Gabriel stood in the corridor with Piper asleep against him.

He looked down at the child, whose tights were still stained from the dining-room floor, and spoke softly into his phone.

“Lena, I think you need to know something.

They left her there all night.”

PART 7: Where My Memories Returned

I did not wake the way people do in movies.

There was no sudden gasp, no miraculous sentence, no instant understanding.

My first clear memory was of a dry mouth, a painful brightness, and someone asking me to squeeze a hand.