Anything For Rachel – Episode 55

#FINAL_Episode

 

 

 

 

The ringing in my ears. The smoke in the room. The blood. Something isn’t right.

 

 

I rolled off of my back and felt the sticky blood on the ground around me. This didn’t make any sense. I’d seen the grenade. I’d known the only way to save Rose and everyone else would be for me to take the blow of the

 

 

grenade myself. I ran for it, as fast as I could. I was going to lay on top of it, take death in exchange for everyone else to live.

 

 

Everything around me seemed to be slow motion, the ear killing ringing in my ears making it hard to concentrate on anything as I tried to push up from the floor onto my hands and knees but my head was feeling loopy. All the mirrors around me were shattered, some of the small wooden panels behind them blown out too.

 

 

My head hurt as I whipped it to the right to look where the toy was and I

 

sighed when I saw that the wooden panel there was still intact, just

 

smeared in blood.

 

Blood.

 

 

I couldn’t make sense of anything. I should be dead right now. It should be my blood smeared all over the room, but it isn’t. I brought a hand up to my face just to be sure that I was in fact intact and not just a ghost seeing the aftermath of my sacrifice. It was there, and so was the rest of me. If I’m still here, then who isn’t?

 

 

I pushed up, standing slowly and I strained my eyes to see, the lights in the room all blown out. I could see Cromley, and Pedro. They were both on the ground, probably struggling to gain control back on their senses like me. Renard was standing up in the distance, training his eyes in my direction and he seemed to sigh in relief when he saw me standing there.

 

 

I looked to the other side and I could see Octavia by the door, sitting up on

 

her hands and knees, her body shaking like she was either breathing heavily

 

from shock or crying…possibly both.

 

Oh, god.

 

 

 

I couldn’t find Calvin.

 

 

 

I turned around, my mind fixing to explode when I was smacked hard by something, taking me back down to the ground. “Rachel, you are insane!” He yelled at me as he hugged me on the ground. “I thought I’d lost you.”

 

 

“Calvin.” I sighed his name and he buried his head in my hair that had been knocked down from the hair tie.

 

 

“Oh, baby.” He cried into me. “I thought you were gone.” He said again. “I-I-I don’t know what I could have done without you.” It made sense now.

 

 

 

 

The only other person I couldn’t find, and the only other person out of us that could have beaten me to that grenade.

 

Lexton had done it. Lexton sacrificed herself to save my daughter.

 

 

I wished so much that she could know how thankful I was. The girl that everyone distrusted. The girl who only ever just tried to live. The girl who was only guilty of falling in love with a man who couldn’t love her back.

 

She’d given everything up to save him that heartache and to fix the wrongs she thought she was the cause of..Lexton was never a bad person. Her circumstances, much like mine had forced her to do things she might not have any other time. As much as people praise me for having a big heart, I think it was always Lexton whose heart was the biggest, and it was hers that was hurt the most.

 

 

I cried into Calvin’s chest too, but for so many more reasons.

 

“Lexton.” I whimpered.

 

 

Calvin nodded. “She did it.” He muttered. “She pushed you out of the way, and she took the blow. She saved all of us.”

 

 

“Not just us, Calvin.” I told him, pushing him back so that I could get up and I dragged him by the hand over to the corner of the room, opening the panel.

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My whole body felt warm and whole as I pulled it open and sitting in the middle of a closet sized space surrounded with little toys was my beautiful daughter.

 

 

“Momma!” She screamed, scrambling forward.

 

 

I grabbed her, crushing her against my chest and dropping to the floor as she wrapped her little arms around my neck and her legs around my waist. I cried as I rocked her back and forth in my arms. “Oh, Rose, Momma missed you so much.” I told her, grabbing her by the sides of her face and examining her to be sure she hadn’t been harmed. Her brown curls were shiny and clean, her smoky blue eyes happy and clear, and her little dimples were digging into her cheeks. She was ok.

