Want to meet for lunch?

I haven’t seen you in ages.

Everything okay?

Chloe always had an explanation.

Work.

A headache.

Plans with Aaron.

Sarah had thought she was being considerate by not pressing.

Now her friend lay in a hospital bed apologizing whenever a nurse adjusted the blanket.

“I’ll get the coat,” Sarah said.

Chloe caught her wrist.

“No.”

The word came out with surprising force.

Sarah looked back.

“Not alone,” Chloe whispered. “Please.”

Sarah sat down again.

She had been so ready to do something that she had nearly repeated the mistake of everyone who believed good intentions made danger manageable.

“All right,” she said. “We’ll ask someone who knows how to do this.”

The nurse returned before they could decide whom to call.

She introduced herself as Elena and checked whether Chloe wanted Sarah to remain.

“Yes.”

“Anyone else permitted to visit?”

Chloe shook her head.

“Not Aaron.”

Elena made a note.

“Has he been told you’re here?”

“He knows.”

“All right.”

She did not promise he could never enter the building.

She explained who Chloe could call, what the staff could arrange, and whom she would notify if he attempted to reach her.

The practical details steadied Chloe more than reassurance had.

Then Elena asked whether she would like to speak privately with the hospital’s advocate.

Chloe looked at Sarah.

Sarah nodded.

“Yes,” Chloe said.

The advocate arrived in a dark cardigan carrying no clipboard at first.

Her name was Miriam.

She pulled up a chair rather than standing over the bed.

Chloe told her about Aaron.

Not everything.

Enough to begin.

When she mentioned the recording, Miriam’s expression grew more serious.

She asked whether there was an immediate threat to another person.

Chloe nodded.

Then she gave Lorenzo’s name.

Miriam did not tell Sarah to collect the coat.

She asked permission to arrange contact with investigators outside Aaron’s immediate circle and explained that Chloe could have legal support during the process.

Chloe listened.

“Will he know I told you?”

“I can’t promise what he will learn,” Miriam said. “I can help make sure we plan around that.”