Page 32 of Arden and the Girl Downstairs

I laugh at Arden’s response. It’s rare that anyone even acknowledges my phone weirdness.

He raises his voice to be heard over my amusement. “Why are you laughing?”

“Because no one ever responds with a col—” Pains shoot through my abdomen, cutting me off .

“What’s wrong?” Arden’s voice is laced with concern.

“Noth . . .Nothing.” I lose my breath to the sharp agony.

“Ella, what’s going on? Are you okay?” I try to straighten out, but the pain is shooting through my abdomen like someone is repeatedly stabbing me with a blunt knife. It’s crippling, and moving isn’t an option at the moment. I need to wait it out. I try to put my wall up and push through the pain, so Arden doesn’t worry about me.

“I’m fine. It’s just some pain. Nothing I’m not already used to.”

“It’s obviously not nothing. Do you need to go to the—”

“Crap, shit, mothertrucker!” I can’t hide the pain now. The intensity is always worse at the start, and it takes me some time to adjust, especially if I’ve had a few okay days.

“Ella, talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”

“I can’t.” I cry out harshly, tears starting to fall, but I can’t stop them. “It hurts too much to move.”

“Is your front door unlocked?”

“I think so, but Arden, you can’t come here. You can’t leave the facility.”

“I’m not. I promised I’d see this through, and that’s what I’m doing. But it doesn’t mean that I can’t help you from here.”

As he finishes speaking, there is a soft knock at the front door, but they don’t wait for me to answer. I can hear the door open and shut, and the next thing I see is Julia popping her head through my bedroom door, Ralph waiting behind her.

I must look horrendous because Julia takes me in and instantly runs to my side.

“What do you need?” she asks while watching me carefully.

I try to sit up and drop my phone in the process. Julia reaches for it and puts Arden on speakerphone.

“What do we need to do, Arden?” Julia keeps her voice low and calm, which puts me at ease.

“Do you need to go to the hospital?” Arden sounds even more concerned than earlier.

“No,” I whisper. “Just meds and my heat pack.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’ll be able to move a little when the meds kick in,” I assure him as Ralph gently helps me sit up and Julia passes me my medicine bag off my bedside table.

“I don’t want you to be on your own. Is it okay if Ralph helps you into the house?”

The urge to fight him on this is strong—I don’t need him making these decisions for me.But,he didn’t demand, he asked, and from what I’ve heard, that’s not something Arden does often. If I’m being honest with myself, I really don’t want to be alone at the moment.

“Come on, Ella, you can hang out with me until everyone else gets home this afternoon. We were planning a movie night anyway.” Julia is already gathering up my heat pack and grabbing my meds to bring with me, like it’s a done deal.

“Okay, okay . . . but can you give me a minute? I need to speak to Arden about something.”

Neither Ralph nor Julia respond with words, instead making their way out of the room and closing the door behind them. I grab my phone, turn off the speakerphone, and hold it back up to my ear.

“Thank you for calling them.” I speak slowly—moving still hurts.

“I’m sorry I can’t be there.”

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