
Lily smiled faintly before nodding
"Okay"
Once she'd finished bathing lily she got her dry and into some pyjamas before taking her downstairs
Joe came up to her and wrapped his arms around her, he'd been so worried about her earlier and was so glad to see her safe.
"Do you fancy having a cuddle with me for a bit, while Rachel gets you something to eat?" He asked
Lily nodded so joe took her through to the living room and she cuddled up to him.
About 10 minutes later Rachel came back in with some tinned spaghetti and toast.
"Here love, try and eat this up"
Lily managed about half of it but couldn't eat anymore
"Come on then let's get you into bed, joe is it okay if you sleep in the spare room"
"Yeah no problem"
"Right, let's go up"
They went upstairs together and went into the bathroom
"Brush your teeth and go to the loo darling then I'll tuck you up"
Lily went into Rachel's room a few minutes later and got into bed.
Once Rachel had tucked her up she said "I'll be up in a while, try and get some sleep, but come and find me or joe of you need anything"
"Okay, night love you"
"Love you too sweetheart"
A few hours later Rachel came up to bed, she was surprised that lily had slept through as she thought she'd have been quite unsettled.
She reached under her pillow and grabbed her pyjamas and changed into them.
She'd just finished brushing her teeth when she heard lily screaming so went over to her,
"It's alright I'm here love"
"Rachel?" Lily cried
"Yeah look it's just me and you're okay"
"I had a bad dream"
"I know but you're okay now, I'm just coming to bed now so we can have a cuddle"
"Okay"
"Do you need anything, glass of water or something"
Lily shook her head so Rachel got in next to her and reached to switch off the light
Rachel wrapped her arms round lily and this made her feel all safe.
"Night sweetheart, love you lots" Rachel whispered
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