As George sat on the edge of the corner of the tub and bathed herself, I picked up my ever-present pendant and honed in on the Judge. I didn't understand at first until I realized I was looking at a hospital room.

I bolted upright, my stomach performing more than one tumble, hoping he was merely visiting someone. My hopes were in vain, though. He was lying in the hospital bed, hooked up to many machines.

I panicked and dropped the pendent, desperate to get out of the tub without slipping and knocking myself out at best or snapping my neck at worst. I threw on some jeans and began the frantic look for my phone. I found it, and my purse, on the bar in the living room. I did not understand how it had gotten there, but it dismayed me to find the phone was dead. What did I expect, though? It's been five days!

I had the awful experience of plugging the phone in to try to let it charge enough to call for the car. I scoured the hospital room to find the Judge's location. Finally, I found a pad of paper on the table which said, St. Francis.

Bloody Hell! The hospital was on the other side of town and over an hour away. I looked at the whiteboard on the wall at the end of the bed. On it, it listed the nurses on duty for the day and a daily schedule. Lunch was at eleven-thirty. It was eleven-fifteen.

I had no choice; I would have to risk it. At least he was wealthy enough to be in a room by himself. I snapped open a portal to Hell and ran headlong into Lucifer and Azza coming out of the inner office.

"No! Back inside. Give me five minutes!" I shouted. I twirled Lucifer around and pushed him toward the inner office door.

"Olivia! What the Hell!"

"Lucifer, you can't be here right now. Please! Go!"

He looked at me like I was crazy, and then realization spread across his face. He immediately went through the door, dragging a gaping Azza behind him. It slammed, and I snapped a portal to the Judge's hospital room, opening right beside the bed, hoping he would be alone.

He was. I prayed a silent, Thank You, to whoever would listen. I reached in, grabbed his hand, and pulled. If it hadn't been for the portal's function of drawing him in, too, I'd never been able to get him through; there was no way I could carry an unconscious man. I had the passing thought to wonder why his, or any, soul had weight at all.

As I yanked him through the portal, he woke. He could step through on his own at the end of the tug. I bent over, panting, trying to calm myself before I called for Lucifer.

"Where are we?" the Judge asked.

"Lucifer!" I shouted, and he threw open the office door to stride into the room. "Please. Please tell me this is Faith," I begged.

He scowled. "Yes. Yes, it is, Olivia," he said, hugging me tight before addressing the Judge, now identified as Faith. "Only, there is an issue. He's asked for and received forgiveness."

"What?" I asked and felt my heart race again. "No, no, no... I'm too late?"

"For the moment, yes, but we have an ace-in-the-hole. Don't panic too much yet," he whispered before kissing my forehead. Azza came and held me instead, more than a little intrigued by the events.

Lucifer strode forward with his hand extended, "Welcome, Faith."

"What's going on here?" the Judge asked, looking around. "She called you Lucifer. Does it mean I'm in Hell?" He stared at Lucifer's hand with narrowed eyes.

"Yes, it does," Lucifer explained. He let his hand drop.

"I don't think I'm supposed to be here, am I? I confessed to the Priest yesterday."

My knees buckled, but Azza held me up.

"Yes, you did, and no, you are not supposed to be here. But since you are, I'm prepared to offer you a deal. You can accept the deal or go to Heaven. If you choose the latter, I will escort you to the gates personally."

Faith scoffed. "You have nothing I want."

The other door to the outer office, the one which led into Hell itself, open. A woman stepped timidly through. I recognized her as his wife.

She saw Faith, and her eyes grew as big as saucers. "Ron? What are you doing here?"

"Well, well. If it isn't the bitch herself," Faith said, rounding on her. He smirked. "I told you you could never get away from me, didn't I?"

I watched things unfold, not feeling good about where things stood. I clung to Azza for comfort. My stomach soured, but I swore I would not vomit in the office of the Devil again.

Faith smiled at Lucifer. "If the deal is I can stay here in exchange for my soul, I accept."

"Indeed, that is the deal," Lucifer said with a grin as he extended his hand again. This time Faith grasped it.

I felt the shift indicating they had struck a deal.

He wheeled back to his wife. "You killed our only child! You kill Suzanna! Then, you dared to try and kill me!" he accused her, pointing with a shaking hand.

