Day 13:She brings him to orgasm with no intercourse - hands, mouth, and body only. (Bonus play: use breasts or feet to bring partner to orgasm)

Chapter dedication: lim-er-ence

Song recommendation for the chapter: Mad World - Tears for fears. . . But listen to the Gary Jules Version. 🎧🎶🎶🎶.

*

The ride to the hospital was quiet.

Maybe Chris sensed that she wasn't in the mood to talk or it was the lack of tears on her part, Lee wasn't sure, but she was grateful for it.

For the first time in her life, she was glad for the traffic they encountered on the way because it delayed the inevitable; seeing her father's dead body in the morgue. She wasn't ready for it, but she knew she had to be. Lee nodded to confirm their father's body as the oldest child.

It hurt.

It hurt so much that Lee didn't even know if she should laugh or cry. A deep, hollow feeling seemed to fill where her heart had once been.

Was it only this morning she told Sutton that she would go see their father tomorrow?

She didn't get to hear his voice before he died, because of her own selfish reasons.

Lee closed her eyes with a sigh. She was just so tired. She felt as if she had been put through a wringer then a paper shredder.

"Are you okay?" were the first words Chris said to her after escorting her out of the garden, through the other garden door that was linked directly to the main house. They avoided questions and people that way.

Lee didn't need to open her eyes to know that he was watching her. "I guess." She just wanted to sleep for a long time and never wake up until the pain goes away.

The car came to a halt.

Lee opened her eyes to see that they were already at the hospital. It's been so long since she saw the inside of a hospital room. Been too long.

Her mother died that night and Sutton came into world; it was a beautiful, tragic experience. Now, her father was dead, never to return again. On the upside, he would finally be happy with their mother, on the down side, Lee was sad they hadn't gotten the chance to properly take care of him. Again, Sutton was the last person to see him alive between the both of them.

"We're here," Chris announced unnecessarily as he killed the engine. "I am here, Ledia, if you need me."

Instead of answering, she unbuckled her seatbelt, picked her purse and got out of the car. She started toward the entrance without waiting to see if he was behind her.

Silver Oak hospital was busier than it looked on the outside. It seemed many people had accidents and wanted to see the doctor tonight. Lee walked up to the nurse station. The brown skinned woman behind it looked ready to drop from exhaustion.

Tired eyes stared at Lee in askance even as she managed a smile. "Good evening Miss, how can I help you tonight?"

Lee sucked in a sharp breath and started to speak but Chris beat her to it.

"A man was brought in tonight as an accident victim."

The nurse smile didn't falter, but her eyes said she wasn't pleased about his interruption. "Many people were brought in tonight as accident victims, sir, so I need you to tell me their name, please."

Lee glared at Chris. "I didn't ask you to speak for me, did I?" She turned to the nurse. "Raymond Arden, that's his name."

"Ah, yes. He was brought in a few minutes ago. Go down the hall to your right, then turn to your left, take the elevator. The morgue is located on the fourth floor."

"Thank you," Chris said, but Lee was already walking towards the hall without waiting for him or thanking the nurse.

She hated that she was being rude to him while he was being so helpful. Her emotions were all over the place tonight—she didn't even understand herself. "I am sorry for snapping at you earlier."

He nodded at her. "It's fine. You're hurting. I understand you."

They turned to the left and the elevator came into view. When the elevator arrived, they were the only ones who got on and the ride was silent except for the humming of the machine they were in. The elevator came to a stop at their floor with an announcing ding and the door slid open to admit them into a waiting area where Sutton sat on a steel chair crying into her husband's shoulder. Carson was attempting to console her.

Two officers in uniform — a man with salt-and-pepper hair and a tiny mustache and a woman with dark cropped hair— stood before them asking questions while Sutton kept shaking her head.

"Su-Su." The words left her mouth of their own accord when she stepped into the room.

Before she could blink, Sutton's arms were around her and her sister cried into her neck with big, fat sobs. Lee held her shaking body, her eyes meeting Carson's helpless ones. She understood that he was worried about the health of the baby and Sutton's.

Lee patted her sister's head gently. "Shhh, Su-Su. It's going to be fine, you'll see." She made a humming sound. "Daddy wouldn't want to see you like this, you know. Your baby needs you to be strong, sweetheart."

Sutton's body shook the more. "L-lee. . .he-he didn't even get to see his grandchild, because some asshole decided to. . ." her words trailed off into another sob.

