Paul had come to understand that the sensitivity to other people’s feelings that one might expect from a friend was not a strong point for Pia due to her adult attachment disorder, which she’d admitted to early on in their relationship. After she had confided in him, Paul had made it a point to read about the condition, and the information had made it easier to adjust to her quirks, such as her impulsiveness, seeming lack of empathy, and resistance to trust. But Pia had never been so insistent as when she raced out of the ER a few hours before, saying she’d be right over to his apartment. She’d even sent a text saying she was on her way. Which was why Paul was worried when she hadn’t shown.

Paul had let Pia leave the ER without making any real effort to stop her, which he now regretted. But on a number of occasions, Pia had said she was going to do something when she clearly was thinking of doing another, like seeing Berman or going into Nano, as he was sure had happened in this case. Paul respected Pia’s right as an adult to take responsibility for her own actions, and he knew she was going to follow through on a particular course of action whether he approved or not. But still, the thought nagged at him, what if?

Beyond that, the basic issue was that some five hours after she had left, where was Pia? There was no answer when he tried her cell phone.

If, as Paul surmised, Pia had left after picking up the blood sample, she may have run into trouble. There were three alternatives Paul decided were plausible. The first was that perhaps Pia hadn’t gone into Nano at all—she had taken the sample somewhere else to examine it and either hadn’t had time to tell Paul where that was, or for some reason decided not to. The problem with that idea was that there weren’t a lot of places where microscopes were available at all, let alone at that time of day. The second alternative was that Pia had gone about her business at Nano without incident and opted not to return to Paul’s apartment to wake him up for a second time, and had gone home instead, turning off her own phone. Third and most improbable was that she was still at Nano. First, Paul explored the option that was easiest to check. Since he was not due at the ER until late, he went out and got in his car and headed west.