Harper
The bed was made.
Corners tucked. Pillow centered. A shallow dent in the middle of the pillow where a head had been. The window cracked open three inches. The curtain breathing a slow curve in the morning air. A glass of water on the nightstand, half drunk.
"Maia."
I said her name like the word might fix the room. Bathroom. Closet. Under the bed. I checked all of them in the same thirty seconds. I checked them again.
Empty.
I turned to the nurse. My voice stayed level. Some part of me was proud of that and the rest of me hated it.
"When was she last accounted for."
She thumbed her tablet. "Bed check at twenty-two hundred. She was here. Six AM round logged as sleeping, do not disturb."
"Who signed the six AM."
She scrolled. Her face changed.
The signature field was blank.
