Elena did not sleep all night. She was afraid that Anton would break his word and come around again when she least expected it, but he never returned.

The following morning, Elena made herself a cup of coffee and watched the local news channel for any updates about the church fire, or to see if there were any recent killings around town, but nothing new came about.

Just at that moment, the phone rang. Elena reached over and picked up the phone, putting the receiver to her ear and answering, "Hello?"

No one answered her back.

"Hello?" She tried again, but there was nobody there. "Hello?"

The phone line went off.

Elena looked at the phone and put it back down. She stood up and went over to turn off the television and left to go to work for the day.

Soon as she got to hospital, Elena was confronted by Dr. Benedict, who ran into her.

"Oh! Miss Olmsted, I'm so sorry."

"That's all right", said Elena, keeping her head down as she walked past him.

Dr. Benedict turned around and said, "Elena, wait!"

Elena stopped and turned around to look at him. Judging by the expression on Dr. Benedict's face, she wasn't sure whether he had good news or bad news to tell her.

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

Dr. Benedict held up a clipboard for her to see and said, "I've been going over Sophia's health charts, I ran some tests, and I thought you should have a look at the results." He handed the clipboard to Elena, who looked over the paperwork for a minute. Finally, she looked at Dr. Benedict with disbelief.

"That's impossible. A month ago, she was-"

"I know", said Dr. Benedict. "I've run the tests three times and they've all come back negative."

Elena looked over the paperwork again and shook her head, whispering to herself, "I don't believe it."

"With your permission, Elena, I would like to keep Sophia here just a little bit longer", said Dr. Benedict. "Just to make sure she's made a full recovery. You can expect to bring her home by Friday, at best."

Although she should have been glad that Sophia's leukemia was cured, Elena just didn't have the enlightenment to show for it.

Dr. Hartman's voice was heard over the intercom, asking for Nurse Olmsted.

"Well, I should be getting back to work", said Elena, handing the clipboard back to Dr. Benedict.

"Elena, are you sure you're all right?" Dr. Benedict asked her.

She didn't answer. And she didn't look back.

Soon as she finished her shift, Elena thought about going to check on Sophia, but then remembered the last time she spoke to the child. She still felt hurt over the awful truth about Anton, a man who she thought she knew. A man who she thought she could trust. The harsh reality of the fact that he was a contract killer still left a hole in her heart. All that Elena could think of was this: If Sophia knew about Anton and his profession the whole time, why didn't she say anything? Despite her better judgment, Elena decided to leave the hospital without saying goodbye to her daughter. She felt no remorse for her heartless action.

The next day was no better. Preparations for the funeral of Gordon Burrows were already being made, as well as for the two other victims who lost their lives in the fire. A candlelight vigil was held in the park that night, though Elena did not wish to attend the gathering. After work, and after not saying goodbye to Sophia, who she was purposely avoiding, Elena decided to drive by the Gunderson residence. She parked across the street and sat in her car for five minutes, debating herself over whether or not to inform her cousin about Anton. Eventually, Elena decided to skip the whole thing and headed on home for the night.

Just as she stepped through the door, Elena heard the phone ring and went over to pick up the handset.

"Hello?" Elena answered. Once again, nobody spoke on the other end. "Is anyone there?...Hello?"

The phone went dead and was disconnected.

Elena looked at the phone and set it back down.

Around two o'clock in the morning, Elena heard the telephone ring and got out of bed to go answer it. She walked out into the living room and picked up the handset and spoke into the phone, "Hello? Look, this isn't funny anymore. Either you say something or I'll-"

Her words were cut off, as the phone line was disconnected again.

Elena slammed the phone down and ran her fingers through her hair, letting out a frustrated sigh. She sat down on the couch and rested her hands in her lap, leaning back and looking over towards the window. She stood up and went over to make sure it was locked. It was. Taking drastic measures to ensure her own safety, Elena walked back into her bedroom and opened the top drawer on her nightstand and pulled out the Beretta 92. She picked up the alarm clock from off the nightstand and went back out into the living room. Elena set the alarm clock on the coffee table and went over to stand in front of the door. She practiced pointing the gun at the door, keeping the safety locked on, but still unlocking it every know and then, anticipating a surprise attack from Anton.

Half an hour went by and nothing happened. Elena was now walking back and forth across the living room floor, glancing at the clock every five minutes just to check the time. Finally, at 3:22 in the morning, Elena felt her eyes starting to get heavy and decided to lie down on the couch. She put the safety back on the gun and placed it in her lap and threw a quilted blanket over herself and closed her eyes and went to sleep.

On the third morning following Anton's absence, Elena was awoken by the loud ringing of the phone. She opened her eyes and sat up at once, looking over at the accursed rotary. She let out an exasperated sigh and threw the quilt off of her and placed the Beretta 92 on the coffee table. She stood up and went over to pick up the phone.

"Hello?" Elena answered, sounding angry. "Look, Anton, if this is you, this isn't a game anymore. Either you speak up or I'm calling the cops! Do you understand me?!"

The phone line disconnected again.

Elena slammed the phone down. She picked up the Beretta 92 and walked down the hall and went into her bedroom, hiding the gun under her pillow. She went into the bathroom and locked the door. She took a shower and washed her hair, along with the rest of her body. Afterwards, she dried herself off and went back into her bedroom and got dressed.

