The Twin Missing From the Family Photo novel · Chapter 8 of 24

Chapter 8: Against Medical Advice

At three in the morning, Talbot Ward walked into the emergency department with a paper bag and a gray scarf over his arm.

I had texted him one line from the ambulance, because he was the only person in Portland who had my number.

I had written: My sister is in the ER. I'm going to miss the catalog proof.

He had written back: Which hospital.

Now he stood in the doorway of the waiting room, damp from the rain, and held out the bag.

"Soup. Bread. A phone charger that fits your phone, because yours was at four percent when you texted."

"You didn't have to come."

"I know."

He sat in the chair beside mine and did not say another word for twenty minutes.

I leaned my head against the cold wall.

When my eyes closed, I felt the scarf settle over my knees.

I did not open them. I let myself keep it.

At ten to four I woke to the sound of rubber soles running down a hall.

I heard my father's voice before I saw him.

"I'm Dr. Gordon Unsworth. Her father. Where is she?"

He came through the double doors in a pressed shirt and a coat, with his hospital badge clipped to the lapel.

Miles was a step behind him, in a fleece vest, with his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the floor.

Dad looked at me, and he did not look surprised.

"Carrie. Thank God you called."

"I called 911," I said. "I didn't call you."

"Your mother found Ivy's bed empty at dinner. We traced her card to a flight, and I was in the air by nine. Then your hospital called me." He turned to the nurse at the desk. "I'd like to see my daughter's chart."

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