The flash of a yellow taxi blurred past, and for a split second, he swore he spotted her. Violet's silhouette, fleeting as a shadow, visible for only an instant before the cab disappeared around a corner.
He shook his head firmly. Ridiculous. Violet was supposed to be confined to her hospital bed, too weak to walk, too injured to even stand on her own.
Clamping down on that strange, gnawing emptiness that had taken root in his chest, he pushed open the door to her room.
"Violet, I brought you broth. The kind you like. Eat it while it is hot."
His singsong voice trailed off into silence.
The words died in his throat like birds falling from the sky.
The bed stood stripped bare. The sterile hospital sheets lay stretched taut across the mattress, completely untouched. Like she had never
