Chapter 23: Chapter 23

A promise to keep

Belle's POV

It has been a long time since I felt this angry. Every time I try to calm myself down and it seems that I'm making it worse. Jean and Elijah are all I am thinking about but I did my best to understand how to use a gun.

"You are a badass woman indeed. What took over you back there? I was impressed," Elle asked me whispering so the fat guy would not hear her.

I had a gun pointing at a target mimicking the guy that was showing us how to aim and load the gun. I grinned, aimed carefully and shot on the bull's eye.

"The hell!! Belle! That's crazy! First time shooting and you hit the target like that! Damn girl!" She screamed excitedly.

The fat guy that had Rupert written on his tag according to Elle stared at me with his mouth wide open. Surely if it was possible for him he would run off screaming like a lady.

I watched Elle try a few times before she managed to aim bull's eye but at last, she was getting the hang of it.

We arrived back at Elle's house with bags full of guns. My babies were fast asleep in the kitchen which gave me time to help out set the guns out on the table.

Elle's mother raised an eyebrow "Why did you get those?" She asked with a surprised tone.

We both stared at each other at first, then Elle explained everything to her. She looked concerned and told us to hide them away as she was not ready to explain to the police if they find out.

I was in bed asleep with Zaden and Lee beside me. I was dreaming about a planet full of flowers and butterflies and I was running freely touching the flowers lightly with my fingertips. My dream faded away as soon as I hear Elle shouting, telling me to wake up. I hear the sound of the Zarogian tree and I knew then why I was disturbed in my so much needed sleep.

Elle's POV

I was in my bedroom fixing my eyebrows and filing my long nails to make them shorter when I finally hear the sound of the Zarogian tree. That only means that the boys are back. I rushed to wake up Belle and ran outside to greet Elijah and Jean. Surely enough it was them and they looked very tired and weak.

"Elijah, I have missed you so much."

I leaned in for a hug and he moaned with the pain of agony.

"Oh my Goodness El, what happened?"

I lifted his black shirt and saw a large bruise and blood seeping out from his left rib. Belle came running down with the twins in her arms and watched her running towards Jean. He hugged her tightly and kissed the young ones on their heads. I rushed Elijah inside and sat him down in the kitchen. I used my doctor skills to clean off the wound and decided to stitch it. As I pushed in the needle I heard Elijah holding himself from screaming, and bit his lip tightly.

"I'm sorry. I'm going to need you to stay steady for me."

I pulled the string and watched him intently to see if he would be able to take the second needle, but I could tell that he was in too much pain and so I asked him to lay down on my bed instead. I helped him walk to my room and laid him down. Soon enough he lost conscience and I rushed to finish the fifteen stitches he needed. I pulled his legs up with a bunch of pillows and wet a face cloth and put it on his forehead and neck. It took him a while to gain conscience again and he stared at me for a while. He groaned and touched the wound to see if it is done.

"Don't," I told him as I pulled his arm slowly down and away from the wound. "When you are ready I need you to sit down so I would be able to cover your wound".

It was soon getting dark and we were all in my bedroom. Elijah still sitting down on my bed as I sat down next to him and Belle was sitting down on the chair next to Jean holding a baby each.

"So, what happened?" I asked and looked at Jean to speak up.

"We have finally managed to lure them away. It took a lot of fighting and a lot of us died. We have a lot of wounded so we are surely going to need a hand. Everyone was growing tired but we have a few hostages that we want to keep alive for a while," he explained.

My eyes filled with tears as I listened. That is very bad I thought. Belle looked down at the floor as she lifted her unoccupied arm to her head and started crying. "This is my biggest fear. Losing lives of people I know and that I care about," she said between crying.

There was nothing I could do from here so I started to pack my things.

"What are you doing?" Elijah asked as he moaned with pain.

I kept packing not looking at anyone but the stuff I picked.

"I am going to Rignau to help out the wounded. I cannot risk waiting here whilst some people need attention," I blurted out.

"Elle, not today. Please. Do not leave me here alone. I need you with me," Elijah begged whilst holding his side. As I lifted my eyes to look at him, I could tell he was too weak to be alone so I stopped and sighed.

"How many do you have injured?" I asked looking both at Jean and Elijah.

"We have at least twenty severely injured and a few more that can manage to heal in a couple of days," Jean said.

"Look, I will always do my best to protect you and all of Rignau. That is my promise to you that I will keep forever. As a doctor, I am bound to help heal the wounded and the sick. Now I am torn between here and Rignau but I have a plan."

I looked at Elijah and then back at everyone. "I will go check a few patients today and I will be back within an hour. Until then Belle and Jean, can you stay by Elijah's side? I won't leave for long."

They agreed and then I turned to look at Elijah. "I need you to rest now. I'll help you lay down. Here sip some water, you need to hydrate yourself."

I gave him the glass of water before helping him lay down. Then I gave him a few kisses on his lips, head and cheeks.

"Sleep for now. When you wake up I will be here my love," I whispered in his ears. Then I left with the packed bag and ran towards the tree.

Belle's POV

"I have missed you so much, you know. I was worried. I felt bad not being able to help out".

I looked down looking sad and I felt Jean walking towards me. He lifted my head with his index finger holding my chin. Then he moved in for a long hug.

"I have missed you and my boys too. The most important thing for me was to keep you safe. If you stayed I would have not been able to concentrate knowing you could get injured or worse."

He kept his arms tight around me and kissed my head. His strong arm had a scar I have not seen before. My fingers lingered over it. We looked in each other's eyes and he smiled at me.

"That's nothing. It healed in a few days," He told me whilst cuddling.

Elle's POV

As soon as I reached Rignau it felt like it was a different planet. It felt heavy and dull like a painting left incomplete. My eyes drifted into the deep forest observing every tree and every inch of its soil. Blood was everywhere even at the top of the trees. Some bodies were left there too. I started to walk towards the usual location, where all the Ragnons would be at a time like this. Ainslard.

Whilst walking I noticed a body of an alien I have never seen before and I could tell it was a Mandorian. Its dead body was all covered in blood. I got closer to see how it looks like. It had a very long neck, arms and legs. Its skin was brown and had a feel like a reptile's. The head was like it was part of the neck, just a tiny bit larger and had very sharp teeth and small eyes. Its fingers were like ET's, very long and thin. I stared at it for a while just observing it in detail, then walked to Ainslard where all the injured Ragnons where.