Lillian is sitting next to me, attempting to spoon feed me again, and while I’m more than capable of the act myself, I allow her the first few. She just wants to help, and I understand that. More importantly, I think she wants me to tell Colby all about her willingness to do so.
I clear my throat thoughtfully as I take the bowl from her and set it down on the other side of me. I want to ask her to help me go back home to Pollyx, but I don’t know if she’s willing to go against Colby’s wishes of keeping me here.
“Lillian?” I begin slowly.
“Yes?” she asks as she pushes her hair out of her face and crosses her legs underneath herself.
“Do you want to see what my home looks like someday?” I hate myself for laying such an obvious trap for this child, but I want my husband.
I want to go home.
“Can Colby come?” she asks in the excited way that children tend to do.
I smile warmly at her. “Of course he can.”
“Yeah! I wanna go!” she exclaims, hopping to her feet.
I glance at the doorway, careful to make sure that no one is walking by or even loitering to report back to him, before my smile turns into a grin.
“I’ll tell you what. If you can help me get home today, we can get it nice and fixed up for Colby to come visit anytime he wants to!”
Lillian’s eyes narrow for a moment, and I suddenly feel all hope draining from my soul. But when her eyes brighten and she runs out of the room, I know that I’m stuck here until the conquering hero returns home and decides to finally make the trade.
That is until Lillian returns a few moments later and pushes a wheelchair into the room.
“I can take you in this!” she says proudly as she sets it next to me and locks the wheels in place.
Taking a deep breath, I reach for the arms of the chair, and with Lillian’s help, pull myself onto the old, rusted equipment.
“If we hurry, he’ll never know we left to get it ready for him,” I tell her mischievously.
Lillian gives me a big smile before she drops to unlock the brakes and starts to push me toward the bedroom door.
I only hope that we can make it out of here before someone else sees us.