Nathan laughed. “Gross.” He was in a good mood. To him, giving birth in the city was an easy trade for the money to buy a house. He didn’t have any drama with her parents and, although he would never say it, he probably thought it was pretty silly to pout about spending a month in a beautiful house where someone else cooked and cleaned and paid for everything. He didn’t have anything to prove. And, of course, he was right. It was nothing. It was a made-up problem.

“When this is done,” said Edie, “I want to go to the dorm. Claudia’s phone is going to voice mail and she hasn’t posted on social media in almost two weeks. I’m worried something’s wrong.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. She’s not texting my parents back, either. Maybe she’s…” What?

“What?”

“I can get there and back in a cab. I’ll be gone two hours, tops.”

“I like your sister,” said Nathan. “But this is a little crazy. She’s making you come find her. You just had a baby.”

“She’s not making me. I need to get outside anyway. Everybody says that. I need some fresh air.”

“I think it’s a bad idea,” said Nathan. He was choosing his words carefully. There was more he wanted to say. Something about hormones, probably. What had the doula called it? A hormone dump. Splat, it all comes out with the placenta. But Nathan wouldn’t go there. He wasn’t stupid.

“I’ll be fine,” Edie said.

EDIE

There were card-operated turnstiles to get into the dorm, so Edie had to approach the guard at the security desk. She’d never actually been in Claudia’s suite. In fact, the only time Edie had been near campus since Claudia enrolled in NYU was to meet her sister for Christmas shopping at the Union Square market and then tea at the W hotel last year. Had Claudia asked her to go up and see where she lived? Edie didn’t even remember.

“Excuse me,” said Edie to a man in a gray uniform whose name tag read Stavros. “I’m going up to see my sister but I forgot what floor she’s on.”

“What’s her name?” asked Stavros. Behind his desk was a short hall that appeared to lead to a labyrinth of post boxes and pantries. A girl emerged carrying a pack of toilet paper and a handful of mail.

“Claudia Castro.”

“You’re Claudia’s sister?” asked the girl. Her hair was bleached white and her T-shirt read KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD. She set her load on the desk.

“Yeah,” said Edie. “Do you know her?”

“I’m Rita,” said the girl. “We’re in the same suite, but I haven’t seen her since break. Doesn’t she stay at home a lot? That’s what she told us.”