I almost chuckle at her surprised expression but can remain serious. "I just want to do the right thing."
Her features soften, and she smiles. When she walks over, sits down, and covers my clasped hands with hers, I’m the one who does theO.
"You’re doing exactly what I need. You’re here."
Without thinking, I pull one hand out and flip the other palm side up. Lilly doesn’t hesitate to intertwine our fingers, and the familiarity of this motion makes my heart skip a beat. She sits and holds my gaze when Madeline comes in.
If the nursethinks anything about our position, she doesn’t give it away. She settles back on the other couch, and Lilly and I straighten up. Lilly angles herself toward Madeline and pulls her hand out of mine but doesn’t move away. Our legs still touch.
The woman sitting across from us is clearly having an internal struggle. Her lips are pressed in a hard line, and she keeps picking at the hem of her scrubs. Finally, she looks at both of us several times before settling on Lilly. "Some of what I’m going to tell you may not be easy to hear. Are you sure?"
Lilly nods.
"Well, okay..." She takes one more deep breath. "You were dropped off anonymously at the ER. No one knew where you came from. You were unconscious. We couldn’t figure out who you were. There weren’t any missing person reports matching your description. At the time, we didn’t know if a caregiver had neglected you or if somethingelsehad happened to you. You didn’t have any physical injuries. The tox screen showed that your condition was due to an extremely high amount of sedatives. Every person’s body reacts differently to different dosages, but you were so small and were given too much. We assumed that it was the reason you werebrought in."
While we listen, Lilly seeks out my hand again, never breaking eye contact with Madeline. I interlace my fingers with hers and rest both our hands on my thigh. This time, the butterflies in my stomach remain at bay. I need her touch as much as she needs mine to listen to this. Madeline’s eyes briefly flicker to our joined hands, but she doesn’t pause.
"You were unconscious for several days. Physically, you should’ve woken up, but we believed it was your mind’s way of protecting itself. You shut yourself off from the outside world. I took care of you whenever I was scheduled to work, and I was there the day you opened your eyes. You were scared and confused. It took me over twenty-four hours of almost constant talking before you told me your name. I just talked to you about myself, my dog Harvey, my sister and her kids, anything and everything. But you wouldn’t tell anyone what had happened to you, and no one was able to go near you. Your attending physician and I were the only people you let come close, and you only let him when I was in the room during the checkups. I didn’t leave the hospital for almost forty-eight hours to stay by your side."
Madeline takes a drink of water. "After you told me your name, the hospital was able to locate your parents quickly, and they arrived the same day. They drove all the way from San Diego. You had just had another episode—a nightmare—and I was about to take a quick break when they walked in. I knew at first glance who they were; you and your mother looked so much alike. Same fair skin and light hair.
"Of course they wanted to see you right away, but we had to follow procedure—take both to a different room to figure out what happened and brief them on your condition. Social services was assigned at that point.
"The attending physician gave his medical report. Your father was barely holding on when he heard about the sedatives. I explained to them what had happened since you woke up. You didn’t say much while you were awake, but you had nightmares every time you fell asleep. You cried a lot in your sleep. Called out for your father—and Rhys."
This is the first time Madeline looks at me longer than just a quick glance, as if she wants to say something, but then continues. "After I mentioned the nightmares, your father broke down and had to leave the room. Your mother informed us what happened to you. You were taken on a school field trip, and the kidnapper blackmailed them into keeping quiet so that you wouldn’t be harmed. They received daily updates with photos, videos, and timestamps until the day you were brought to the hospital. She showed them to us. Your father wanted to involve the authorities at that point, but your mother refused. I assume out of fear for your life—it wasn’t my place to make assumptions.
"Your father had just returned to the room when your mother’s phone signaled an incoming message." Madeline shudders at the memory.
Her next words are spoken very softly as if she purposefully tries not to frighten us. "The message contained a picture of the three of us. It showed me leading them to the room we were still in. All it said was, ‘You cannot hide.’"
"Your mother said they had received another message while they were on their way with a picture of one of the surveillance cameras from the hospital that said thathewould get you back. Whoever this person was, they knew what they were doing."
By now, Lilly’s grip on my hand is so tight that I have to untangle my fingers from hers and, instead, clasp her hand between both of mine. Madeline watches us like she is studying something under a microscope. I don’t like it.
"You wouldn’t let your mother near you for the first few hours; it was heartbreaking. At some point, your mother received another message. She didn’t let me see it, but it deeply unsettled them. I overheard some phone calls with your parents. They had just landed in California." She focuses on me. "From what I gathered, they suggested taking Lilly and hiding her from the kidnapper."
This time, it is me squeezing Lilly’s hand. For whatever reason, I always assumed that Lilly’s parents initiated all this, and my parents were just friends helping out. My parents suggesting to hide Lilly makes my stomach churn. Why would they do that? Couldn’t Emily and Henry have protected her?
"I suggested a specialist to help you cope with your memories. In the state you were in, you wouldn’t have been able to have a normal childhood for a very long time. In that short period, I grew very fond of you. I was worried for you. After that last communication from the kidnapper and when they got off the phone with Heather and Tristen, your mother came to me. She asked to talk in private and begged me to help her. There were things your father apparently wasn’t aware of, and she wouldn’t tell me either, but she wanted to check you out immediately. No one could know you were there. She wanted no trace of you found. She even offered me money to help her."Money?Madeline pauses to take another sip of her water.
"I could see how scared she was. She trusted me with your life. We’d had several victims from a large car accident come in just prior to your parents’ arrival, and with everyone being busy, you were still listed as Jane Doe in the system. Of course, we had verified that your parents were who they claimed to be. Besides the obvious resemblance, they had your birth certificate and pictures. But I never updated the record, and neither did the charge nurse nor attending physician. I called ina lotof favors and was able to keep it that way until you were discharged. You remained Jane Doe in the hospital system."
Until now, neither Lilly nor I have spoken, but her last statement sparks a deep sense of anger in me that I can’t contain.
"Yousuggested the specialist? He obviously did more than just help her cope. Lilly forgot everything. Even her parents." My pulse is racing, and Lilly jumps at my outburst. She tightens her grip on my hand, and her gentle reminder calms my nerves. I squeeze back, silently thanking her. I’m baffled by the realization that I need her touch as much as she seems to need mine.
Madeline squeezes her lips together in a sad smile. "Yes, it seems he did. And from what I saw in the brief time I spent with you and then your parents, I believe they did what was best for you at the moment to keep you safe and give you a chance of a normal life." Her tone is professional—detached, even—which is probably due to years in her profession.
Lilly speaks for the first time, her voice so soft that it’s barely audible. "Do you know what happened to my parents?"
I scan Madeline’s face carefully, and her eyes widen in surprise ever so slightly. If I hadn’t looked for a reaction, I probably would’ve missed it.
"I do not, I’m sorry. I never heard from your parents again after you were discharged. As much as I wanted to know if you were okay, I also knew that reaching out in any way could bring you back in harm’s way. I saw the news reports of the other girls, and I do believe that you are the one he wants. If he gets back on your trail, he will find you."
We sitin silence for a long while, no one speaking. Everyone is lost in their own thoughts. Lilly shudders, and I wrap my arms around her. I don’t care anymore about keeping up appearances. This has freaked both of us out.
Lilly stares at her now folded hands, her body shivering every so often. I’m starting to worry she is going into shock and look up at Madeline, who is in her own head.