Inside was a medical appointment card from a private clinic in the city.
The patient’s name was listed as Ana Valdés.
Esperanza touched the card.
“That is me.”
The appointment date was seven weeks earlier.
Mother Caridad turned it over.
On the back, someone had written a brief note by hand.
She read it aloud.
You asked me long ago to keep the truth until you were strong enough to choose it freely. I fear I waited too long.
There was no signature.
But beneath the sentence was an address.
Not for the clinic.
Not for Father Esteban.
For a house in San Aurelio.
The same town where Elena had last lived.
Esperanza sat very still.
“Do you think my sister wrote this?”
“I do not know.”
“Then we must go there.”
Mother Caridad looked at the appointment card again.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Soon.”
Esperanza’s gaze moved toward the corridor, where Tomás could be heard asking Sister Lucía whether stones went to sleep.
