Out of the blue.

"He what?!?!"

Should I call? Should I not? I want to call. But it's a bit out of the blue. He'll think it's strange. It might be a bit awkward.

Should I call? Should I not? I want to call.

A few hours later, I pick up the phone and call.

"Hello?" A woman picks up.

I want to hang up. I identify myself and force myself to ask for him. I hadn't met her before.

"Hello?" ... and the conversation starts. It lasted a couple of minutes.

It ended with "thanks very much for your concern."

Afterwards, I was so, extremely relieved I called. Do you ever get that? When you wonder for ages whether something is a good idea, then just relieved because you know for sure you did the right thing?

Sigh of relief. On multiple fronts.

He's ok.

Lesson learned (actually not lesson learned, but lesson reinforced): Err on the side of showing you care, even if it risks appearing strange. Don't assume someone else will do it. Someone else might not. And that could lead to very bad places. And that is something is not worth risking.