HE NEVER LEFT.

By sunrise, I had stopped trying to explain the impossible. My phone had been in my pocket all night, yet it had somehow texted David without me touching it. 

My shift was to begin at ten. I arrived at work thirty minutes earlier to finish organizing the patients' charts and also to occupy myself.  

"Hello." 

I looked up from my computer screen and saw Amy standing over me, holding two cups of coffee.

"You're early today," I said, while letting out a chuckle. 

"Oh please, I'm always early," Amy replied. 

Amy and I had been friends way before we became coworkers. We attended the same high school and also went to college together. We've always been inseparable. I could always depend on her for anything, which was why the secret I was keeping about Dr Jason felt so heavy.

I waited until the hallway was nearly empty and other nurses were occupied before I finally leaned closer to her. 

"Something else happened," I said while I moved my chair closer to her desk. 

She looked back at me as she was taking off her coat. 

"What's that?"

"David thinks I've been texting him." I said.

"I thought he blocked you."

"He did. But our chat keeps showing messages I never sent." 

She frowned. "You're serious?"

I unlocked my phone and handed it to her. She scrolled through the conversation, then stopped at the timestamps.

"Maya," she whispered. "These were sent while you were with Dr. Finn."

"I know."

She looked back at me. "So unless you've figured out how to send text messages without touching your phone"

"I didn't send them." 

Amy was quiet for a moment before handing my phone back.

"This doesn't make any sense," she said as she handed my phone back to me. "You should ask Adrian. If anyone can figure out how those messages were sent, it's him."

I nodded in agreement. 

"Nurse Lawson." Dr Jason called. 

I pushed my chair back to my desk and stood up to answer him. Dr Jason looked as good as he usually does. His hair was perfectly cut and his scrubs were properly ironed. He had a unique scent you could smell from across the room. It was one of the things that  attracted me to him. 

"I need you to come with me to check on the progress of the patient in Room 318." he said. "There are a few adjustments to be made to his morning medication." 

I nodded and grabbed my pen and notebook from the desk.

I kept my eyes focused on the folder in his hand, totally avoiding Amy's eyes. I could feel her eyes on me. But I wasn't ready to answer her questions. 

Dr Jason and I walked over to the patient's room, keeping a distance between us as we walked past other staff. We arrived at the room, took care of the charts and went our separate ways. 

The rest of the night felt like an eternity. There was silence in the hospital and nothing much was going on. Soon after, my shift ended and I left to go home. 

As I was packing my bag, my phone buzzed in my pocket. It was  a text message from Adrian. 

"Are you ready to go?"

Adrian was the hospital's head of IT. Because of his job, he had access to every computer system and network in the entire building. We had the same working hours, and he always dropped me off at home after work. It became a habit for him. Adrian, Amy and I went to the same college. The only difference is, Adrian and I had been best friends since we were kids, our mothers were friends. 

I slid my phone back in my pocket and headed down to the lobby where I knew he was waiting for me. 

"Hey you" he said as I walked down to him, with a smile on his face. 

"Hi." I hugged him, we headed to his car, he opened the door for me and we headed home. 

Adrian turned on the air conditioning as soon as we got into the car. I buckled my seatbelt and he drove off. The city lights were always so bright and beautiful at that time of the night. I always enjoyed the view.

"So, how was your day?" Adrian asked, looking over at me. 

"Surprisingly, nothing interesting happened," I replied. "The patient in Room 112 keeps frustrating me, she always has one demand or the other." 

Adrian laughed out loud and I laughed too. We always talked about our work and I always complained about patients to him. More like we both loved hospital gossip and there was always gossip to discuss.

I attempted to change the music playing on the radio. 

"Don't touch the radio, Maya." Adrian said. "The last time you made me listen to Taylor swift the whole drive."

We both burst into laughter. Times like this made me cherish Adrian. He knew how to make me laugh everytime. 

"How is David?" Adrian asked suddenly. I looked over at him, wondering why he asked out of nowhere. I could see why he asked though, I told Adrian everything about me, and I had stopped talking about David. 

"We broke up," I replied while playing with my fingers. Adrian let out a sigh. "Wanna talk about it?" He said as he put his hand on my knee, consoling me. 

I told him everything. I felt much better letting it out. He dropped me off at home and went home. After my shower, I wanted to check my socials before I slept, but what I saw on my phone threw me off. 

FACE ID DISABLED AFTER MULTIPLE  FAILED ATTEMPTS.

My stomach dropped. I hadn't touched my phone since Adrian dropped me off. 

So who had been trying to unlock it? And why?