They waited.

And while they waited, Jean Hilliard’s body — that frozen, rigid, apparently lifeless body — began, in microscopic increments, to come back.

The process took hours.

It was not a sudden event.

The warming was gradual, and the changes were gradual.

At first, there was almost nothing — the temperature readings, taken as the thermometer came into range from below, began to give actual numbers.

Low numbers.