The dream came and went. She heard the sound of the ocean washing over the sand, a gull crying. The sky came into view, the gray morning fog beyond the horizon. There was a breeze. Elena found herself standing on a beach. Her hair was tied back. She felt the waves come up to her ankles and looked down at the water, only to discover that she was naked. She heard a growling sound and turned around. A black wolf with yellow eyes came out from behind a bush and bared his fangs, snarling at her. Elena covered her breasts, feeling afraid. She didn't move. She wanted to, but felt that she couldn't. A roar followed. Looking to her right, Elena gasped and saw a strong and powerful lion jump out from nowhere. The lion stood in front of her, roaring at the wolf. He seemed to be protecting her. The wolf growled and barked at the lion, but the king of the jungle did not back down. The lion pounced at the wolf and sank his jaws into the wolf's neck, killing him instantly. Elena gasped at the sight, her eyes widening in fright. The lion released the carcass and turned around and looked at her. Elena lowered her arms and continued to stare at the lion. He was tame, showing her that he meant her no harm. His mane was dark. Elena walked over to him and knelt down, looking into his eyes. She petted his mane, feeling how soft it was. The lion nudged against her face. Elena closed her eyes and hugged the lion around his neck. The dream faded.

The room, as well as the bed she was lying on, were not her own. She was holding a plush shark. She felt warm, despite not being under the covers. Turning her head, Elena discovered a denim jacket was draped over the upper portion of her body. She sat up slowly, allowing the jacket to slip down off her shoulder. She looked down at herself and found she still had her clothes on. She set the plush shark on the bed and looked at the jacket, holding it and bringing it up to her face to feel the soft touch of smooth fabric rub against her cheek.

Elena heard the door open and looked to her left. Anton Chigurh stepped into view, standing in the doorway with his hand on the knob. Their eyes met. For a long minute, neither one of them spoke.

"You're awake", said Anton.

Elena remained quiet, keeping her eye contact with him.

Anton released his grip on the doorknob and walked into the bedroom and went over to Elena, who looked at the jacket and handed it over to him. Anton took his jacket from her, but he did not put it on. He sat down on the bed and continued to look at Elena, who avoided his gaze and was unable to bring herself to look at him.

"How are you feeling?" Anton asked her.

"I'm fine", Elena answered him, her voice low and quiet. She still didn't look at him. "I don't know what came over me last night, I just-"

"You need to speak up and look at me when you're talking to me", said Anton, a hint of darkness in his calm and gentle voice.

Elena blinked and forced herself to look at him. His face showed no emotion, a typical response of him. His eyes were dark. He spoke not a word, staring at her and waiting for her to speak.

"Are you still mad at me?" Elena asked him.

"What do you think?" Anton questioned her.

Elena shook her head and told him, "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. All this time, you've never once raised your voice at me."

"I did last night", Anton reminded her.

"That's not the point."

"Then what is the point?"

"The point is that despite everything you've done, the murders, I mean...Never once did you ever try to hurt me or yell at me. Whenever I reach my breaking point, I lash my anger out at you. It's not right."

"Your angry is no excuse for what you've done", said Anton. "However, due to the circumstances of which we are in, I forgive you. Just don't do it again."

Elena said nothing. She turned her head right and looked over toward the window. It was snowing outside. She looked at him again.

Anton stood up and told her, "Get dressed and meet me in the living room." He then turned around and left.

Driving to the hospital, Elena kept her eyes on the road. She drove slowly, gazing out at the world. A plush shark was in her lap. The snow came down heavy. Anton was sitting next to her in the passenger seat. He never once looked at her. He was still angry with her, even if he did not show it. Whenever he got angry at her, he didn't speak. Elena accepted it. She didn't know what to say to him anymore, either.

Arriving to their destination, they both walked into the building. An older doctor came up to them and asked Elena for her assistance with a patient. She looked at Anton, who gave her a slight nod of his head. He understood she had a job to do. In the meantime, he would see to the child. Elena handed Quincy over to him. They both took the same elevator. When it came to the third floor, Anton stepped out and looked back at Elena before the doors closed. He went down to the room where the child was and opened the door and walked in.

Sophia was lying in a hospital bed. Her eyes were closed and she looked to be asleep, only she wasn't. She was not dead, but she was still unresponsive. Anton walked over and set the stuffed animal down at the end of the bed. He looked over toward the window and walked over to it. He stood there for a minute, looking down at the snow-covered town. There were people in the street, cars passing. The world going by. He turned his head right and looked over at Sophia and watched her from where he was standing. He went over to her and stood there, looking down at the child. Anton sat down in the chair next to the bed and took hold of her wrist, checking her pulse. It was normal, but she was still trapped in a coma. He felt like speaking to her, but found it to be pointless.

