YELENA

Nyra called in sick.

Just like that.

There was no drama, no long voice note, no teasing laugh in my ear. Just a short text that said she wasn’t feeling well and needed a few days off.

I stared at my phone longer than necessary, waiting for the next message. The one where she’d complain about hospital food, or joke about me surviving without her.

Nothing came.

I told her I could come home. She refused immediately. She said she was fine. She said she’d already gone to stay ...