Dorothy awoke with a start, the familiar warmth of another person conspicuously absent from her side.

Glancing at the clock, it read 7 AM — a time when Everett would normally be hunched over his desk, sifting through a mountain of paperwork. But now, he was nowhere to be found in the hospital room.

Concern knitting her brows, Dorothy rose to search for him. She checked the doctor's office, and the long, sterile corridors — no sign of him.

Returning to the room to grab her phone, she dialed Everett's number, only to hear his ringtone echo from within the room.

His phone was left behind.

Odd.

Very odd.

"Dr. Quincy. Have you seen Everett around?" Dorothy inquired, her voice tinged with worry as she ventured out again.

the hospital, he would have had to go through the main or back door," suggested Dr. Quincy. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ

I have." In Swevia Country, she was out of her element. Other than calling

made her way to the security room, Quincy called out from behind, "Ms. Sanchez. Mr. Lopez is at the front entrance.” Whirling around and peering down from the upper floor, Dorothy's eyes

the stairs two at a time. She needed to find out what was going

above, details were

was taken aback at the sight of Everett up close — his complexion was ashen, and his lips drained of color, looking as if he were on the brink of

gasped, instinctively rushing

he rasped, his voice a hoarse shadow of

at dawn?" If he had only left the room in the morning, a mere hour or

for a while," he said, his gaze avoiding hers, an unusual behavior for him. With long strides, he began to walk past her, further into

not like him at

up to him and tugging at his sleeve. "Everett, wait." Despite his haste, he

Talk to me," she implored, her lips pressed together, a

but to no avail — he wouldn't meet her

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