(Cole)
I stayed on the line until her breathing evened out.
She didn't fall asleep while we were talking. I would have known. But something in her voice settled gradually the way things did when the worst of something had already passed and what remained was just the quiet afterward.
"Go to sleep Lena," I said eventually.
"I'm not tired anymore," she said.
"Yes you are."
A pause.
"Maybe," she admitted.
"Then sleep."
She was quiet for a moment.
"Cole."
"Yes."
"Thank you," she said. "For picking up."
"I always pick up for you," I said.
The line went quiet after that and then she ended the call and I set the phone down on my desk and looked at the window.
I sat there for a long time after that without opening anything or reaching for the file that was still sitting at the corne
