Page 125 of Until Joy

HARLAN: Checked cafeteria. Not there.

SETH: Gift shop is empty.

My chest tightened, and not from the broken ribs. Joy wouldn't just disappear. Not after everything that had happened. Not without telling someone where she was going.

“Wes.” My voice came out hoarse. “Something's wrong.”

Before he could respond, July burst back through the door, her face pale and eyes wide with panic.

“I can't find her anywhere. I checked the cafeteria, the gift shop, even the women's bathrooms on this floor. No sign of her.”

The door opened again as Seth, Randy, Jax, and Harlan filed in, their expressions grim. Z was notably absent.

“Where's Z?” I demanded.

“Had to pick up Kayan from work,” Seth said. “But we've covered the whole hospital. Joy's not here.”

“How long has she been missing?” Jax pulled out a notepad, slipping into investigator mode.

I tried to think through the medication fog. “She left to get food. I remember her kissing my forehead, saying she'd be back in a few minutes.”

“What time was that?” Randy asked.

“I don't know. I fell asleep after she left.” I gestured toward the flowers. “I don't remember those arriving, so it had to be before then.”

July's phone rang. “It's Nico.” She answered on speaker. “Nico, we need help. Joy's missing from the hospital.”

“Missing how?” Nico's voice crackled through the speaker.

“She left Graham's room to get food between a half hour to an hour ago and hasn't come back. We’ve searched a good chunk of the hospital, and we’re still searching.”

“I'm calling Cobi. We'll get the security footage from the hospital. In the meantime, keep searching.”

July hung up and started pacing. Something was clearly bothering her, the way she kept running her hands through her hair and muttering under her breath.

“July, what is it?” I asked.

“Something's nagging at me. Something's not right about this whole situation, but I can't put my finger on what.”

She continued pacing while the rest of us discussed search strategies and potential scenarios. After a few minutes, she slipped out of the room without saying anything.

“Where's she going?” Harlan asked.

“Probably following up on whatever's bothering her,” Wes said. “July's got good instincts.”

My phone buzzed with updates from other club members who'd arrived at the hospital. No one had seen Joy. It was like she'd vanished into thin air.

The door burst open as July returned, dragging a confused-looking nurse behind her.

“Tell them what you told me,” July commanded.

The nurse, a middle-aged woman with kind eyes, looked nervous surrounded by so many large, intimidating men.

“About the flowers?” she asked hesitantly.

“Everything. From the beginning.”

The nurse straightened. “Two ladies approached me at the nurses' station about forty-five minutes ago. They asked if I could deliver flowers and a teddy bear to Mr. Wallace's room. One of them had really long blonde hair, very pretty. The other woman was a little older, maybe late thirties, with short brown hair.”