She had tried to reach Arthur twice before and he hadn’t picked up. Their plan depended on precise timing to completely avoid suspicion. ‘Arthur where the hell are you?’  She glanced at her watch, dialing Arthur’s number again.

* * * * *

Both men glared at each other, “I told you to get away from my wife! What are you doing here Ben? How dare you take time away from my son with his mother!” Ben felt as if he couldn’t control his body, he moved towards Arthur fists curling, “You sick fuck!  How the hell do you do this to your wife and get out of jail?” Ben shook is head in disbelief, “If you wanted to fight someone, you could’ve come to me, but that would’ve required fucking balls!”  Arthur felt himself losing it as Ben continued moving into his space, “I love my wife and I would never hurt her, Paula did this to herself.”

Ben laughed bitterly as he moved into Arthur’s face, “You say you love her so much, maybe you can tell me something. Why is it that when she’s upset, she calls me? When she cries, she wants me to hold her? When she’s…” Ben’s head flew backwards from Arthur’s blow. Arthur landed heavily on Ben as he continued to punch, all of Ben’s words echoing in his head, driving him insane. He couldn’t believe the pain, it took his breathe away, ‘She doesn’t love me anymore.’  Arthur felt a sharp pain as Ben kicked him off, pushing him through the door of the room into the hallway. He could dimly hear people screaming as Ben began to choke him.

* * * * *

Spencer could still hear Ashley crying softly as she washed her hands and face. She looked up at Ashley as she walked out of the bathroom. Ashley stood between the bathroom and the bed looking down at her bare feet, “Spence…I…I’m so sorry. I just wanted us to be together so bad…I never imagined that things would get so…fucked.” Spencer felt her chest starting to burn again as Ashley looked into her eyes, “I’m so scared Spence, what if your mom dies? What if my mom dies? It’ll be…my…my fault. None of this would have happened if…” Spencer ran to Ashley, hugging her, kissing her, trying to tell her with her body that it was not her fault, trying to show Ashley how much she needed her, how she no longer thought she could live without her. 

After a few minutes they pulled apart, Ashley opened her mouth and felt Spencer’s fingers immediately clasp her lips closed. Spencer looked at Ashley seriously, “You are only allowed to speak if you use sentences that do not contain the word fault. You have to promise Ashley!” Spencer could hear Ashley mumbling something, but she couldn’t quite understand, “Ash what are you trying to say?” Ashley grabbed Spencer’s hand and finally managed to free her lips, “Ow! I said I have to pee!” Spencer laughed as Ashley shuffled back to the bathroom exclaiming, “This time I’m closing the damn door!”

* * * * *

Zadie watched through the window of Christine’s room as Ralph drew the curtains around the bed. She turned around. She noticed a security guard running towards the elevators. ‘I wonder what’s going on?’ She started to turn back around when she noticed another guard passing by her, “Hey, LAPD, what’s up?” The guy answered her without stopping, “Possible 1055 down in the surgical center, they’re requesting backup immediately!” Zadie hesitated only a moment, before opening the door to Christine’s room, “Hey Ralph, they got a 1055 happening downstairs, I’ll be right back, just want to check it out.” She didn’t wait for his response before taking off at a run. ‘This better not be why he isn’t calling me back!’  Zadie’s brow furrowed as she contemplated arresting Arthur for the second time that day.