All Gone

Ellen sat in her hospital bed, her fingers still trembling slightly from her earlier breakdown. She concentrated on her breathing, trying to calm herself down. The nurse had been kind, rubbing her shoulder and murmuring soothing words while the doctor patiently explained things to her, though they clearly still looked at her with concern.

A small box had been placed on the bedside table next to her. Her belongings, they'd told her—the items they'd found on her at the scene of the accident. Ellen reached out and lifted the box onto her lap. Inside lay her bag, wallet, apartment keys, and her phone. Looking at her phone filled her with a funny kind of hope. She lifted it from the box, noting the shattered screen. Tiny shards of glass scattered on her lap, but it didn't matter. If it still worked, then maybe she could find… something.