Lee's eyes remained dry, the hollow feeling remained, but all that mattered to her now was calming Sutton who seemed ready to cry herself into a comatose state. "Come, let's sit."

Sutton pulled back but didn't release Lee until they walked hard to the hard steel chairs in the waiting area. The officers watched them silently, giving them time to pull themselves together. The woman's expression gave nothing away, but the man shot Sutton a sympathetic look. Lee hated it, although she didn't say it.

"Su-Su, you have to pull yourself together. We need to remain strong, okay? It's what he would have wanted. You will hurt the baby if you don't control yourself."

While her tears didn't stop completely, Sutton's sobs died down into hiccups and whimpers. She clung to Lee like a vine, never mind that her beach ball sized bump didn't allow the full body hug she wanted. It reminded Lee of how Sutton—when she was little—would cry and climb into Lee's lap and hug her so tight until she stopped crying by sucking on her thumb, when she got hurt. Raymond Arden always laughed at them while calling Sutton a spoilt brat; it was said fondly, of course.

Lee tightened her arms around her sister and buried her head in her sweet smelling hair. When Sutton's tears finally died, Lee lifted her head, but didn't let her go. Sutton had always been clingy when she was sad, Lee hated it at times, but now she was grateful for it. Maybe hollow feeling would disappear if she held her sister. 

The officers were by the elevator talking to Chris and Carson in hushed whispers. When they saw her looking at them, they all came to her. Chris looked as tired as she felt, Carson looked ready to kill someone, while they officers had blank looks. Lee imagined that she mirrored the officers expression, which would explain the worried frown Chris and Carson kept sending her way.

"Miss Arden," the female officer said. "My name is officer Bates and this is my partner, officer Davidson. We are the ones in charge of your father's case. The driver abandoned the car and was nowhere to be seen by the time we arrived at the scene.  We did find some blood on the airbag which had been taken to the lab for test. We will just ask you a few questions and be out of your hair. For now."

Officer Bates was a woman in her early thirties, Lee would later come to learn. Strawberry blonde hair that would have been beautiful if it wasn't cropped close to her skull, eyes as dark as the storm, and a physique that had to be maintained through years in the field.

Lee nodded. "It's fine."

"It's not. She just got here and you're already questioning her." Chris fisted his hands by his sides, anger rolling off him in waves.

Bates turned those dark eyes on Chris. "Don't tell me how to do my job or I will arrest you for obstruction of justice, and I assure you of a night in the cell without bail."

Lee eyed the woman, having no doubt that she'd do as she said. She was second woman Lee met tonight that wasn't drooling over him. The woman had balls of steel for sure. It was Chris who finally gave up their staring contest.  She shot him one last irritated glance before facing Lee.

"Before I ask you any question, Miss Arden, I need you to follow me to confirm if this is the body of your father."

Lee nodded before extracting herself from Sutton, who was already half asleep. Before Sutton could think rising and following her, Carson took Lee's place beside her sister and pulled the exhausted girl into her arms. Lee nodded at him in gratitude before following the officers, Chris falling into step beside her.

"You don't have to do this now, Lee," Chris said. "You can do it tomorrow; no one would blame you if you want to go home to rest."

"Maybe you should go home, Chris, because you're starting to get on my nerves with your unwanted inputs and questions. What part of I am fine do you not understand?" She snapped at him. "I just want to get this done without you questioning everything, is that fine with you?" Although she sounded as if she didn't care if he did or not.

Chris' jaw tightened but he nodded.

Lee ignored the hurt look on his face, because it wasn't as if she asked him to stick around after bringing her here. In fact, she wanted him out of her sight ASAP.

Bates and Davidson exchanged glances as they finally came to a stop outside a room with an open door. A silver blonde haired woman in white label coat was bent over a prone body on the metal gurney while jotting something on the notepad. She looked up, pushing her glasses back to the bridge of her nose when she noticed them.

"Officers," she said as she stepped away from the body. Her eyes met Lee's for few minutes before returning to Bates'. "I was just about to put the body in."

Bates stepped into the room; her partner remained at the door. "His oldest daughter needs to confirm the body since the younger one was crying too much to see straight. 'sides she's pregnant. Bad luck and all that shit."

The woman nodded. "Please make it quick. I still have to take the finger prints and pictures."

"Miss Arden." Bates waved her into the room.

