Here it is chapter 12 finally some answers.
Chapter Twelve: Memories
Lily's POV
The night was sticky and hot as they made their way down a back ally way behind the facility. Lily and Aaron made their way down the street as quickly as possible and she noticed that Aaron was starting to slow down. The virus was starting to affect him and she needed to find a safe place for them to lay low. He started to shake so she wrapped her arm around him to steady him. She could feel the heat radiated from his body as his temperature kept rising. She really wanted to cry because she had caused this in him, she had did this and he was the one suffering. She looked behind them to make sure that no one was following them and she turned them down another corner and then another, trying to lose themselves in the crowds. Sirens could be heard all through the city and she was so worried that at any minute someone would call out to her or she would feel a bullet in her back. She tried to keep her panic down as they continued their slow and agonizing journey. She had hoped to come across a hotel or even in the back of a shop, anywhere so that Aaron could rest out of the sight of others. This part of her plan wasn't very thought out, but she could make it work. She was so deep in thought about her next step when Aaron spoke to her in a very quiet and shaky voice.
"What happened to Sarah?" She was happy that he was starting to remember and she wanted him to, but talking about her sister was difficult. She cleared her throat before she answered him.
"She's gone" She answered him in an equally quiet voice.
"I'm sorry Lily, what happened?" She didn't want to answer.
"The disorder she had eventually took her life. She fought so hard and so long that it finally took its toll." Before he could question her further she rounded yet another corner and found what she was looking for. It was a small shop that advertised rooms for rent. Leaving Aaron propped up against a building she went in to reserve it. The woman behind the counter seemed pleased that she would be getting some business but was cautious when lily mentioned that she had a sick friend with her. Once Lily had doubled the price however, the woman handed her the key without another word. With key in hand, Lily went back to where she had left Aaron and led him to their room. Once inside she helped him to the small cot that was in the corner and began to help undress him. He was burning with fever and she needed to cool him down as best as she could. He looked at her for a minute and he spoke once again.
"I remember when I first saw you. You had a bruise on your face here." He traced the spot under her left eye where it had been. "You stood on the sidewalk across from the school clutching your sister's hand. You looked so scared but so brave. I watched as you came in the school yard that you had a limp and some of the neighborhood boys were giving you a hard time. I remember watching as you walked right past them with your head held high like you could take on the whole world. You were fearless then and you still are now. That's one of the things I love about you." She could cry right about now but she wouldn't let herself. He was remembering and she wanted to help him along but knew he needed to remember on his own. She tried to get him to lie down but he continued. "I remember that day in the woods with your uncle and how brave you really were." She felt a tear roll down her cheek as she answered.
"I wasn't brave; I was scared out of my mine. He would have killed us both if you hadn't found us and hide us." She could feel his shaky, hot hand lift her chin to look at him. He wiped away her tear as he answered.
"Honey, you are one of the bravest people I know. The way you stood up to your uncle that day took guts, just like taking a frying pan to your would be assassins. You're a survivor and your will to live is so strong, no one will get to you."
"Being brave and being a survivor are two different things Aaron. I was hiding when you found me, I went into hiding when Sarah died, and I'm hiding now. I have the information to stop all of this and I am so scared that they will come after me, come after you. That is something I can't let happen, I can't lose you too and you did so much for me." He held her for a moment as she silently started to cry, she cried for them, for her sister and for everything that had been taken away. He pulled her close and whispered in her ear.
"Don't think for one minute think that you owe me. You can't save everyone and you didn't choose how they responded to your research. You're a good person with a big heart and well, I love you. I have for a very long time." This time she just started to sob and wrapped her arms around him. He felt hot from fever but oh so good. She had though he felt responsible for her, but for him to love her was the best thing she could ever hear. She had loved him from the moment when he had saved her so long ago. After she had settle down a bit she looked up at him with tear filled eyes.
"I've waited so long for you to remember me, I was so afraid that when you found out I was responsible for all of this, for what happened to you, I thought you wouldn't want me around. I've loved you since that day in the woods." With that he lifted her chin and captured her soft lips with his hot fevered ones. It was a tender kiss, it didn't last very long because he had become increasingly weak. When it had ended she got him to take some medicine with some water and he almost immediately fell asleep as she sat by him and stroked his hair. She thought back to that day when they were kids. She and her sister Sarah lived with their uncle whose form of discipline had involved daily physical beatings. He never liked having them around, Sarah was too much work and she was too much like her father whom he had hated. Her sister had made their uncle angry for some reason or other and went to hit her, Lily had intervened at that point and her beating had been so severe that she could barely walk. He had then locked her in the barn for hours. Sarah had become so scared that she went to go find someone to help when their uncle had disappeared like he would do on occasion. Sarah had found Aaron wondering in the woods, lost confused and scared. She had brought Aaron too her and he had unlocked the barn. Between the two of them they managed to escape through the woods and had almost made it to his home when their uncle had made an appearance in the woods calling them out. Aaron had hid the girls in a hunters blind as he led their uncle off in another direction. She remembered her uncle threating that he would kill them if he ever found them. She never understood why he hated the way he had or why he hadn't given them up when he could but she truly believed that he liked the power trip. Aaron in return had lead her uncle in such a wide circle that he had become lost and when he finally came out of the woods two days later her uncle had been so full of rage that he had to be taken away. She hadn't seen him since and once Aaron had made his way back to the sisters he carried Lily to the nearest house as phone calls were made and doctors came. She had suffered a concussion, broken ribs and other variety of injuries from her uncle. Aaron never left her side, for two days he stayed with her. She later found out that he was a foster kid like she was about to become and promised to find her again someday, which he had. Several years later, after her sister had past she made sure that she would find the boy who had saved her and she had. Just not in the way she had thought. He had been so kind to her then and he was too her now. She looked over at his sleeping form and vowed to never leave. She had lost so many people in her life; she could not lose him too. All night she stayed by his bed side as he thrashed through the fever and sickness. She feed him water and medicine when he was coherent enough and she would wipe him down with cool damp cloths. It was almost day break when his fever finally broke and he settles down. She continued to watch out the window for any movement when she had finally drifted into a fitful sleep. Little did she know that wouldn't last much longer and they would once again be on the run.
There it is a little rough I know but this was a hard chapter to write. Enjoy!