 

 

“Momma!” She cheered again. “I missed you too, but do you know where my puppy is?” She asked and I had to shake my head laughing. Children are so resilient. Even after all of the moving around and god knows what else she’s been through, she was worried about her dog.

 

 

“He’s back at the hotel.” I told her and she clapped her little hands.

 

 

“Good.” She grinned, then she looked down me and back up to my eyes. “Momma, you’re all dirty.” She said wide eyed. “You’re messing up my pretty dress.” She frowned when she looked at the pink frills on her skirt.

 

 

I kissed her little cheeks a thousand times and she giggled. “Are you ready to go?” I asked her and she nodded.

 

 

I looked up at Calvin and his big eyes were full of tears and his smile was stretching slowly across his face, his dimples digging into his cheeks just like Rose’s. “She’s beautiful.” He murmured, looking like he was seeing the sun for the first time.

 

 

Rose tilted her head back to look at him and she narrowed her eyes for a moment, then she tilted her head the other way and smiled. “Are you Calvin?” She asked and he dropped down to his knees beside us.

 

 

“I am.” He nodded, smiling from ear to ear as he extended his hand to her. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

 

 

She took his hand and shook it. “You’re Momma and Papa Pedro’s friend.” She grinned.

 

 

“I am.” He nodded.

 

 

“Will you be my friend too?”

 

 

Calvin tried his best to hold his composure while I on the other hand started blubbering crying like a fool. Rose looked back at me for a moment giving me a look like I was losing it, which I was a little from how full my heart was, then she turned back to Calvin.

 

 

“I certainly hope to be your friend.” Calvin told her, tears building in his eyes again.

 

 

“Ok.” She smiled, letting go of his hand. “You kind of look like me.” She said suddenly and Calvin and I shared a quick glance before he shrugged his shoulders.

 

 

“Oh, really?” He asked. “Well that is quite the compliment since you are the most beautiful little girl I’ve ever met.”

 

 

Rose giggled, pretending to be bashful, but I knew she liked to be called pretty. “Thank you.” She smiled. “Are we leaving?” She asked turning back to me, her little eyebrows high. “I want to see Prince, and its dirty here.”

 

 

“Let’s go, ladies.” Calvin smiled, holding out his hand for me, but Rose took it instead, standing beside him. Calvin’s look of utter happiness was hard to ignore. Even in the dark it was like he was glowing. He held out his other hand for me and helped me up from the ground and we walked out, Rose holding one of his hands, and me on the other.

 

 

When we’d gotten back to the hotel it was a toss up to tell if Rose was more excited to see Logan or Prince, but everyone was just happy to see her alive and ok. She ate up all the attention she was getting, moving around the room to get her hair braided by Octavia, or playing a card game with Pedro that he’d taught her. Calvin showed her how to beat Pedro and explained to her that Pedro always cheats at card games anyway. I never thought she’d tire out, but after hours and hours of being praised for her adorableness or her smartness, she finally did start to slow down. Her big yawns making it obvious that she was ready for bed. I climbed into bed beside her, tucking her in under the blankets while I laid on top of them. Logan wasn’t even halfway through with telling her her favorite story when she began to breathe heavily with sleep and Prince curled up at her feet and drifted off too

 

 

Calvin knelt by the side of the bed and gazed at the both of us. “She’s incredible, Rachel.” He sighed happily. “You’ve done such a good job with her,” He told me, then he turned his head to look over at Logan. “You both have.” He said seriously and Logan smiled. Calvin stood and walked across the room to hold his hand out to Logan. “I never thanked you, and I should

 

 

have.” He said earnestly. “You took care of the both of them, and it is clear she loves you and you love her, so please, accept my greatest gratitude for all that you’ve done.”

 

 

I was so touched by the scene of both of the most important men in Rose’s life coming together to finally accept each other. “It’s no problem, Calvin.” Logan told him. “Loving Rose is easy to do.”

 

 

“That it certainly is.” He nodded, turning back to look at sleeping Rose beside me, then he walked to my side again, bending down to kiss my cheek. “Missing her will be hard though.” He sighed and I turned to look at her sleeping little face, her eyelids fluttering every now and then as she dreamed.

