“Riverbend just confirmed pickup.”
“I know.”
Patricia paused.
“Your Daniel Carter handled most of this last week.”
Victoria looked through the glass at his empty desk.
“What did he do?”
“Mr. Ellis was originally supposed to discharge Friday.”
“He developed a fever.”
“We rescheduled.”
“Your system automatically downgraded the delivery because it was moved to Monday.”
“Mr. Carter caught it.”
“He called me Friday afternoon.”
“He asked about the home.”
“Steps.”
“Bedroom.”
“Mrs. Ellis’s ability to assist.”
“He made sure the bed had the correct height configuration because she has arthritis and cannot safely help her husband transfer from a low surface.”
Victoria had not known any of that.
Patricia continued.
“I deal with a lot of equipment companies.”
“Most employees hear an order number.”
“He heard a family.”
Victoria swallowed.
“Did he ever mention knowing who Mrs. Ellis’s son is?”
“Her son?”
“No.”
“Never mind.”
Patricia said:
“Whoever he reports to should know he’s good.”
Victoria stared at the desk.
“He did.”
Past tense.
At 3:52, Riverbend delivered the equipment.
At 5:08, Harold Ellis left the hospital.
Margaret called Hayes Medical customer service at 5:43.
She asked specifically for Daniel.
Elena answered.
“He isn’t here anymore.”
“Oh.”
Margaret sounded genuinely disappointed.
“Will he be in tomorrow?”
Elena looked through the glass at Victoria’s office.
“No, ma’am.”
There was silence.
“Did something happen?”
Elena knew corporate policy.
She also knew Daniel.
“He left the company today.”
Margaret became quiet.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“He spent almost twenty minutes on the phone with me Friday.”
“He never sounded rushed.”
“My husband kept asking whether we were going to manage.”
“Daniel told him, ‘You just worry about getting strong enough to complain about your own bed again. I’ll worry about the delivery.’”
Elena laughed softly.
“That sounds like him.”
“Please tell him thank you if you can.”
“I will.”
After the call, Elena typed the note into the customer record.
Victoria read it before leaving the office.
She stayed until nearly eight.
By then, the operations floor was empty.
Cleaning staff moved quietly between desks.
The city lights reflected across the office windows.
Victoria walked to Daniel’s workstation.
She had never stood there before.
Not really.
She had called him from it.
Stopped beside it.
Handed him files.
But she had never looked at what his working day looked like.
A handwritten routing diagram remained pinned to the divider.
Three sticky notes had been left behind.
CALL MRS. PATEL AFTER DRIVER ARRIVES.
CHECK WHEELCHAIR WIDTH BEFORE 2 PM.
MARCUS - DON’T LET ME FORGET LILY SCIENCE NIGHT WED.
Victoria read the last note twice.
She sat in Daniel’s chair.
She thought about the morning.
Do as I said, or quit.
It had sounded powerful when she said it.
Sitting at his empty desk, it sounded childish.
The language of someone who had run out of persuasion and replaced it with authority.
At home, Daniel told Lily the truth.
Not every detail.
Children deserved honesty without being forced to carry adult fear.
She sat at the kitchen table coloring Saturn purple.
“You quit?”
“Yes.”
“Like quit quit?”
“Yes.”