She started noticing on a Tuesday.
Not noticing a thing — the specific quality of Tuesday that meant Thursday was two days away, which was a thing she'd never tracked before and was now tracking without deciding to.
The ward ran. She worked. She had three cases that week — two straightforward, one complex — and she handled all of them with the specific clarity that had been hers since the first Monday back.
But underneath the clarity: Thursday.
Not looming. Not dreaded. Just: present. The way you were aware of something significant in your peripheral vision without turning to look at it directly.
She mentioned it to no one.
*I know,* Solène said, on Wednesday morning.
*I didn't say anything,* Nara said.
*You've been counting down,* Solène said. *Since Sunday.*
*I haven't been coun
