Page 75 of Omega's Formula

By the time I finish, my throat is raw and my hands won’t stop trembling.

Ellie reaches out and takes my hand. Her grip is stronger than it used to be—another sign of recovery, another reminder that at least something in this disaster has gone right.

“You can’t stay here,” she says quietly.

“What?”

“In the city. You can’t stay.” She squeezes my fingers. “Nolan, think about it. The coffee shop—Hazel knows about Erik, right? She’s the one who told me about the marriage when I came looking for you that day. If she knows, other people know. It’s going to get out eventually, and when it does—”

“Shit.” I hadn’t thought about that. I’ve been so focused on avoiding Erik directly that I forgot about all the indirect ways information travels. Hazel isn’t a gossip, but she’s not exactly discreet either. If she mentioned my marriage to Ellie, she’s probably mentioned it to others.

“You need to disappear,” Ellie continues. “Go somewhere he won’t think to look. Somewhere you can start fresh, have the baby, figure out what comes next.”

“I can’t just leave you.”

“I’m fine.” She says it firmly, the way she used to say it when we were kids and she was trying to convince me she could handle something too big for her. “The treatment is working. Dr. Burke says I could be discharged within the month. The hardest part is over, Nolan. You don’t need to keep sacrificing yourself for me.”

“It’s not a sacrifice—”

“Bullshit.” Her voice is gentle but unwavering. She stops, swallows. “You’ve done enough. More than enough. Let me be the one who worries about you for once.”

My eyes are burning. I blink hard, refusing to let the tears fall.

“What are you going to do about money?” I ask. “The treatment—”

“Is already paid for. The contract you signed guarantees coverage and by the time I’m out of the hospital, then I’ll be well enough to work. I can figure it out from there.” She fixes me with a look that’s pure stubborn determination. “You need to think about yourself now. You and the baby.”

The baby. God. Every time I remember there’s an actual human being growing inside me, it feels like the ground shifts beneath my feet.

“I don’t even know where I’d go,” I admit.

Ellie reaches for her laptop, opens it back up, and angles the screen toward me. A map of the country fills the display, all state borders and city names.

“Let’s figure it out,” she says. “What are we looking for? Somewhere cheap, obviously. Somewhere with decent healthcare access. Somewhere far enough from here that Erik won’t stumble across you by accident.”

I stare at the map. My mind is blank.

Ellie’s fingers fly across the keyboard. “What about the Pacific Northwest? Oregon, maybe?”

I blink. “I’ve never been to Oregon.” It’s the only thing I can think of to say. It sounds stupid. The idea of just picking up and starting somewhere completely different feels both terrifying and attractive.

I never have to run into Erik Nilsson again. I don’t know if that makes me want to laugh or cry.

She scrolls through listings. “Look—there are rooms for rent in Portland for under seven hundred a month. Shared housing, mostly students.”

I do the math quickly in my head. The stipend from the marriage arrangement—which I’m technically still entitled to until the year is up—would cover that and then some. And I’ve been careful with the money I had from before, squirreling away what I could from my coffee shop wages.

“I have enough saved for a few months,” I say. “Maybe four or five, if I’m careful. That would give me time to find work, get settled before—” I gesture vaguely at my midsection.

“Before you start showing.” Ellie nods. “Okay. Portland. Let’s look at the details.”

We spend the next hour researching. Ellie finds a house share in a good neighborhood, close to a community college and two major universities. The listing says they’re looking for a quiet, responsible housemate—no parties, no drama, willing to help with dishes.

“Apply,” Ellie says. “Right now, before you talk yourself out of it.”

My fingers hover over the keyboard. This is insane. I can’t just uproot my entire life based on a one-hour planning session with my sister. I have responsibilities here, connections, a job—

And I’m going to lose my child if I don’t.