Lena — Friday, November 20, 2026, afternoon
June said Lena could come in for ten minutes. A person from the care team told her this at the door, and Lena left most of the questions in her bag.
Beth sat beside the bed with the smaller of the two bags at her feet. The larger one had been opened. June was wearing one of the things she'd brought, a loose shirt that made room for the work still being done around her. Her injured leg was supported. She looked at Lena until Lena had given her name, then asked whether Ray could come there.
“No. He's in custody. The staff here know what you've asked about visitors.”
June nodded. Her voice was stronger than it had been on the slope, still rough, used with care. She didn't want to give the whole account today. Lena said she didn't need to begin it now.
“I'll tell you,” June said. “Not all today.”
“We can arrange it when you're ready and care allows.”
She asked what June wanted them to know immediately. June looked at Beth, who moved her chair back a little without leaving.
“I got out myself.”
“I understand.”
“I don't know what she said.”
Lena waited. June pulled at a fold in the sheet and let it go when it hurt to reach farther.
“The window. After they went. I had to go slowly.”
She said enough to confirm the independent exit, the coat she had taken, the rests. She had tried to follow the higher ground she'd seen, lost the line where the walls divided and gone on in pieces, choosing the next small place she thought she could reach. The low shelter had been somewhere to stop when she couldn't keep doing it. She couldn't put every hour against a place. Lena didn't ask her to.
“I heard people,” June said. “At the end. I thought I heard them before, but I don't know.”
“You answered.”
“I tried.”
Lena wrote what June wanted recorded and asked whether she wanted to stop. June said yes. They stopped.
Beth reached for the water, then looked at June before bringing it nearer. June took it. There was a small satisfaction in the way Beth sat afterward, having done one thing at the right time. She asked Lena whether Nadia had sent another request.
“She's asked if June wants any contact. I said it was June's choice.”
“No,” June said.
Lena nodded.
“Not today.”
“I'll pass that on.”
June looked at the bag. There were things of hers still in the cabin, things that would have to be handled as part of the case before they could be returned. She asked how to get them and whether she had to speak to Nadia to do it. Lena told her she didn't. They could make the practical arrangements directly through the appropriate officer.
“If she wants to do something,” June said, “she can leave me alone.”
Beth's mouth tightened. She didn't add anything. June watched Lena write, then asked her not to make that a message they could keep arguing over. Lena said she would make the boundary clear.
There was a knock. A member of staff came in, and June turned toward her. Lena put the notebook away. Beth asked about the next practical contact, and Lena gave her the name before leaving.
In the corridor she called Nadia. She gave June's answer plainly. Nadia was quiet, then asked about her belongings. Lena explained that June would deal directly with the officer; Nadia didn't need to collect anything or act as a go-between.
“All right,” Nadia said.
Lena heard Tessa nearby, asking for the phone. Nadia said wait, then asked Lena to let June know she wouldn't keep asking. Lena said she would pass on that there would be no further approaches for now.
“Don't say for now,” Nadia said. “I'll wait till she says.”
Tessa asked again. Nadia said goodbye. A moment before the call ended Lena heard her tell the girl to put her shoes where somebody wouldn't fall over them. The girl's answer was loud and ordinary, annoyed at being told. Lena stood outside the room until the phone had gone dark, then went to arrange the next proper case contact for June.