HE LEFT THE MEDICAL facility and went back to the hotel. He was welcomed by a youthful bellhop when he walked into the foyer. “Afternoon, sir.”

   “Good afternoon, young man. Will you still be here in an hour or two?”

   “I will, yes, sir.”

   “Great. I’ll be leaving shortly. Do you believe you could assist me in bringing my bags down?”

   “Sir, I’d be delighted to. Which room are you in?”

   “304.”

   “Okay, I promise to be up soon.”

   “I think that sounds fantastic. Thanks.” He stood in front of the gold elevator, engaged the up button, and awaited the opening of the doors. Turning, the man looked at the three individuals in the lobby.

   A senior citizen read a newspaper while facing forward on a brown leather chair. His short, gray hair was growing out the back of a blue cap.

   On a couch with gold and green stripes facing the elevator, a young couple sat close to one another. They were conversing in whispers and were unaware that they were being observed.

   The bell rang.

   A petite woman jittered out of the elevator as the man turned to look at her. He grinned and nodded. He entered and activated the elevator’s third-floor button.

   When the elevator reached the third floor, the doors popped open, allowing him to exit. He walked straight and turned right by a second door, unlocked it, and stepped inside the room.

   He held the door open as he stood at the entry and scanned the space. There were two enormous windows in the room. Two beds were situated in the middle of the room, along the right wall. The beds were secured to the floor by a lush green rug. A gentle breeze pushed into the room through an open window, causing the sheer curtains covering the floor-to-ceiling windows to waver. He scratched his head. I don’t remember opening the window.

   He let go of the door and entered the space a bit more. He kept an ear out for the latch that would indicate that the door was closed.

   He glanced into the pitch-black space as he passed the bathroom door. He activated the mechanism next to the door to turn on the light by shoving his palm through the doorway. The bathroom was empty when it was lit up by the glow. After his early morning shave, the marble counter was cleaned. A dry towel was substituted for the wet one and neatly draped on the bar next to the shower/tub combo. The chrome glistened in the illumination. “I wasn’t due to check out yet, so I have no idea why everything was cleaned by housekeeping. It’s a good thing I am going.”

   He moved three steps in the direction of a slightly open door. He opened the door more and entered the space.  “No, no, no!”

   The second room was not exactly as he had left it. The group of boxes had vanished. The floor was covered in empty boxes. He had ordered a large refrigerator, which was open when he arrived. He panicked and dashed to the fridge. Lifting the empty cartons, he hoped he wasn’t hallucinating. It was completely gone.

   He noticed one of the viles protruding from under the fridge when he looked down. He stepped backward and saw another one. It was damaged. He slammed the refrigerator door shut before rushing to the bedside black phone and making a call.