Page 212 - It Ends with Us

of the pho ne.

“I’ll tex t you,” I whi sper, too scared to keep spea king . I don’t want
R yle to wake up. I ha ng up the pho ne and someho w find the streng th
to still my ha nd s whi le I tex t hi m my addres s and the acces s code for
ent ry. Then I send a sec ond tex t tha t says Text me when you get here.
Pl ease don’t knock.

I crawl to the kitchen and find my pant s, struggling back int o
them. I find my shi rt on the count er. When I’m dres sed , I go to the
living room. I deb ate openi ng the door and meet ing Atlas downs tairs,
but I’m too scared I won’t be able to make it down to the lobby alone.
My forehea d is still bleed ing and I feel too wea k to ev en stand up and
wait by the door. I slide to the floor, clenc hi ng my pho ne in my sha ky
fis t and staring at it, waiting for hi s tex t.

It’s an agoni zing twent y-four minu tes later when my pho ne light s
up.
Here.
I scramble to my feet and swing open the door. Arms wrap around
me and my face is pres sed agains t somet hi ng soft. I just start crying

and crying and sha king and crying .
“Lily,” he whi spers . I’ve nev er hea rd my na me spoken so sadly. He
urges me to look up at hi m. His blue ey es scroll over my face, and I
see it ha ppen. I watch the conc ern vani sh as he darts hi s hea d up to
the apartment door. “Is he still in there?”
Rag e.
I can feel the rage come off of hi m and he starts to step toward the

apartment door. I grab hi s jacket in my fis ts. “No. Pleas e, Atlas. I just
want to lea ve. ”
I see the pain roll over hi m as he pauses , struggling to dec ide
whet her to listen to me or bust thro ugh the door. He ev ent ually turns
away from the door and wraps hi s arms around me. He hel ps me to
the el ev ator and then thro ugh the lobby. By some miracle, we onl y

run int o one pers on and he’s on hi s pho ne and facing the other
direc tion.
By the time we make it to the parking garage, I start to feel dizzy
again. I tel l hi m to slow down, and then I feel hi s arm wrap und er my
knees as he picks me up. Then we’re in the car. Then the car is
moving .