An hour later, Dr. Hartman came by and stood in the doorway, holding a vase of flowers. She tapped the door with her knuckle, smiling. "Hello."

The man with the pageboy haircut turned his head and looked at her. His face was stoic.

"I hope I'm not intruding", said Dr. Hartman. "I just came by to give Sophia these flowers."

Anton stared at her for a minute and then looked away, focusing his attention back on the comatose child.

Dr. Hartman took that as a sign for her to come in. She stepped into the room and walked over and placed the vase on the small table by the bed. She looked at Anton, who kept his gaze on Sophia.

"She's a pretty girl", said Dr. Hartman.

With a faint smile on his face, Anton nodded and said, "Yes, she is."

Dr. Hartman nodded in agreement and said, "She's a good kid...Too bad her mother was a freak."

Anton's demeanor turned into a look of surprise, as he looked at Dr. Hartman and asked her, "I beg your pardon?"

"Natalia Burrows. Back in high school, she used to go around spewing all kinds of things to people. Stuff like, 'Marty, you're gonna become a doctor.' 'Joel, you're gonna become a lawyer.' 'Franny, you're gonna have three children'...'Mary, you're going to die before you ever get married'."

"Did you believe her?" Anton asked her.

"No. I didn't, but everybody else seemed to", Mary answered, still smiling. "One time, Elena and I actually got into a fight about her. I called Natalia some nasty name and Elena got mad at me because Natalia was her friend. She told me to take it back and I refused, so she lunged at me and wrestled me to the ground. She pulled on my hair and I gave her a bloody nose in return."

Hearing that, Anton stood up slowly and looked at the blonde woman with a hint of malicious contempt in his dark brown eyes. "Why did you do that?" He questioned her.

"There were boys around and she was ruining my image", Mary answered. "I don't even know why I still hung around with Elena after that incident. I guess it was just a pity thing I had for her."

"You were jealous", said Anton.

"Me?" Mary asked him, a smirk on her face. "Jealous? Jealous of what? If Elena wanted to spend most of her time with a freak, that was her deal."

"It was not a deal, it was a choice", said Anton, liking this woman less and less by the minute. He walked over and stood at the foot of the bed, making sure to keep a close watch on Mary, even though he did not wish to. He did not think Sophia was safe as long as the viper was in the room. He also felt that this was more than just a simple visit. He would soon wish he had been right.

Mary walked over to him and noticed the plush shark sitting on the bed and picked it up, looking at it. "Kind of an ugly doll, isn't it?" She asked. She looked at Anton and said, "You'd think the kid would be interested in panda bears and unicorns." Mary looked at the plush shark again and dropped it onto the floor, kicking it away with her left feet. Quincy skid across the floor. This made Anton angry. He looked at Mary again. She raised a suggestive eyebrow at him and started to unbutton her medical coat.

"What are you doing?" Anton asked her.

"Relax", said Mary. "Elena is helping a doctor in surgery. It will take her about an hour before she gets back." Mary opened her coat and revealed to him that she was wearing a blouse that exposed her cleavage. "Come on. Relax a little bit. "

Anton said nothing, his eyes not looking anywhere but her face. There was a heated urge inside him that made him want to cut her throat open for what she was doing, especially in front of a child.

"You know, I asked Elena once what you looked like without a shirt on. She didn't say, obviously, but now that we're alone-"

"I'd like you to leave, Dr. Hartman", said Anton, cutting her off.

"Why?" Mary asked him, speaking in a seductive voice. "I've got nothing else better to do this morning. And I'd like it better if you called me Mary. It is my name, after all. Did you forget it?"

Anton didn't answer her, his expression remained non-changing and kept its contempt darkness.

"You and Elena still aren't going steady, are you?" Mary asked him.

"That is none of your business", said Anton.

"Why not? I've got this really nice house that you and I could get away to", Mary told him, moving closer to Anton. Her hands placed themselves onto his clothed chest and started tracing patterns over his heart with her fingers. "Forget about Elena", said Mary, in a breathless voice. Her blue eyes looked into Anton's dark brown ones and she gave him a vicious smile. "She's nobody. I still consider her a friend, but only when it's convenient for my benefit. It's too bad she has to look after that demon child, huh?" Mary moved her hands over to his shoulders, slowly trailing them down along his arms. She came to a stop at his hands. He didn't react. His fingers were relaxed, though the muscles in his arms were stiff with the urge to strangle her.

"Just tell me, is Elena pregnant? Because if she is, I can set up an appointment with an abortionist and you and I can-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Mary felt a hand grab her by her hair and screamed in pain. Her feet dragged across the floor as she was pulled over to the wall. Her back slammed hard against the wall and she screamed again. His left hand grabbed her right wrist and pinned it up against the side of her head. His right hand was around her neck, purposely choking her. Not enough to kill her, but just enough so that she couldn't speak. Dr. Mary Hartman gasped for air and found herself staring at the rage-filled face of Anton Chigurh. His eyes were like looking into a funnel cloud. The moment before the storm. He brought his face closer to Mary's fear-filled one.

