Abbi and Kate were in the same spot in the living room as they’d been when I’d left. Abbi tickled Shiloh’s feet, sticking out from underneath her yellow blanket.

“Her toes are so tiny,” Abbi squealed. Her dark, wavy hair was pulled into a long ponytail underneath the Dodgers cap she’d been wearing for days. “I’ve never seen anything so small.”

Kate smiled hesitantly, unsure of herself. I cleared my throat, announcing my presence so I wouldn’t startle her. I’d already made a mental note to make noise before I entered rooms, because she startled so easily.

“Abbi, why don’t you go brush your teeth and get ready for bed? I’m going to show Kate the guest bedroom and bathroom upstairs.” I felt like an idiot as soon as I said it because, obviously, she knew where the bedrooms were, but she got up and silently followed me upstairs. I pointed to the bathroom. “Still right through there,” I said, trying to sound as normal as possible. The guest bedroom was next to it. She eyed the door leading to the master suite at the end of the hallway. Something passed through her eyes. Recognition? Sadness? Some kind of memory? Whatever it was, it was gone that quickly, and she shuffled into the guest bedroom. She perched on the edge of the bed. She kissed the top of Shiloh’s head, nervously rocking back and forth.

I pointed to the lamp and the bottle of water I’d put on the nightstand. “There’s water, but if you’d like something else, I can bring that up too.”

She lowered her head. “Water is fine.”

I gave her the flashlight. “Scott thought you might want this. It’ll make things easier if you get up in the night.”

“Thank you,” she said softly, keeping her head down as she took it from me.

“I wish we had more things for the baby, but . . .” My sentence hung in the air awkwardly.

She searched for something to say. “Thank you,” she repeated herself.

“You’re welcome,” I said. “Are you sure I can’t get you anything else?”

I’d offered her a pair of my pajamas, but she had refused. She was wearing clothes that were donated to the hospital after no one picked them up from the lost and found. There was an entire storage room in the hospital filled with lost items that they recycled through to patients. Her gray sweatpants were two sizes too big, and she was wearing a faded shirt with a taco on the front. She shook her head.

I wanted to hug her. I couldn’t help myself when she looked so fragile and frail, completely lost. What had they done to her? I had to go, because if I stayed in her room a minute longer, that was exactly what I’d do, and I knew it was the last thing she wanted.

“Good night,” I said as I stood. “Please wake me up if you need anything.”

KATE

THEN