Chapter 281\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart clenched. \u201cShe saw too much.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe did,\u201d Tristan agreed. \u201cBut she\u2019s safe and her parents are with her, she\u2019ll be okay.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about Derek?\u201d I asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe went back to the border to help with cleanup,\u201d Tristan said. \u201cThere was still work to be\u00a0<\/p>\n
done.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nodded and tried to sit up, immediately regretting it as pain shot through my ribs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEasy,\u201d Tristan said, helping me. \u201cDr. Chen said you need to move slowly, those ribs are going to\u00a0<\/p>\n
hurt for a while.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything hurts,\u201d I admitted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know, baby,\u201d he said sympathetically. \u201cBut you\u2019re alive and the baby is safe, that\u2019s what\u00a0<\/p>\n
matters.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was right but it didn\u2019t make the pain any less real.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The IV bag hanging beside the bed was empty now and Tristan carefully removed the needle from my arm, placing a small bandage over the insertion site.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Chen showed me how to do that,\u201d he explained when he saw me watching. \u201cHe said the fluids should help you feel a bit better.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI do feel a bit better,\u201d I said. \u201cLess shaky.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGood,\u201d he said. \u201cAre you hungry? Kiara made breakfast for everyone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As if on cue, my stomach growled loudly and we both looked down at it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll take that as a yes,\u201d Tristan said with a small smile, the first real smile I\u2019d seen from him\u00a0<\/p>\n
since he arrived.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He helped me stand slowly, keeping his arm around my waist to support me, and we made our\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
18:38 Tue, Jan 20 G D\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 281\u00a0<\/p>\n
way out of the small room and down the hallway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The smell of food cooking hit me as soon as we entered the main living area and my mouth\u00a0<\/p>\n
watered, I was starving.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kiara was in the kitchen with Leah, the two of them working together to make what looked like\u00a0<\/p>\n
enough food to feed an army. 2\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re awake,\u201d Kiara said when she saw me. \u201cHow are you feeling?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSore,\u201d I said honestly. \u201cBut better than last night.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGood,\u201d she said. \u201cSit down, food will be ready in a few minutes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan guided me to the couch and I sat down carefully, trying to find a position that didn\u2019t\u00a0<\/p>\n
aggravate my ribs too much.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sarah appeared from another hallway, looking exhausted but relieved when she saw me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re up,\u201d she said, coming over to sit beside me. \u201cI was worried about you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m okay,\u201d I said. \u201cHow\u2019s Lily?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s calmer now,\u201d Sarah said. \u201cOrion is reading to her and Liam, trying to distract them from everything that happened.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry they had to see that,\u201d I said. \u201cThey\u2019re so young, they shouldn\u2019t have had to witness\u00a0<\/p>\n
violence like that.\u201d 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re resilient,\u201d Sarah said, but I could see the worry in her eyes. \u201cWe\u2019ll make sure they have everything they need to process it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cara and Maya came in from outside, having apparently been keeping watch during the early\u00a0<\/p>\n
morning hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything\u2019s quiet out there,\u201d Cara reported. \u201cNo signs of any trouble.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe guards are still stationed around the perimeter,\u201d Maya added. \u201cThey\u2019ll stay until we\u2019re sure\u00a0<\/p>\n
there\u2019s no more threat.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
18:38 Tue, Jan 20 GD.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 281\u00a0<\/p>\n
2.31%8\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt grateful for their continued vigilance even as part of me wondered if we\u2019d ever really feel\u00a0<\/p>\n
safe again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Orion emerged from the back with Lily on his hip and Liam holding his hand, both kids looked\u00a0<\/p>\n
tired and a bit subdued, which was unusual for them\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAunt Athena!\u201d Lily said when she saw me, and Orion set her down so she could come over.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She climbed carefully into my lap, being gentle in a way that told me someone had explained\u00a0<\/p>\n
that I was hurt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHi, sweetheart,\u201d I said, hugging her close.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMama said you have owies,\u201d she said, looking up at me with big concerned eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI do,\u201d I confirmed. \u201cBut I\u2019ll be okay.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes the baby have owies too?\u201d she asked, and realized she was touching my stomach gently.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I glanced at Sarah who gave me an apologetic look.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to explain why you needed to be careful with you,\u201d Sarah said quietly. \u201cShe was asking why you were hurt and I thought it might help her understand if she knew there was a baby that needed protecting.\u201d 2\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 281 Chapter 281\u00a0 My heart clenched. \u201cShe saw too much.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cShe did,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-second-gear-of-love-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26438\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}