Page 153 of Marks of Rebellion
I hold a bottle of water to her mouth, and she takes a sip.
"Wake up, Flower."
Her eyes flutter.
"That's it."
She sighs and turns on her side toward me. She grips my hand that is caressing her cheek. "Is it you?"
"Yes. Open your eyes."
Slowly, she opens them.
"Hi," I gently say.
She smiles, and her eyes water. "Hi."
I dip down and give her a tiny kiss. "I've missed you."
Her tears fall. "I'm not dreaming?"
"No."
"I'm not dead?"
"No."
"You're not dead?"
"No."
She sits up, embraces me, and sobs.
"Shhh." I hold her tight to me.
"How?" she cries out.
"Shhh." I lift her onto my lap. When she finishes crying, she puts both hands on my head.
"You were there then? The red hibiscuses were you?"
"Yes."
"I knew it was, but he told me the day of the wedding it was him."
"No. It was always me."
She nods, kisses me, then her hand flies to her face. "Oh God!"
"What's wrong?"
"Am-am I married to him?" She swallows hard.
"You don't remember what happened?"
"I don't remember anything after he told me he was responsible for the red hibiscuses. And then... I... I just thought you died. The only thing that kept me alive this entire time was knowing you were watching me." She breaks down again.
"Shhh. I'm here, Flower. He only told you that since he's a complete narcissist. These people, they think they're indestructible." More rage boils in my veins thinking about how he tried to destroy her with more lies. I sat in the jungle every day with traps set, ready to take down whoever Carlos sent to come after me. They never came. It soon became clear he would somehow use the hibiscuses to his advantage, yet I couldn't stop sending my Flower her messages I was there, watching and waiting to save her.