Lee walked into the room, her eyes on anywhere except for the still body on the gurney. The room was all steel and clean. A monitor and printing machine sat on a metal table at the west end of the room, and several machines was on the next table. When she finally came to a stop beside the body, she took a deep breath, her muscles bunching as her eyes slowly drop the the body on the bed.

It was indeed her father.

Raymond Arden looked the same even in death. His dark hair was tinted with gray, the lower half of his face clean shaven. His neck was twisted at an odd angle. Dry blood matted his hair, staining the gray and clumping the strands together. He was naked except for the sheets around his waist. His eyes remained shut, chest still. He looked as if he was sleeping; though the slightly crooked neck spoiled the serene image.

Sensation was all she had.

Pain, something so far above agony it had no name. Thousands of claws, thousands of teeth tore and rolled at her heart, body and soul, each a separate, searing misery. Lee had never felt this type of blinding pain before.

Before she could stop it, a whimper escaped her lips and she staggered away from the body. Dizziness swamped her vision, only the strong arms circling her waist from behind kept her from implanting her face on the floor.

"I told you this was a bad idea," Chris murmured as he led her out of the room, back to the waiting area.

Sutton—already awake and staring at the hallway—met them halfway and assisted Chris with Ledia. They walked together to sit on the larger steel bench. When her butt finally touched the seat, Lee pulled away from Chris, calling on every energy she possessed to keep her face blank and alert.

"I am ready for the questions you want to ask me." She told Bates who looked at her as if expecting her to become a wailing mess like Sutton.

She was going to be disappointed because Lee had no intention of crying as far as she was concerned. The tears were so far out of reach that she wasn't sure anything could bring them to the surface. She just wanted to sleep.

"Are you sure?" Carson asked. "I think we should all go home tonight. We can continue his tomorrow."

"I want to get this over with. The sooner we start, the sooner they'll catch the culprit. I owe daddy that much."

Sutton shook her head. "It's okay to cry, Ledia. No one is going to blame you if you do."

Lee managed a smile when she met Sutton's eyes. "I am fine, sweetheart. If I want to cry, I promise to call you to bring Kleenex."

"If you insist then," Davidson said.

"I insist and would appreciate it if you all will stop acting as if I would combust anytime from now. I am totally fine."

Bates asked the usual question about when she last saw him, if he was got into a fight with anyone. Davidson took notes of their conversation on his little notepad.

Lee couldn't wrap her head around the fact that her father was truly dead or that he was knocked down outside his own home deliberately, according to Davidson who said they reviewed the CCTV footage that confirmed that the hit-and-run was deliberate. Her father was putting the garage bag into the dumpster in front of his home when the car climbed the curb and rammed into him. A passerby saw it happen and called the ambulance and police. Raymond died immediately from his broken neck. Lee was glad he hadn't suffered.

When they finally left the hospital, it was a few minutes past midnight. Lee just wanted to sleep.

Sutton didn't want her to go home alone, Lee waved her concerns away. Carson and Chris didn't look too happy about it either, but she was way past caring about what anyone thought. Sutton finally left with her husband after making her promise to call when she got home. Chris drove her to the bakery and all attempts to have a conversation on his part failed because she wouldn't even look at him.

When he finally pulled up in front of the bakery, Lee unbuckled her seatbelt and reached for the door, only to stop when he grabbed her wrist. She whirled around to face him. "What is it?"

"Lee, please stay with me tonight. I don't like the thought of you being alone."

Lee blinked because, for the first time, Chris used her nickname and not the full one. If he wanted to throw her off enough to have her agree with him, then he almost succeeded. Almost. "Go home, Christopher. I have always been alone before I met you, there's no difference now."

"Stop being so difficult, Ledia."

"You're the one being difficult. Just go away, I don't need you anymore."

Chris reared back as if she struck him for the second time that night. His grip slackened enough for her to withdraw her arm and climb out of the car. "Goodbye Christopher. You should really go and be with April now. I told you this was a waste of time. We were never meant to be."

She closed the car door. She walked towards the bakery without a backward glance. It was for the best, she thought. Their love was doomed from the start anyway.

Maybe if she said it over and over again, she'd believe it.

A/N:

Lee, why did you have to do that? 😥🤧?

I know, I know, it hurts. It hurt me too writing this chapter. I felt Lee's pain and Chris's pain.

Pain is such an ugly thing. 😢.

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