I gasped. This woman killed her daughter? What mother could do such a thing?

The woman objected. "I saved her! From you!" she shouted. Her face became flushed and her body rigid. Her fists clenched so tight, her knuckles became white. "She was going to kill herself after what you'd done to her for years. In our own home, Ron! You are a horrid, vile man. She was planning to commit suicide... had already planned it! I couldn't let her take such a burden with her. She'd end up here, with him," she howled, pointing to a smiling Lucifer. "I exchanged her fate with my own, and I took her life."

"You bitch! You admit it!"

"I'd do it all again, Ron. Anything to save my daughter. Anything." Her eyes narrowed, and she lifted her hand to point to him. She spoke, her voice low and guttural. "And, how I wish I'd been able to kill you before cancer took me."

Faith laughed, deep and uproarious. "You think it was cancer? You were always an idiot. Bitch, I poisoned you."

The woman gasped, and she covered her mouth. "No!" Her hand dropped to her side. She, in a flash, became resigned to her fate. "You truly are a disgusting man. To rape your own daughter? And the bribes, Ron. All those innocent people! You deserve to be here."

Faith cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh, yes, Ron," the woman continued. "I knew all about the bribes and how they bought verdicts. I turned you in. They were investigating you. I bet they almost had enough evidence to charge you."

Oh, shit! I thought. Jillian was probably under the same investigation. Shit, shit, shit!

Azza must have felt my reaction in my body. He hugged me close.

Faith turned to Lucifer with a sinister smile. "Tell me I get to spend eternity tormenting her."

Lucifer cocked his head. "Not quite."

"What do you mean, 'Not quite,'?" Faith said, crossing his arms.

Lucifer called, "Peter! If you would please?"

From the inner office came an angel, bright and glorious in a white suit, with white wings, all against onyx skin to rival Shawna's. I gasped, and my knees became weak in his presence. I was grateful, not for the first time, for Azza.

"Have you heard enough, Peter? I do apologize for detouring her between her death and you, but I had an important need, as you see."

"So I understand," Peter said, eyeing Faith with disdain before turning to the woman. "Elizabeth," he said, stretching out his hand to her, "come with me. You don't quite belong here."

"You're the Father I talked to in the hospital! The one I confessed to," Elizabeth whispered.

"I am," Peter acknowledged. "I also gave you last rights, though you were unconscious, at the request of your mother."

Elizabeth ran to him, hugging him, and burying her face in his lapels, sobbing. He wrapped her up, curling his wings around her, further hiding her from Faith's fury.

"Now, wait one goddamned minute here!" Faith shouted, rounding on Lucifer. "The arrangement was I got to stay here with her in exchange for my soul."

Lucifer smiled and raised a finger. "Ah, but that was not the deal. The deal was you stay here. There was no mention of Elizabeth."

"I confirm the deal," Azza said.

"I also confirm the deal," Peter said. He looked at Lucifer, "I never thought I'd say this, but well done, Brother."

Lucifer bowed to him, and he snapped open a portal to the rolling green hills of Heaven for them. Peter helped her through, and the portal closed.

"You bastard!" spat Faith. "You tricked me!"

"No, you tricked yourself, Faith. You're the one who spoke the deal. I merely agreed and shook on it."

The outer door opened once more, and half a dozen identical young women entered. It was clear from the shared facial features they were his daughter. I knew by now none of them were her; they were demons instead.

They went to him, eerily silent, as he backed up against the wall. He screamed as they took hold of him, raised him above their heads, and carried him through the door into Hell. From previous conversations with my love, I had an excellent idea of what Faith's punishment would be for eternity.

Azza breathed out sharply. "Holy crap! That was intense. This is what you do?" he asked in my ear.

I nodded as Lucifer turned to me. I swallowed, expecting him to scold me for almost not being in time. What I got was unexpected.

"Love," Lucifer gushed to me, "you are fantastic! Perfect timing! I could not have done any better myself."

I exhaled and leaned into Azza. "I thought I was too late, Lucifer. Truly. I don't like this at all."

He came to me and took me from Azza's arms into his own. "I know. But you are doing an amazing job, and you do not understand what this means to me. I will explain it, I promise, when it is all over."

He reached into his pocket and brought out the box which would contain the charm for my bracelet. Charm number four. Halfway there.