"If you were really her friend, you wouldn't say those things", Anton whispered darkly. "You think you're better than Elena, but you're not. You think you know her, but you don't. You envy her. And that child you are referring to is not a demon, she's an angel...You stay away from my family...And if you ever try to fuck with me again, I will kill you."

Anton threw her down to the floor. Mary laid there on the ground, gasping and coughing. With his warning of death submitted into her mind, Mary looked up at Anton. He stared down at her, saying nothing. He felt no remorse for his action. Mary stood up at once and looked at him with fear as tears began to fill her eyes. She let out a sharp gasp and turned around and ran out of the room, crying.

Anton looked to the floor and picked up the plush shark and brushed off a speck of dust it had gotten on it. He turned around and walked over to the bed and placed Quincy over Sophia's chest. He took hold of her wrist and draped her arm over her friend to make it seem like she was holding him.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that", Anton spoke to her, softly. "I know you can't hear me, but..." He faltered in his speech and paused for a moment. Sighing deeply, he turned around and walked out of the room.

Walking out of the building, Anton Chigurh lifted his head to the sky and took a deep breath. He looked straight ahead and crossed his arms, shaking his head in disgust. It stopped snowing ten minutes ago. He stood there for a long time, hating the blonde woman. He felt like screaming, but knew it wouldn't help. It was bad enough he was a still a wanted man.

From across the street, Annaliese Erikson walked out of the convenient store, a box of cigarettes in her hand. She looked left and then right. She looked over across the street and noticed a strange-looking man standing out in front of the hospital. He wasn't looking in her direction. She thought she had seen him somewhere before. A little voice inside her head told her that she should go over and talk to him. He didn't look like much of a talker, but then again, she had dealt with much worse. Looking both ways again, Annaliese Erikson walked across the street and went over to the man.

"Excuse me?" Annaliese asked him, holding up her packet of smokes for him to see. "You wouldn't happen to have a lighter on you, would you?"

The man turned his head right and looked at the red-headed woman. "No", he said. His arms were folded across his chest.

"Well, I just thought I'd ask. I'm sorry for bothering you." With that said, Annaliese stuffed the cigarette box into her purse. She looked at the man again and studied him for a minute. She placed her hands on her hips and said, "You know...your face looks so familiar to me. Have we met before?"

The man lowered his arms and told her, "I do not think so." He turned around. Just as he started to walk away, Annaliese noticed the shape of his hair and snapped her fingers and said out loud, "Little Anton Chigurh!"

Hearing his name spoken by the unknown woman, Anton stopped where he was. His heart froze with fear. He turned around slowly and looked back at Mrs. Erikson. His eyes were wide with surprise.

"Now I remember where I saw you before!" Anneliese exclaimed. Her voiced held a Texan accent. "My goodness, you certainly have grown since last time I saw you."

Anton looked around to make sure nobody else had heard her and walked back over to the Gambler Lady. "How is it that you know me?" Anton asked her.

"You don't remember?" Anneliese asked him. "You might recall me as that chubby little ginger child that defended you when Linda Burton and Everett Carter were making fun of you that one time. They never got adopted, did they?"

Anton was silent for a minute. As if some long-forgotten memory was coming back to him, his whole demeanor seemed to change and he felt as though he were five again. "Anna Mathis?"

"It's Erikson now, Anton", said Anneliese. "I married a long time ago."

The once-proud hitman looked over the red-headed woman's figure and said to her, without even thinking, "You lost weight."

Anneliese laughed and looked down at herself. "I've made a few changes, yes", she said. Annaliese looked at Anton again and told him, "But I see you haven't changed one bit. Same chocolate brown eyes, smooth skin, pageboy haircut. But, honey, what are you wearing? Baby, the seventies ended a long time ago."

Anton looked down at himself and then glared at her in annoyance and asked, "What's wrong with the way I look?"

"There ain't nothing wrong with the way you look, Anton", Anneliese reassured him. "You've always carried sort of a distinctive and unique appearance about you. You know, if God had told me years ago that I would meet up with you again in our adult lives, I never would have left the orphanage in tears. I did try to convince the couple that adopted me to go back for you."

"It wouldn't have worked out, Anna", said Anton. "The couple who adopted you wanted you alone. They wouldn't even take so much as one look at me that day. Or any other day since. Nobody did."

"You mean you've been stuck at that orphanage all along?" Annaliese asked him, sounding sad and disappointed.

"I ran away from that place in 1965", Anton told her. "I went to Vietnam in '68 and got out when the war ended. I've been on my own since then." He paused for a minute, thinking it over, and then added, "Almost since then."

