I left the hospital with scars that ached in the cold and a mind that refused to file those nights under “hallucination.” The charts showed no trace of him, the staff traded confused glances, and every logical explanation felt thin against the memory of his patience, his timing, his unshakable calm. Doubt circled, but it never quite devoured the quiet certainty that I had not been alone.

When I found the note—folded into the lining of an overnight bag I barely remembered packing—it felt less like proof and more like permission. The handwriting was unfamiliar, the message simple, but its weight settled into me like a steadying hand: I had been seen. I had been believed in. Whether he was a nurse, a ghost, a dream, or a part of myself that refused to surrender, the result was the same: hope had survived the dark.