"Sometimes, only one person is missing, and the whole world seems depopulated."
- Alphonse de Lamartine

On the girls' side, everyone was talking about Gus's escape.

"Literally no one has ever escaped from here," Lila told Nora that evening.

"Why not? It's not a prison! It's not like there's razor wire!" Nora said.

Lila shook her head. "It's not that. It's the location. We're in the middle of the desert for miles and miles in every direction. You'd need days of supplies to survive the trip to civilization. Plus, even if you had the supplies, it's still dangerous. Rattlesnakes and stuff."

Nora hadn't thought of that. Probably Gus hadn't either if he'd run off during chores with nothing but the clothes on his back. She knew he was pretty impulsive.

"You think he'll be okay?" she asked softly.

Lila shrugged. "If they find him soon. If not..."

Her voice trailed off. Nora didn't need her to finish anyway; she already knew. There would be no sleeping for her tonight. Her head was already full of thoughts about Gus alone in the desert and Lucas, who was probably worried sick about his best friend.

Laying awake all night was nothing new here though. Nora often found herself in this position, despite all the coping strategies they were teaching her in therapy. Her anxiety was worse than ever without heroin to numb it.

When she wasn't worrying, she mostly thought about Lucas. She missed him like crazy and dreamed about waking up beside him. Sometimes her hand would slip beneath the band of her sweatpants as she relived memories of making love to him, and she'd bring herself to orgasm before crashing back into lonely reality with tears in her eyes. She wondered if he did the same thing on his side.

Gina, the head counselor for the girls, had already advised her to break up with Lucas after treatment, an idea that was unfathomable.

"You both need to forge your own paths in recovery," Gina said.

"Lucas is my path. He always has been. Me and him are intertwined," Nora answered stubbornly.

"I know you feel strongly about this, but I'm going to caution you against intimacy with another addict. Fire needs water, not more flames. If you stay with Lucas, your chances of relapse double."

"Look, that might be true for other people but not us," Nora said.

She knew that Gina just heard a lovesick, silly teenager when she said things like that, but no one knew Lucas like she did. No one knew the depth of their love for each other, their whole lifetime of love. As naive as she knew it sounded, she and Lucas were different from other couples their age.

To take her mind off those uncomfortable conversations with Gina, Nora had started wandering the ranch and taking pictures of the landscape and animals. The staff at the ranch encouraged them to find new hobbies and passions, and one of the things they offered during school hours was a photography class. Nora had signed up for it and now spent her days snapping pictures with the digital camera she'd signed out. She had always liked taking pictures but had never really thought about it as something she could do with her life. Now, that was her goal.

She carried the camera everywhere in case something happened that she wanted to document. On the evening Gus disappeared, she took pictures of the empty, wide, endless desert.

That night Jeff held an emergency group session to answer their questions about Gus. Group was the only place Nora could hang out with Lucas, and when she saw him that night she could tell he was worried.

"What's going on with Gus?" he asked Jeff before the session even started.

Jeff sighed. Another staff member might have told him it was none of his business or that they couldn't share the information, but everyone knew Jeff was different. He treated them like equals.

"We're doing everything we can," he said. "Search parties are combing the desert."

"By now he's vulture food, or a vulture snack. There's not much to eat!" said a kid sitting on the opposite side of the room.

Lucas jumped out of his chair. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" he screamed, charging at the guy.

"Lucas!" Nora exclaimed. She tugged him back by his hoodie while others grabbed his arms to hold him in place.

"I'll break your ass!" he yelled, fighting to get free.

A few other residents, seeing his reaction, found the courage to speak up as well. Hating on Gus was no longer the cool thing to do. By now he was well known and well liked.

"Yeah, asshole!"

"What's Gus done to you?"

"Wish we could leave your stupid ass in the desert!"

Jeff's big voice boomed over everyone else's. "ENOUGH!"

Everybody went silent immediately. Lucas plopped back into his chair, breathing hard with his fists clenched.

"I know we're all worried about Gus, and I'd like to offer everyone the chance to share their thoughts, but I will not tolerate disrespect or violence. That means towards Gus or anyone else in this room. Got it?" Jeff said, looking around at all of them.

Lucas was still fuming, but he relaxed some when Nora took his hand.

"Now here's what we know. Gus took his backpack and four water bottles from the cafeteria. He has no medical supplies so if he gets hurt or gets bit by a rattlesnake he's outta luck until we can get to him. The authorities are also out there searching with helicopters and night vision. We will find him. But if you think I'm not worried too, you're wrong. I am very worried. I'll be going out with one of the helicopter teams later tonight."

"Why don't we just break into groups and all search for him?" someone asked.

"And risk losing more of you? Not gonna happen," Jeff said.

"What happens if you never find him?"

"We will find him," Jeff said flatly.

But the long hours past and Nora started getting really worried. Before lights out she stood at the edge of the pasture with Lucas and called Gus's name over and over into the empty black desert.

"They'll find him, baby," she said reassuringly to Lucas, though she had her doubts.

Lucas shook his head. He was on the verge of tears. "He said some weird shit to me before he ran. I shoulda known. I shoulda told someone. I'll never forgive myself if... if..."

He turned away from Nora, the tears spilling from his red eyes. Nora held him from behind and rested her cheek against his back.

"It's okay," she whispered.

"No it isn't," Lucas said.

The night crept along without any news. Gus had been the only topic of conversation among the girls this evening, but now no one mentioned him except in hushed, nervous voices. Nora knew that if they didn't find him tonight, now, he'd be in real trouble. Time was running out.