A month and two weeks had passed since the hitman and the nurse first met each other. Pretty soon, Anton no longer needed the sling and was finally able to take care of himself on his own. Although he had been reluctant about seeing the child with the special gift again, Anton agreed to accompany Elena to the hospital twice a week and spend the day with Sophia in her room. Upon personal request, Sophia told Anton no more about his past or what the future held for him. Only three times during his visits did Sophia blank out for a minute, often returning back to reality shortly after receiving a vision. She did not tell him what she saw. Most of the time, Anton would watch over her while she slept, or read to her one of the many storybooks she kept next to her bed. By the end of the day, Elena came back to check on Sophia and say goodbye to her, before she and Anton returned home.

One night as they were eating dinner together, Anton noticed that Elena was far more quiet than usual.

"You all right?" Anton asked her.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking", Elena answered, not looking at him.

"What are you thinking about?"

Elena looked at him for a minute, before she shook her head and turned her attention back to her plate. "Nothing", she whispered.

Knowing he wasn't going to get anywhere with her just by asking, Anton placed his left hand over her right and said to her, "Tell me what's wrong."

Elena looked at him again, failing to hide the sadness in her eyes. She did not want to admit anything was wrong, but something was.

"You remember the day we first met?" Elena asked him.

"Yes, I do", Anton answered.

"Before we left Odessa, you told me that once your arm was healed, you would leave", said Elena. "Well...it's been almost two months, your arm is just about better..."

A moment of silence stood between them, but Anton knew just what she was thinking.

"You want me to stay, don't you?"

Elena gave him a slight nod of her head and confessed, "I'd like you to stay, yes...but I know I can't tell you what to do either. It's your choice if you want to stay here or not, but whatever you decide, I'll just have to accept it."

Anton said nothing and looked at her for a minute, searching for an answer in those beautiful turquoise eyes of hers. Many times, he had thought about leaving her after his recovery, but now it seemed he found himself being given a first-time option of making his own decision in life. This was not some sick, twisted version of a coin toss. It was an offering. An option still, but an offering nonetheless. Anton thought he should be offended by this and try to make her the victim in this situation, but knew better than to even think that for one minute. Elena was not a victim. She was a nurse. More than that, she was a woman who cared about him. Whether she wanted him to stay or not, the hitman's mind was made up.

Anton took his and Elena's plate and stood up and walked over to place them in the sink. He stood there for a minute with his head down and placed his hands onto the counter, balling his right hand into a fist and knocking twice. He glanced out the window and looked outside. It was dark. Not a soul to be seen. Not even the chirping of crickets could be heard.

"I've been thinking", he said at last.

Oh, God, here it goes, Elena thought to herself, closing her eyes and feeling anxious.

Anton turned around and looked at her, placing his hands on either side of the counter behind him and leaning back a bit. "What if I did decided to stay?"

Elena open her eyes and looked up at him. "Really?"

"I've given myself a lot of time to think it over", said Anton, walking over to Elena as he spoke. "And in all honesty, I don't have anywhere else to go."

Elena stood up and asked him, "Then why don't you just stay here with me?"

"I didn't think you would approve."

"Why wouldn't I approve? I trust you, don't I?"

Her words hit him hard, though he did not show it. Knowing this was going to be very difficult for her to understand, Anton placed the palm of his left hand to her right cheek and said, "There's something I have to tell you."

"What is it, Anton?" Elena asked him.

Struggling to find the right words felt strange to him, something he never had trouble in doing before, but just when Anton was about to speak, the phone rang.

Elena turned around and looked towards the living room. She looked back at Anton and said, "Excuse me." She went into the living room and picked up the phone, putting the receiver to her ear and answering, "Hello?...Hi, Officer Olson. What can I do for you?" Elena turned her head right and looked at Anton, who walked over to her and stood nearby to listen. Elena looked away from him and spoke into the receiver again. "Yeah, I know him. What-" Elena paused for a minute and blinked, her eyes widening in shock. "...What?..." Elena suddenly put a hand over her mouth, a look of concern and fear painted over her face. She placed her hand over her heart and said, "Oh...Oh, no. What-...Y-yes, yes. I'll be right there...Goodbye!" Elena hung up the phone and turned to grab her keys off the coffee table. "Come on, Anton! We gotta go!"

"What's wrong now?" Anton asked her, following Elena out the door.

"There was a fire at the church over on Crane Street", Elena explained to him, running over and getting into her car.

Anton got in on the passenger's side and shut the door. "What did they tell you?"

Elena put the keys into the ignition and started up the car. She placed her hands on the wheel and looked at Anton and answered him, "Gordon Burrows was there."

Arriving at the hospital, Elena had been informed by a coworker that Gordon Burrows was placed into a room on the same floor as his daughter. Although he was still alive, there was a high possible chance that he would not survive the night.

