“Holy shit.” She looks up at me with a smile.
“Unless you know how to get in, you’re not getting in. It’s essentially like a panic room. We’ll keep your bags down here. In case they raid it. They won’t find them. And if they do, oh well, what is he going to do? They don’t know where purgatory is?”
“What?”
“Oh, it’s what we call it. Purgatory.”
She just laughs and nods her head.
“I’m gonna go get a duffle bag from upstairs. I’ll be right back. Grab whatever you need for a night or two.” I kiss her forehead as I move up the stairs and walk through the kitchen.
“Zane.” I hear Ella as I punch the code into my door and it unlocks. Glancing beside me as she looks up. “Look, she’s a little fragile right now?”
I smile and nod. “Why do you think I offered for everyone to come up? She just lost her baby. I’m not going to fuck her tonight. Or tomorrow. Or until she’s ready. She’s here, and I know she’s safe and that’s all I give a damn about.” Her eyes moisten as I finish. “What?”
“Your mom would be so proud of you right now.”
I look down and nod my head. “I’d like to think so.” I nod. “I gotta grab some stuff.” She nods her head again before she reaches over and wraps her arms around me, hugging me.
“I’m really proud of you, too.”
“You don’t know how much that means.”
“When did you find out?” She asks, asking me when I found out about her losing the baby.
“I heard she was in the hospital this morning.”
“How?”
“Ella, don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answers to.”
“You hacked the hospital system, didn’t you?”
“No, well, not the entire thing. Just admitting.”
“What did you do when you found out? You conned Dan into telling you, didn’t you?”
“Not really. I conned him into talking with me. And then explained, and he never told me.”
“But he didn’t have to because you already knew and he didn’t tell you that you were wrong.”
“Yeah. And he was then willing to help me get a message to her.”
“You know you’re in love with her, right?”
I just nod my head.
“You gonna tell her?”
“Not yet. I’m not even sure if my body will let me say the actual words.” She laughs along with me. “I’ve gotta grab a bag and get back down to her.” Ella nods her head. “Oh, I want her to ride out with you in the Jeep, just in case.”
“Good idea. She’s in some pain. She needs to take one of the painkillers they gave her.”
I’m pulling some clothing from the closet and shoving them into the bag. Extra clothes, just in case.
“Shit.” I mumble to myself and pull out my phone, punching in the number to my sister.
“What?” She answers, almost sounding like she’s out of breath, and I’m almost certain that there’s whispers in the background.
