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[whats_insideyou]

Your husband isn't sleeping, Sarah. He's dead...

Beyond the waterfall was the butterfly garden. She'd taken her camera there, snapping photos here and there, Matthieu dangling peacefully from the carrier strapped to her chest. He made sounds now and then, but mostly, he was silent, peering at the world around him with solemn blue eyes.

She'd

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[ooh_lily]

True to form, Emmy had managed to tip an entire glass of juice down her pretty purple dress. Leaving her daughter in capable hands, Lily had strolled up to the Hamlet to fetch her another dress. She was taking the scenic way back to the beach when she heard a familiar child crying through the trees. Immediately, she set off that way with purpose.

"Sarah?" She called as she walked, Emmy's dress clenched in one hand. "Mathieu? Is everything okay?"

[whats_insideyou]

"Everything is shit," she murmured, staring blankly ahead with her hands fisted at her side.

She knew the voice, knew it was Lily, but in that moment, the presence of someone familiar didn't mean much to her. There was a distance, a bubble, around her and the rest of the world. She'd lived that way for a very long time, it didn't feel so strange to be right back there now.

[ooh_lily]

Nobody answered her but Mathieu kept crying so, in the end, Lily found them. She stood still, between Sarah and the car. She frowned.

"Sarah? Honey? Do you need me to take him?"

[whats_insideyou]

"I..." She wasn't sure. Get him away, just so I can breathe, she thought, but in the same moment, something fierce and protective washed over her.

Nothing would take him from her.

"Just for a moment. Please, yes."

[dr_robchase]

Chase had heard that cry many, many times since his mother had first come to the Island and when he turned up to find Sarah and Matthieu, he also found the wreck. He paused, eyes wide, and immediately knew that this wasn't going to go well. "Sarah," Chase lightly greeted, voice even as he could get it. "Sarah?"

[whats_insideyou]

One hand curled across the child's belly, holding him, comfort she wasn't even aware she was giving. But he continued to cry. Nothing would calm him.

"This should not be here," she said, pointing an accusing finger at the car, it's engine still idling quietly.

[dr_robchase]

Chase turned his gaze to the car, debating whether or not it was even safe to lean his head inside and find a place to turn it off. "Sarah, how about you and I walk a little to try and relax Matthieu." He didn't think this was the best place for either of them to be.

[whats_insideyou]

She blinked, startled, and though she'd heard him, of course, the meaning behind his cries finally broke through, and she had enough mothering instinct left in her still to feel guilty.

"Alright," she agreed quietly, but she couldn't turn away from the car. She felt hypnotized by it.

[le_traiteur]

It's the sound of the baby that draws me, although I couldn't say exactly why. I was an only child, never spent much time around babies. At least, not enough to tell the difference between one cry and another, but I reckon it's a lot like grown men, callin' out across a battlefield. Gets to a point when you can tell if someone's really hurt.

The kid sounded scared, and no wonder: His mom (Or who I assume is his mom) is standin' in front of the wreck of a car like she's just seen a ghost. I got one palm out as I step closer.

"M'am? You okay?"

[whats_insideyou]

Startled, her eyes snapped toward the voice. A stranger. A man, and oddly enough, Sarah was more likely to trust a man than a strange woman, since her last night in Paris.

"I am fine," she said, but if she didn't believe it, he probably wouldn't either, even with it's none of your fucking business clearly implied in her voice.

[le_traiteur]

I nod at that and stop, don't want her feel threatened when I'm just tryin' to be a good neighbor. "Alright," I concede, and slide a brief glance to the car. "You just look a little startled, is all, I thought maybe you needed some help. Is there anythin' I can do for you? Somebody I can go get, maybe?"

[whats_insideyou]

"No, I--" she huffed out a laugh, and then in her heavily accented voice, she deadpanned, "You are not in the market for a used car, are you?"