The hospital felt… normal.
That was the problem.
Mia noticed it the moment she stepped inside. No hurried whispers. No nervous glances. The usual chaos hummed along as if nothing had ever been wrong.
She didn't like it.
"Does it feel off to you?" she murmured as she walked beside Andrew toward the elevators.
Andrew nodded slightly. "Like we imagined everything."
"Or like they want us to think we did."
They didn't plan to go to the Old Wing.
They never did.
It was just… there.
The corridor leading to it was open again, the temporary barrier moved aside, renovation signs stacked neatly against the wall. No guards. No locked door.
An invitation disguised as negligence.
They slowed instinctively.
"We look," Andrew said quietly. "Five minutes. No touching."
Mia agreed with a nod.
The Old Wing smelled faintly of dust and something sweet beneath it—familiar now. The lights were on, but dimmer than the rest of the hospital.
Too intentional.
They walked past empty rooms, their footsteps echoing softly. Everything looked untouched. Clean. Organized.
"That's new," Mia whispered, pointing to a trolley near the wall.
It was empty.
No boxes. No labels.
Just a clipboard resting on top.
Andrew picked it up, careful not to leave fingerprints. He scanned it quickly, then frowned.
"It's blank," he said. "Dates, times—everything wiped."
Mia's stomach tightened. "They cleared it."
As if on cue, footsteps echoed from the far end of the corridor.
They both froze.
A nurse appeared—one Mia recognized. She smiled casually.
"Oh," the nurse said. "Didn't expect anyone back here."
"We were asked to check inventory," Andrew replied smoothly.
The nurse nodded. "Makes sense. Renovations are… unpredictable."
She walked past them without another glance.
No confrontation.
No warning.
No tension.
Just… nothing.
They left the Old Wing minutes later, their hearts still racing despite the lack of incident.
The rest of the day passed quietly.
No erased files.
No strange reassignment.
No watching eyes.
By evening, Mia felt uneasy in a way she couldn't explain.
"This feels worse than yesterday," she said as they stepped outside together.
Andrew exhaled. "Because nothing happened."
"Yes," she agreed. "Because if we were wrong… something should've happened."
He looked back at the hospital entrance.
The lights glowed warmly. Comfortingly.
Too comfortingly.
Inside, somewhere beyond clean corridors and polite smiles, something had adjusted.
Not reacted.
Adjusted.
And Mia had the chilling sense that whatever they were circling had decided to wait.
*********************************************
Hey guess who's back
Me obvi 💅🏻🎀
Let's say another chapter as an apology 🙂