(i wanted to give Erika a nickname because yeah it's cute or whateva. Snow bear because Erika is pale and ghost-like.)

____

Kage's P.O.V

Life went back to how it was before Erika got here, hell but with a little extra spice.

I'm glad she's out of here but that still didn't squash the heartbreak I felt with not having her here anymore.

The good news is Ms.Miller promised she'd bring Erika to visit me in a few days.

~

"Kage Baker to phone booths," the intercom blared. That wasn't something I heard before. I made my way to the visitor section, a place I hadn't been often considering my family hasn't visited since the first week I got here.

I wasn't allowed in the in-person visitor section because of my behavior and diagnosis. They can't risk me hurting someone.

"Booth three," the staff told me. I nodded and walked up to the booth to see Erika waiting for me behind the unbreakable glass. I grinned and picked up the phone.

"Kage? Can you hear me?" I sighed in relief.

"Yeah. I can hear you."

"How are you?" She asked softly.

"Uhh, I guess I'm fine... it's been weird without you. What about you?"

"I'm good. Katherine is cool and she gave me my own room... is everything okay in the ward?"

"Well other than everyone thinking you're pregnant, things are great!"

"They think I'm... pregnant. What even- okay sure." She laughed. That sound was like music to my ears and I missed it so much. I nodded and chuckled, leaning back in my chair.

"Funny story actually, Brandon spread the rumor, and now all the nurses believe it like the idiots they are."

"He's such an ass... how's Maddie doing?"

"Pretty good, they're thinking about releasing her into foster care soon." Erika's face lit up.

"Oh, that's great!" She said happily. The staff notified us that we only had a few minutes left before I had to go back. Then there was a moment of silence, just us being happy to see each other, "I miss you, Kage. Katherine said I can come with her to visit you tomorrow!"

"I miss you too, snow bear. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay.." her soft voice was the most angelic thing I've ever heard and there was still so much I wanted to say to her but our time was running out.

"I love you," I whispered just loud enough for her to hear.

"I love you too," She said, giggling through her words.

God I miss her so much

Before we could say goodbye, the call ended and we had to hang up. Although it was short, the call made it easier to get through the day. I waved bye and got up from my chair.

"Kage Baker please exit the phone booth and return to the activity ward," I rolled my eyes and just went back into my room instead. Not a lot of fun when you're known as the crazy guy who got the 16-year-old pregnant.

I just wanted to sit in my room and wait for when Erika comes tomorrow. I closed my door behind me and jumped into bed, remembering the piece of paper Ms.Miller gave me yesterday.

Opening it up, I flattened it out and was very very confused. It was just a map of the building with things like the boy's ward, main hall, and back exit circled.

It didn't occur to me what this meant until I saw that the back exit went out to the main parking lot and not the yard where patients are allowed. I looked up the make sure the camera couldn't see the paper and simply just folded it back up, putting it in my pocket.

Katherine was trying to sneak me out of this hell hole.

~

The next day, I immediately went to the nurse's section. After looking around for a minute, I heard Ms.Miller call me over.

"Erika, he's here!" She explained. I looked right past her to see Erika sitting at a table wearing a ponytail and her signature black hoodie with tights. She looked up from the magazine in her hands. I wish I could replay the way her eyes lit up when she saw me.

"Kage!" She laughed in excitement, running over and wrapping her arms around me. She hugged me with so much force I had to take a step back. I placed my hands around her waist and we just stood there for a while.

When Erika pulled away, I felt her grab my hand and take me over to the table she was at.

"Nobody is allowed to see me so we have to stay in here but that's better than nothing, right?" She mentioned. The grin on her face was so contagious and she was right. Any time I spent with her was worth anything. Erika sat across from me but never let go of my hand, squeezing it ever so often.

One of the newer nurses walked in and saw us together. She walked over to Ms.Miller and whispered something in her ear. Knowing our current situation, it was probably about me being a rapist who brainwashed Erika into loving me. I rolled my eyes and shook it off, giving my attention back to Erika.

"So are you okay? You look great."

"I am great. I get to eat actual food and sleep in an actual bed and have a window that doesn't have bars on it... but I don't get to have you and that's pretty shitty." I bit my lip for a moment and nodded.

"Yeah it is... but I'm glad you got out of here."

"Me too... Katherine told me what was about to happen to us."

"What?"

"You don't know? They were going to move you into holding and make me go to some different facility." She said quietly so that none of the passing nurses could hear.

I sat in silence for a moment to process... holding... that's code for prison I think.

I was about to be thrown in prison.

"Why did they keep me here?"

"Because I left," that didn't make complete sense to me but oh well. I'm here. Before I could say anything else, Ms.Miller placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Kage, can you please take Erika to the cafeteria and make sure she isn't seen by the other patients?" I nodded and stood up, still holding onto her hand.

On our way down the hall, she squeezed my hand like she was terrified to let go of me. I couldn't help but smile at the thought of having her back and possibly getting out soon.

"Why do we need to go to the cafeteria anyway?" I asked her but she just shrugged in response.

"I think she just needs us to pick up something." I nodded and turned down another hallway. The cafeteria was the farthest away from the wards on this floor.

"So... have you been good?" SHe asked, slowing her pace so we could talk a bit longer.

"We've only been apart for like two days, how could I fuck up really bad in that amount of time?" There were a lot of things I could do for a number of reasons.

"That's not what I meant. I mean... with everyone seeing you differently because of Brandon." She looked up at me and wrapped her arms around mine.

"It's not that bad; no one talks to me but Maddie is worried about you." She sighed.

"Try to tell her I'm okay, please." I nodded and looked at the maintenance guy down the hall who turned to us. As soon as he saw us, he backed up and sped down the hall in the opposite direction.

"Wow, I miss that." She said.

"Miss what? People being scared of me?" I chuckled and looked at her

"Yeah, makes me feel nostalgic," She joked.

When we finally walked into the cafeteria, it was a quick little exchange. A staff member had little brown paper bags and told us to bring them back to the nurses.