Just as she was about to walk out the front door and go to work, Elena heard the phone ring again. She stood where she was and calmly closed the door and turned around and glared at the telephone. Elena marched over and picked up the phone and screamed into it, "WHAT DO YOU WANT!?"

There was a pause before a familiar voice answered. "El?"

Elena's eyes grew wide with shock. It was Marge.

"Elena, are you all right?" The voice of Marge asked her.

Elena placed a hand over her mouth, feeling embarrassed and ashamed. "Oh, Margie, I'm so sorry", she apologized.

"Is everything okay? I just saw Marty Benedict on my way to the station and he said you were looking down the other day. Is everything all right, El?"

Elena sat down in a chair and admitted sadly, "Not really, Margie...Anton's gone."

"Gone? What do you mean? What happened?"

"He walked out on me. We got into a fight and he left."

"Oh, yah?"

"I haven't seen or heard from him in two days. I don't know where he is, I don't know where he went..." Elena paused for a minute, before she lowered her head and put a hand to her face. "Oh, Margie, I'm so scared", she whispered.

"All right now. Don't get upset. Did you fill out a report?"

"No. It really isn't necessary."

"Well, Elena, you know I can't help you unless I know what the fight was about. Now, if you want to, I can-"

Elena felt her eyes starting to fill with tears. She put a hand to her mouth and tried to keep herself from letting a sob escape from her lips. It failed.

Marge paused for a minute and asked her cousin, "El? El, are you crying?"

Elena sniffled and said, "No, I'm not crying. I'm just...I have to go now, Marge. I'll talk to you later."

Elena hung up the phone and covered her face with her hands, sobbing. She blamed that damn Anton for doing this to her. Why was she protecting him? Was it because she still loved him? No. It had to be fear. Whatever it was, Elena just couldn't bare it in her heart to tell her cousin. Marge trusted Anton, and if she were ever to find out the truth about him, Elena was sure that her cousin would be utterly devastated.

Arriving at the hospital, Elena went about her day as though none of the drama in her life was affecting her. Around the hour of noon, she saw Dr. Benedict and purposely bumped into him, letting him know that she was unhappy about his conversation with her cousin. Dr. Benedict stared at her as she walked right by him, though he never questioned her about it. He had more important matters to attend to, as did she.

At 4:17 p.m., Elena went up to the third floor and walked down the hall and stood in the doorway of room 17.

Sophia turned her head left and sat up in bed and asked her nurse, "Where have you been?"

Calmly, but with fuming eyes, Elena slowly walked over to Sophia and stood by her bedside and looked down upon her. "Why didn't you tell me he was dangerous?"

Sophia picked up Quincy and held the plush shark tightly in her arms. "I thought you could make him change his mind", the child answered.

"How?" Elena demanded. "By having me make an honest man out of him? Sophia, he lied to me."

Sophia was quiet for a minute, staring up at Elena with those soulful eyes of hers. "Are you gonna stay mad at him forever?" She asked her mother.

With extreme patience, Elena shook her head and said, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Why not?" Sophia asked her.

"I just don't!" Elena answered, raising her voice. Sitting down on the bed, Elena grabbed Sophia by her upper arms and tried to explain to her, "Look, sweetie, I know you see Anton as a father figure, but you don't know what kind of man he is. He's a bad man. He's a really bad man."

"He's only a bad man because you choose to look at the negative side!" Sophia argued. "He's a changed man now, Elena. You and I both helped him to see that. Anton loves you and you love him. I can see it in both your eyes."

Elena did not want to believe Sophia's words were true. Thinking her mind had been poisoned by the likes of the hitman, a cold-blooded killer who had taken the lives of God knows how many people, Elena rose back up and said to the child in a low, but threatening tone of voice, "I am going to go home now, and when I get there, I am calling the police. And I can assure you, Sophia Burrows, that you will never see him again."

Just as Elena turned around and started to walk out the door, an angry Sophia looked to her right and picked up a half-eaten apple and threw it at Elena, hitting her in the back of her head. Elena placed a hand behind her head and let out a cry of pain.

"If you leave now, you're going to have a very bad accident!" Sophia shouted.

Elena turned around and looked at Sophia and glared at her with cold-filled eyes, the turquoise of her irises almost completely extinguished of light. Sophia was unfazed by her mother's threatening expression.

Elena walked back over to the little girl and reached into the pocket of her nurse dress and took out a quarter with the year 1949 on it and placed it onto the bed. The coin was facing heads up.

"Karma is a bitch, Little Miss Burrows", said Elena. Her voice sounded dark and cold. "Get used to it." With all that said, Elena turned her back and stormed out of the room.

Sophia felt her face turn red and warm, as tears started to fill her dark brown eyes. She turned over on her right side and hugged her beloved Quincy to her chest, crying softly. She was mad at Elena for not trusting her. She was mad that Elena did not want to give Anton a chance to redeem himself. Because of this, Sophia began to wish that Elena was dead. She wished it was Elena who had died instead of her birth father, who she missed so much. Remembering the quarter she had left behind, Sophia turned her head left and reached over and picked up the coin. She calmed herself down and looked at the quarter in her hand, examining it. Clenching her hand tightly around the coin, Sophia closed her eyes and whispered softly to herself, "Please let him answer me."