"Well, I figured you'd be married at this point in life", said Anneliese. "I mean, you're how old now?"

"I already have a woman in my life", said Anton, avoiding the question. "I didn't plan for it to happen, but it did."

"You talkin' 'bout Miss Ellie, ain't you?"

"Who?"

"Miss Olmsted. You know, the one with the pretty eyes and the gap between her teeth?"

Anton blinked and asked her, "What are you talking about? Elena doesn't have a gap."

"Don't you know a joke when you hear one?" Annaliese teased him, raising an eyebrow at him. It was more of a playful gesture than a flirt.

Anton detected the humor of her body language and cocked his head to one side, smiling amusingly. "Hmm", he said.

"Hey, dickhead!"

Anton and Annaliese both looked in the same direction and saw Mary Hartman come marching over to them. She stood in front of Anton and looked at him angrily. "I wasn't trying to fuck with you", Mary argued. "I don't even know why you give such a shit about Elena anyway. She's plain and boring and her cousin is a loser. Why would you want a homely girl like her when you can have a successful woman like me?"

Before Anton could open his mouth, Annaliese stepped in front of him and snarked at Mary, "Didn't Daddy Marine Corps teach you anything about interrupting people's conversation?"

Mary blinked in response, her face turned into an expression of shock. Anton could see fresh tears starting to fill her eyes. This came as a surprise to him for some reason.

Annaliese gave her a sly smile and said, "Ahh, now who's rubbing salt into the wound?"

Mary looked at Anton and then looked at Annaliese again, her lips tightening. She stormed off and went over to a red convertible that had a parking ticket attached to the windshield. She removed it and crumbled it up and tossed it into the street. She opened the driver side door and looked at Anton again. "Get a haircut, freak!" Mary yelled at him. She got into her car and started the engine and took off down the street, speeding.

"Don't you pay her no attention, Anton", said Annaliese. "She's just a sassy woman who thinks her manure don't smell like anything but a bed of poppies. I've seen pig vomit more attractive than she is."

"She's jealous and conceited", said Anton. He looked at his friend and said, "She tried to seduce me in front of a comatose child."

Annaliese looked at him with wide eyes and asked him, "Did you notify anyone about this?"

"No, I didn't. She will pay for what she has done soon enough."

Annaliese looked up at the building and counted the floors to herself. She looked at Anton and told him, "The head director is on the twenty-eighth floor. I'd report that to him if I were you."

Anton nodded. "All right."

Annaliese took her purse from off her shoulder and looked through it and pulled out a pen and a receipt. She wrote something down and said, "Well, I have to be moving along, but let me give you my phone number and home address."

"What for?" Anton asked her.

"Just to have it", Annaliese answered. She put the pen back into her purse and handed the receipt over to him and said, "If you ever need somebody to talk to, you just come right on over and see me anytime you like, day or night."

Anton took the receipt from her and gave her a slight nod of his head.

Annaliese placed the strap of her purse back onto her shoulder and told him, "Take care, friendo." She turned around and walked away.

The elevator dinged when it came to the third floor. The doors opened. Anton stepped out and went back to the room and found Dr. Benedict talking to Elena, who was sitting in a chair next to the bed. They both looked at him.

"Is she belittling you again?" Anton asked Dr. Benedict.

"No. In fact, Miss Olmsted has already apologized to me for her outburst yesterday", Dr. Benedict answered. "I was simply checking in and seeing how the patient was doing. Nothing has changed."

Anton glanced over at Sophia, who was still the same as when he left, motionless and unresponsive. His eyes looked at Elena, who stood up and waited for him to say something. Instead, he said nothing and walked into the room and went over to the window. He folded his arms across his chest, standing strong and silent as usual. Elena found it odd of him, but then remembered it was Anton she was thinking about.

Dr. Benedict placed a hand on his coworker's shoulder and whispered to her, "I'll leave you two alone." He turned around and went to the door and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Once he was gone, Elena went over to Anton and asked him, "Where were you? I missed you."

"I needed to be alone for a minute", Anton answered. His voice sounded different.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

Elena hugged her arms around his middle and leaned her head against him. "I know it's hard", she said. "I've been down this road with her before. The only thing we can do it wait."

Anton shook his head and told her, "It's not that."

Elena looked at him and asked, "What is it, then?"

For a minute, Anton didn't speak. He seemed lost, confused. Finally, he looked at Elena and asked her, "How much do you know about Mrs. Erikson?"

"Annaliese Erikson?" Elena asked him. "You mean the Gambler Lady?"

"Erikson isn't even her real name. It's Mathis."

"How do you know that?"

Anton paused for a minute. He looked out the window and answered, "Because she and I grew up in the same orphanage together."