In the end, it was the wordless pleading in Ella's eyes that had James slipping out the door with a discreet smile. It was a carefully crafted expression, seemingly soft and pleased with the other woman's almost steady footing.
With the door closed after her, James hesitated in the hallway for a brief moment. Her smile dissolved under a worry she only showed when there was no one to see it - or like in the night of the alley, a worry that was only shown because she was too separate from herself to even know it was there. She listened to the sounds of water from the other side before wandering off to the kitchen to rinse the blood from her own hands.