Elena and Anton took the elevator and went up to the third floor. Once they stepped out, they only needed to look four doors down to find Gordon. Elena was completely unprepared when she saw him. His face was pale, despite the bleeding from his head, and his legs looked to have suffered from third-degree burns, giving them the appearance of two charred redwood trees. Second degree burns affected his right arm, which was connected to a morphine drip, though not as badly as his legs. An oxygen mask was placed over his mouth and nose. All in all, he looked to be asleep, as evident by the raspy breathing coming from his throat, his chest slowly raising with each struggling breath.

Elena approached him worriedly, tears filling her eyes as she carefully looked over his injured form. She looked at his face, white as the sheets, and felt the urge to stroke his head and let him know that he was going to be all right.

Feeling a hand on her left shoulder, Elena turned around and saw it was Anton. One look into those dark eyes of his and she knew that all hope for Gordon's survival was shattered. Elena allowed a sob to release from her throat and placed her arms around Anton, who hugged her back in return, placing a hand on the back of her head and comforting her in the only way he knew how to.

A wheezing breath from the severely-burned man made Elena turn around and look at him.

Gordon opened his eyes, looking as though he were in a daze, and slowly turned his head left to look at the woman next to him. "...Eh...Elena?..."

"Oh, Gordon", Elena whispered, devastated. She kneeled down next to him.

Gordon removed his oxygen mask and slowly placed his left hand over Elena's right hand. "It...It's all right", he rasped.

"Gordon, please don't talk", Elena begged him, not caring that her face was wet with fallen tears.

"No, listen", Gordon insisted, breathing heavily as he squeezed her hand gently, trying to hold on to whatever little strength he had left. "...I...I don't know what...what happened, Elena. I..." Gordon closed his eyes and released a soft moan of pain. Elena gently caressed the right side of his face with her free hand, soothing him as he wheezed again. He opened his eyes and spoke again. "We were...just getting ready to leave the church and...that's when we started to smell the smoke...We tried opening the doors, but we couldn't get out...It was like...somebody had locked them from the outside."

Elena nodded her head and told him, "I understand." She lowered her head for a minute, tightening her lips as she did so. A moment of silence followed. Gordon blinked and looked up at Anton, who stared down at him and said nothing. Although his expression was stoic, there appeared to be something of an apologetic look in his eyes.

Elena looked at Gordon again and forced a weak smile onto her face. "I talked with the doctors just a while ago", she informed him. "They said you're gonna be okay."

Gordon shut his eyes and leaned his head back against the pillow, groaning in annoyance. "Don't lie to me, Olmsted", he said. "We both know I'm not gonna make it. Even Johnny Ramone standing behind you knows I'm not gonna make it." Gordon inhaled sharply and released her hand and put his fist to his mouth, coughing roughly. Elena stood up at once, watching him with concern.

Gordon rested his left hand at his side and breathed heavily. He opened his eyes again and focused them onto Anton. "You...", Gordon croaked, indicating for him to come closer. Elena backed away and allowed for Anton to approach him. The man who once thought himself as an agent of death stepped forward and looked down upon the dying victim. Gordon was silent for a minute, staring up at Anton as he grabbed onto the hem of his shirt, and whispered to him, "...Take care of Sophia for me...Tell her I'm sorry..." And just like that, Gordon Burrows closed his eyes, a tear rolling down both cheeks, and released his grip as he exhaled his last and final breath.

Elena pushed Anton out of the way and yelled, "No, no, no! Gordon, please don't do this!" She pressed both hands down onto his chest and started doing compressions. "Gordon, wake up! Please, wake up! You can't do this!" Elena leaned over him and put her ear to his heart, listening for any sign of vital activity, but there was nothing. "Oh, Jesus, no", Elena whispered, putting a hand to her face and crying over the loss of a friend.

As a grief-stricken Elena sobbed over the dead body of Gordon Burrows, Anton Chigurh slipped quietly out of the room and went down to room 17.

He found Sophia sound asleep in bed, her right hand lying palm up on her pillow. Anton walked over to her and sat down on her bed and stroked her head, awakening the seven-year-old in the process. Sophia opened her eyes and looked up and saw the dark-clothed hitman with his signature pageboy haircut looking down at her. She sat up in bed, knowing for sure why he was here.

"You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?" Anton asked her.

"I did", said Sophia. "I just didn't know it was gonna happen this soon."

"That's foolish", Anton told her. "You knew exactly when this was going to happen, you just didn't say anything. Why?"

"I don't know why I was born with this power", said Sophia, sounding like she was about to cry. "Sometimes I see things I don't understand or don't want to come true, but they do."

Seeing her trembling, as well as the tears that started falling from her eyes, Anton scooted himself closer to Sophia and wrapped his arms around her, allowing her to grief over the loss of her father, who loved her dearly.

"It's all my fault", Sophia sobbed, quietly.

"Don't say that", Anton told her, his voice soothing and gentle. "You didn't kill your father, Sophia. Somebody else did." Anton heard her whimper and stroked her hair. "It's not your fault, mija."