By the time I stepped out of the hospital, the sun had dipped low behind the buildings, setting the sky aflame in shades of coral and rust. The air had cooled, brushing against my arms like fingertips I didn’t ask for. I pulled my jacket tighter around myself as I crossed the lot, heels echoing softly against the pavement.
It started again as I neared the car.
That feeling.
The crawl at the back of my neck. Like breath too close. Eyes on me from a direction I couldn’t find. I turned my head subtly, gaze scanning the parked cars, the shadows stretching long between them. A man in a suit. A mother lifting her toddler into a booster seat. A delivery driver.
Normal. All of it.
But the unease didn’t fade. It pressed tighter.
I quickened my pace and waved down a taxi.
It started again the
