Bill and Sofie Fatale

Bill approached the hospital room with the delicate and skillful stealth of a world-renowned assassin. His gray hair was tangled and messy, bags were collected under his brown eyes, and his skin was wrinkled like a paper bag. For it was not under positive circumstances that Bill was making this visit. Then again, he thought, when does anyone ever visit a hospital because they're throwing a party? An old friend and former protégé had contacted him from across the world and naturally, he was obligated to visit her.

Sofie Fatale.

Sofie had spoken to him across the thousands of miles separating them. Despite the distance, he could hear the numbing fear that caused her to break into half sobs and stammer when she spoke her usual elegant Japanese. She told him everything—how she had given away precious information regarding his former Deadly Vipers—where they were at, what they were doing, and worst of all, where they could be found. Sofie's words were jumbled together the entire time and Bill had to calm her down as best he could, considering their conversation was over the phone and not face to face. He knew she was crying because she felt she had betrayed him, but he knew she had no choice at the time, especially after she explained the events that preceded her current state. It was uncharacteristic of her to stutter and bust into tears. And mostly, it was disgraceful because someone had done this to her.

She had robbed Sofie of her confidence and it was she, who Bill planned on getting more information about.

He already knew half of it. The half he already knew was enough to make his blood congeal in his veins. Bill was definitely not the type to be scared easily given his violent background. He wasn't afraid now, but he did feel slightly apprehensive and mostly shocked that she had awakened from her coma. All these four years, he wondered if she would ever wake up, and now he didn't have to wonder anymore.

Bad enough they hadn't finished the job. They had fucked her up royally, he remembered. He and Sofie Fatale had watched as all four Deadly Vipers brutalized her in the tiny wedding chapel. They weren't being nice either—every single jaw-shattering punch and high kick would make the most hardened serial killer cringe with fear, as if it were them in the middle of the circle getting beaten and humiliated. She had managed to stay up for a long time until finally she collapsed, her white bridal gown soaked in her blood and her body bruised and drenched in sticky sweat. To conclude the event, he performed her coup de grâce—a bullet to the head.

That was supposed to be The End—The End of her. Not The End of one of his best assassins, O-Ren Ishii. At the hospital in Japan, all he could do was shake his head in anger and disbelief at the fact that Beatrix Kiddo had the damn nerve to survive after that infamous day in El Paso Texas. Now that Beatrix was alive, she was on a warpath to ensure that all those who betrayed her would die. O-Ren was the first to go. The End. Bill clenched his fists in silent rage, stifling out the tender part of him that hadn't yet mourned the loss of his prized assassin.

Now he entered the hospital room that Sofie had all to herself. She sat up in a wheelchair, both her arms severed from the body. Intravenous lines were strewn around her feeding her the nutrients she needed to stay alive. She looked pathetic sitting there slumped over, her long strands of straight dark hair damp and matted, and her wide brown eyes reddened from crying. Bill stood behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. He noticed the wrapped bandages that covered the stumps where her arms had been. A wave of heartfelt mercy mixed with violent anger swept over him.

"Sofie…Sofie, my Sofie…I'm so sorry."

Sofie spoke, her voice choked with tears. "Please forgive my betrayal."

"No more of that."

"But, still—"

"—But still nothing…except for my aching heart over what she's done to my beautiful and brilliant Sofie."

Bill massaged her shoulders, noticing her skin's clammy feel. He was surprised that Sofie Fatale had been spared. Beatrix had murdered O-Ren, but kept her alive. Mutilated, but alive. As for O-Ren…Sofie told him that the Queen of the Tokyo Underworld had been found lying dead in the snow, behind a restaurant known as the House of Blue Leaves. The top of her head was found several feet away from her, snow flakes drizzled over her long black hair. She had been scalped, her brains exposed at the top. It was enough to send Bill into a murderous fury, but he couldn't do that now. He had to find out why she kept Sofie alive…and he also had a special someone to take care of now, so he couldn't just go riding off into the sunset and go on a killing spree.

Kneading his fingers into the soft flesh of her shoulders, Bill asked, "If you had to guess…why she left you alive…what would be your guess?"

"Guessing won't be necessary…she informed me. She…she said I could keep my wicked life for two reasons."

"And those reasons are?" Bill asked.

Sofie swallowed the saliva collecting in her mouth. It tasted coppery as if she had drunk a cup of melted pennies. Tears threatened to overwhelm her and she closed her eyes, refusing to bask in her self-pity. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to speak, although she remembered the ice in her voice, cold and hard.

As I've said before I've allowed you to keep your wicked life for two reasons and the second reason is so you can tell him, in person, everything that happened here tonight. I want him to witness the extent of my mercy by witnessing your deformed body. I want you to tell him all the information you just told me. I want him to know what I know. I want him to know I want him know.

"Yes, Sofie…you told me this on the phone…remember?"

"She killed Go-Go…dismantled all of O-Ren's bodyguards…you should've seen her, Bill…she wouldn't stop…not even after more than half of them were decapitated."

Bill's eyebrows furrowed. "How many of them were there?"

"Eighty-eight. That's what they called themselves, the 'Crazy 88'."

Bill shook his head in disbelief. Sofie must be delirious from the morphine circulating through her bloodstream. He doubted O-Ren really had eighty-eight bodyguards. Through Bill's assistance, she became known as Queen of the Crime Council among the Yakuza clans. It was the one thing O-Ren Ishii had desired after the massacre at Two Pines. But the idea of her having eighty-eight bodyguards was ludicrous. Bill would've laughed if the situation with Sofie wasn't so dire.

"She ended Johnny Mo, the leader of the Crazy 88…" Sofie paused, sniffling. "And she killed O-Ren!" Her voice rose to a shrill note. "She killed my mistress!" Then she cried out in Japanese repeating the same phrase over and over again: she killed my mistress!

Bill thought she was going to continue, when she abruptly stopped. Speaking to him in Japanese, Sofie said in a hushed whisper: "Stop her, Bill—tell the others so that they will know she's on her way to kill them. Tell them what O-Ren didn't know until it was too late."

Bill nodded. He would certainly do that. It was a necessity that was literally a matter of life and death. He would take the first plane out of Japan and return to Mexico where he would make two important phone calls. He didn't have to call Elle, she lived with him, but he'd let her know all the same. How could he not? Elle was the woman he loved and he wanted no harm to come her way.

Even before Elle, Bill knew he had to tell another young lady, this one way more important to him than Elle. Where it concerned this special young lady, if harm came her way, may all the angels in heaven help them. He didn't know how he would tell her—that was another matter to think about. Perhaps on the way home, he'd explain that she was awake and no longer sleeping. She would finally meet his special young lady, who was the Queen of Bill's heart and had been for the last four years.

"I'm leaving now." He bent down and kissed Sofie on both cheeks. "Farewell, my beautiful Sofie," he said in Japanese. "I'm going to take care of this…trust me." He left the room leaving Sofie staring at the door he exited from, still drowning in her humiliated armless condition.

Bill left the hospital to go back to his hotel, his mind set and ready to return to Mexico. One thought lingered in his mind. Sofie Fatale had mumbled an apology for betraying him. She didn't need to do that, but he let her do it all the same, because maybe it'd lessen the pain she felt. You didn't betray me, Sofie, Bill thought, as he drove back to the nearby hotel. You kept the most vital piece of information from Beatrix, the part of the puzzle that would completely catch her off guard.

And that was the fact that her daughter, B.B., was still alive.