 

 

“What’s the plan now?” Logan asked.

 

 

I looked over at him and frowned. “Well, I’m hoping that now that I’ve been turned, the people will release me, and I will be able to join you and Rose soon.”

 

 

Logan furrowed his brows. “You’re going back?” He asked, looking at Calvin.

 

 

Calvin ran his hand through his hair. “I have to.” He said sadly.

 

 

“I have a responsibility to my people to lead them, and we would never be able to just run away.” He explained. “As we speak I am sure there are head hunters out looking for us. We’ll have a lot of work ahead of us to convince the people that we aren’t deserters.”

 

 

I had a hard time imagining leaving my little girl’s side again, but I knew it wouldn’t be safe otherwise. Like Calvin said, if we just deserted we’d always

 

 

have to be looking over our shoulders for when they’d finally track us down and kill us.

 

 

Pedro cleared his throat from where he was sitting at the table with Cromley and Renard. “You know I’d never want to overstep my boundaries, but can I make a suggestion?” He asked nervously.

 

 

“Of course.” Calvin nodded. “Speak freely.”

 

 

Pedro folded his hands on the table and looked over at us. “I was just thinking…” He said. “What if the people…What if they believed that you had deserted, and that you were already killed by head hunters?”

 

 

“What do you mean?” I asked.

 

 

He looked over at Renard and Cromley, then back to Calvin. “As hand of the king, in a time of trial where the king is involved, who would I send out to head the missions in tracking you down?” He asked him and Calvin furrowed his brows.

 

“I would send my best men.” He shrugged. “Renard and Cromley.”

 

 

“Exactly.” Pedro nodded. “Again, I don’t want to overstep, but if you were to have been captured and killed, I would then be in charge.”

 

 

Calvin widened his eyes. “You’d…you’d want to do that?” He asked. “It would be difficult.”

 

 

“Do what?” Octavia asked.

 

 

My eyes shot back and forth between them, thinking I knew where he was going with this.

 

 

“Cromley and Renard could attest to your death, and I was thinking we could also take one out Patrick’s playbook and video the mirrored room, show the people all of the carnage, even find a body that looks like it could be Calvin’s. I could tell the people that Calvin and Rachel made a run for it, and that they took guards with them and that Renard and Cromley had tracked them down to that room and killed everyone.” He explained carefully. “After doing so, I would then be sworn in as the King.” He said. “No one would be looking for any of you.”

 

 

I looked over to Calvin, unsure how he’d respond to the offer, but he surprised me by shooting across the room and hugging Pedro. “There is no other person that I’d trust more to rule over my people.” He told him. “I don’t even know how to thank you.”

 

 

He said pulling back. “You’re sure about this?”

 

 

Pedro pursed his lips, then turned to look at me, smiling at Rose and me before he turned back to Calvin. “You deserve to be with your family.” He said with wet eyes.

 

 

I carefully got out of the bed, making sure not to disturb Rose.

 

I walked quickly across the room to Pedro and flung my arms around his neck, kissing him on the cheek and he tapped me on the nose as I pulled away. I turned around, coming face to face with Calvin, tears forming in both of our eyes. He looked down at me and smiled.

 

 

He reached out, holding my face in both of his hands. “So what do you say?” He asked.

 

 

“I say yes.” I cried. “I say yes a thousand time over.”

 

I wrapped my hands around his waist and he leaned in to kiss me, then whispered against my lips. “Eternal life with you.”

 

 

 

“Is this really happening?” I asked, still dazed. I’d never even really considered a life outside of Castrum where Calvin and I were together.

 

 

He kissed me again, then he put his hands under my arms and lifted me off of my feet, spinning me around. I giggled as my feet met the floor again and I threw my arms around his neck.

 

 

“It’s really happening.” He smiled, his dimples on full display, and his smoky blue eyes peering into mine. “Just Calvin and just Rachel for the rest of eternity.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

✏Epilogue_up_Next

 

ANYTHING FOR RACHEL