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Sasha said nothing. Charlotte wasn’t certain if she was giving her the chance to continue or if she didn’t know what to say herself. But the silence forced her to admit that while it was obvious how much Lizzie loved Sasha and Sasha loved Lizzie… In her mind, no one would ever be good enough for Lizzie. Maybe that was why they felt like sandpaper rubbing together at times. Two strong, no nonsense people, both refusing to yield.

“How is she?” Charlotte asked, getting to the heart of the matter.

“Exhausted. A little depressed,” Sasha sighed, a worried edge clear in her tone.

“Did something happen?”

“She lost a patient unexpectedly.”

Her heart clenched. Lizzie could handle the losses she saw coming. But the ones that came out of nowhere broke her. For all of Lizzie’s toughness, her heart was made of marshmallow.

Charlotte drew a breath deep into her lungs. Sasha was accomplished, wicked smart, well traveled, and she made Lizzie laugh because she was deceptively funny. And she adored Lizzie. It should be enough. Perhaps it was just time to accept she wasn’t the first person Lizzie went to anymore.

Ah… there it was.

Sasha cut through her musing, her voice softer than she ever heard. “Would you like to talk to her?”

The lump in her throat fought back as she choked it down. “You stayed home with her?”

“Of course.” Sasha replied. “I’ll always look after her.”

“Promise?” Charlotte pressed, voice cracking.

“You have my word.”

Her tone was steady, a soft genuine note she didn’t often show… and Charlotte believed she meant it. A knot of worry she unknowingly carried loosened.

“Here she is,” Sasha murmured.

Charlotte waited, listening to Sasha’s soft words to her sister. Lizzie’s voice came through the line a moment later.

“Twinnie?”

God. The fracture cleaving its way through Lizzie’s spirit tore at Charlotte.

“The one and only.”

Lizzie’s wet laugh trickled through the line before breaking into a quiet sob.

Charlotte let her cry as long as she needed to, brushing her own stray tear away. The sound of Lizzie blowing her nose signaled her slow return to composure.

“Let’s run away,” she said, followed by another trumpeting sound.

Charlotte laughed, the memory stirring of when they were little and their mother had first introduced them to James. The same night, Lizzie woke to find Charlotte packing a bag. She’d just gotten up, grabbed her backpack and a sweater and asked where they were going, undeterred when Charlotte said she was running away. Lizzie just nodded, asking again where they were going.

They only made it a mile through town when their legs got tired, the wind chill biting at their skin, making them second guess their plan. Lizzie found a payphone and called home, asking their mother not to be mad but to please come get them because they’d decided not to run away after all.

“Where to?” she asked, making her way to the floor to ceiling windows overlooking the city.

“The farm,” Lizzie said and Charlotte smiled, knowing instantly the kind of getaway Lizzie wanted.

“Perfect.”

“You didn’t have plans with Ali?”

Charlotte hesitated, remembering the constellation of bruises and bite marks she peppered Ali with. “We did,” she admitted. Plans that involved Charlotte bringing her dinner and... “But she’ll understand. She’s sweet like that.”

“Are you sure? It’s a new relationship⁠—”