The Sibling I Have Not Known

I am in a hospital and a school is attached. A person comes to me with an arm in a sling, but the pain they are feeling is not physical. They have lost something important. They take a small key from their pocket. My fingers trace the curve of the metal. A stranger looks at my hand and knows what it is. They reach out and give me a brief smile of acknowledgement before walking away.

A few days later, the person I knew would return with another key, and another, until there were none left in my hand. Each time I thought they might turn to me, but they did not. Their name was always written on a whiteboard somewhere nearby, but it was always someone else's name.

I am looking at this name now, and I feel almost-recognition of the person who just walked away from me again.