Lily walked up the stairs slowly. She almost didn't want to go up there. She was afraid that she would go up there and he'd be gone. But she forced herself onward. When she made it up there she just stopped when she saw him, it made her sad. There he was just lying there with an I.V. in his arm and a very injured hand. At least she knew that the I.V. was trying to get the venom out of his system.
She walked over to him and was sad to see that he still looked very pale. Dark circles rested underneath his eyes. He barely looked like the Red Ranger. Lily pulled up a stool so that she could sit next to him.
"Oh, Casey." She sighed sadly upon looking at him further. She grabbed his arm and held it close to her. "Please come back. I need you here with me. I can't handle any of this without you." She said as her voice began to crack. She looked to the side for a brief moment to attempt to stop her tears, but as soon as she looked back at him, they fell from her eyes anyway. She stroked his head with her hand gently, pushing his hair away from his eyes. "Why do you always have to protect me? Why do you risk your life for me?" she asked him. Of course he didn't answer, and she knew he wouldn't deep down. His chest just rose and fell slowly as he breathed. "I just want to go back to that moment we had on the balcony—when we kissed. I'd never been so happy in my life. And dancing with you was like a dream." She said wiping a tear away from her cheek. "I want to dance with you again, Casey." She told him. Then she laid her head against his chest to snuggle with him. She put her arms around him determined to let him know she was there.
Back downstairs in the restaurant, Theo, RJ, Dominic and Fran continued their work. Dominic looked at Fran from across the room as he wiped off a table and winked at her. Fran giggled as she swept the floors. Then RJ busted through the kitchen doors juggling three large pizzas in his hands. Theo ran over to him quickly and took one off his hands.
"RJ, what're you doing carrying all this?" Theo asked.
"And where's Lily? I thought she was helping you?" Fran added as she looked around for her friend.
"Lily," RJ sighed, "Lily needs to be alone with Casey right now." He said placing the pizzas in boxes.
"Why? Did something go wrong with Casey?" Dominic asked.
"No, she's just so distraught about everything that happened with him that she lost her focus." RJ said with a sad look.
"Man, this really hit her hard, didn't it?" Theo stated as he hopped to sit on the counter.
"She just needs time to get all of her emotions together. We just have to be here for her." RJ told them.
"And we will be." Fran said confidently. "Gosh, I couldn't imagine being in Lily's position, with the man I love hovering between life and death." She said. A chill came over her at the mere thought of that. She looked at Dominic who smiled at her.
"I guess she really is in love with him. I knew she liked him but I didn't know she'd fallen for him. Poor Lily." Theo said hanging his head.
RJ was silent for a moment. He didn't know that Lily loved him either. But he knew how Casey felt about her from what he said that day in the park:
"I think I may be in love with Lily but I'm horrified to tell her."
Upon remembering this RJ shut his eyes tightly and heaved a heavy sigh. "Oh, Lily…" he said sadly. He hated that she could be losing the one she loved especially when they haven't told one another yet.
Before the others could say anything else, their Morphers beeped to alert them of an attack.
"Great. More trouble." Dominic scoffed looking at his bracelet Morpher.
Theo hopped from the counter with a mad look on his face. "Let's finish this."
RJ ran behind the counter to grab his smoke pistol he had used on the night of the dance. It may not be as useful this time, but it was worth a try. "Let's go!" He shouted.
With that, the four rangers all ran out of JKP to handle the wasp.
"Good luck, rangers." Fran said softly as she watched them leave.
Upstairs, Lily just listened to Casey's light, rhythmic breathing as she held him close to her. She jumped when she heard the alarms blare and RJ's TVs flick on. She looked over to see Camille on the screens.
"Camille?" she said out loud.
Camille was wandering about on the beach in her Phoenix Armor, which meant this wouldn't be an easy battle. "Come and fight me Yellow Ranger! I know that you promised not to fight Waspee, but that doesn't mean you don't have to fight me!" she said with a cackle.
Lily stood from her stool and looked down at Casey. "Don't worry, Casey…I'll be back." She said whether he might have heard her or not.
She grabbed her vine that hung from the ceiling and swung out of the hole in the wall that lead into the city.
She morphed upon her arrival, and when she made it there, she saw Camille standing there.
"So, you decided to come and fight me after all. Never thought you'd leave your boy toy's side. How is he by the way?" she said taunting her. She preyed on Lily's emotions and that only made her madder.
"What do you want, Camille? I'm really not in the mood to deal with you right now." Lily said.
"All the more reason I wanted a battle. Are you sure you're ready for this? What'll you do without your little hero here to save you?" she said snidely.
"Shut up, Camille!" Lily shouted at her.
"Make me!" she retaliated extending her daggers.
"You asked for it." Lily said angrily. "Jungle Master Mode!!" she screamed barring her Claw weapon. "You're going down, Camille!" she added getting into a fighting stance.
"Ha! Don't make me laugh!" Camille scoffed.
Then the Cheetah and the Chameleon ran at one another full speed. Lily's claw and Camille's daggers clanged loudly against one another, creating sparks. When Camille had a hold on the claw with her two daggers, Lily spun to try and kick her in the face. Camille promptly back flipped to dodge this. Lily growled in frustration. She ran the claw against a nearby boulder in preparation to strike her, but Camille leapt high in the air, once again dodging. Camille tried to attack by swinging her daggers forcefully; Lily back jumped using her jets to get more distance. As she descended, she slashed Camille hard in the abdomen with her claw. Camille staggered backwards clutching her stomach.
"I told you I wasn't in the mood for this!" Lily yelled resting the claw on her shoulder.
"You'll pay for that!!" Camille snapped and ran back at her once more. She swiped her daggers at Lily's feet, making her land on her back. Camille pinned her into the sand. The sheer force of it all made Lily demorph. "You can't defeat me Yellow Ranger! You'll pay for your ignorance!!" she shouted bringing one dagger down and slashing it across Lily's left arm. She cried out loudly from the strike, panting softly and whimpering. She shouldn't have come here. RJ was right—her mind was somewhere else. "That oughta teach you!" Camille yelled down at her, and then rose to her feet. Lily remained on the ground cradling her arm. "Looks like the Red Ranger couldn't protect you after all." She snickered as she teleported back to the temple.
Lily groaned as she sat up. Her arm was badly bleeding and would need stitches. She sighed at her defeat and hung her head. She winced as she stood and walked slowly back to the loft. She never remembered being more disappointed in herself.