Page 35 of The Call She Made That He Never Answered
We merged onto the highway.
Wind roared through the car. I wanted to talk to her, so I reached for the window controls, but she stopped me. "Don't!"
I glanced in the rearview mirror. Ella kept her face turned toward the window, hair whipping wildly around her, hiding her expression.
I wanted to ask if she was feeling better.
But my words got ripped away by the wind.
Those broken syllables must've reached her, but she showed no reaction. Just kept staring out the window. Too focused. Like she hadn't heard me at all.
Something was off with Ella today.
Too quiet.
Which shouldn't have been strange. Ella was naturally quiet. Back when work wasn't so insane, I used to bring files home. She'd curl up on the study sofa and read her physical therapy books in the sunlight by the window. All I had to do was look up, and there she was. Still as a painting. Peaceful. We could spend whole afternoons together without speaking, never disturbing each other but still there. Together.
That silence had been comfortable. This was different.
I could feel something else threaded through her silence now. Some emotion I couldn't identify.
I gripped the steering wheel tighter, confused. I didn't understand why Ella had changed. She'd been fine with Grandfather just now...
Maybe she was worried about Maya.
That had to be it.
I stopped trying to make conversation and pressed harder on the gas, pushing the speedometer to one-eighty. Once she saw Maya, Ella would be herself again. I told myself that.
When we reached Saint Heart Sanatorium, I barely had the car in park before Ella shoved open her door.
She walked fast.
Completely unlike her. Usually, she waited for me to get out first, then followed behind with that careful, dignified bearing expected of an upper-class wife.
But now she practically ran toward the entrance.
The security guards saw Ella and immediately tipped their hats. "Mrs. Rockefeller, you're here." Their eyes were warm, caring.
I followed, but they stopped me. "And you are?"
"Her husband." Annoyance edged my voice.
The guards kept up their rigid routine, making me lose sight of Ella. Just as they were about to say something worse, like asking for ID, I cut them off. I fixed them with the kind of look I used in negotiations. The kind that made it immediately clear who was in control.
The guards backed down quickly and let me through.
By the time I stepped into the Saint Heart lobby, I understood why Ella had been so desperate to get inside.
I'd been here twice before when Grandfather stayed briefly. My memory of the place was bleak. Stale air, lifeless corners, depressed people clustered together waiting to die. The atmosphere made it hard to breathe. I avoided coming here.
But now the whole room was lit up.
Nearly everyone crowded around Ella, talking over each other.
"Ella's here!"
"Ella! Our little angel!"
