“Oh, God,” her dad gasped, bursting into tears again. “I couldn’t bear to lose her.”

“Well, you’re not going to,” the doctor reassured him, placing a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Madeline here saved her life.” The doctor smiled at Madeline and gave her a slight nod.

Kate’s mother hugged her husband, then shook the doctor’s hand and thanked him over and over again.

“You have some paperwork to fill out, though,” the doctor told them.

The mother nodded and then turned to Madeline. “Thank you,” she said, her face twisting with emotion. “Words just don’t seem enough…” Then she grabbed Madeline, hugging her so tightly the air fled from her chest. Madeline grunted from the squeeze. Then reluctantly she released Madeline, gazing at her with such gratitude that Madeline grew uncomfortable. “Thank you,” she said again. “A thousand times thank you.”

“It’s okay,” Madeline said quickly. “You’re welcome.”

“No, it’s not enough,” Kate’s dad put in. “If it weren’t for your”-he paused, trying to find a word-“gift, then we wouldn’t have found her. Our little girl would be-” He didn’t finish.

“It’s okay. Really.” Madeline hated being the center of attention. She just wanted to slink out of there and go shut herself up in her apartment. “You’d better go finish that paperwork,” she said lamely.

To her relief, Kate’s parents nodded and turned away to follow the doctor.

“Get me out of here. Please,” she breathed to George.

She hoped word of this wouldn’t get out. She could already picture herself on assignment with the police, going over grisly photographs and murder weapons, her mind filling with images of horror and murder. It was exactly what she’d been avoiding since she lost Ellie.

George put one protective arm around her and led her out of the hospital. She laid her head on his chest, allowing herself a moment of feeling comforted.

She was about to transfer away from her hometown to a college in San Francisco. Two years at the local community college had only served to make her stigma grow, as more and more people met her as the “Weird Girl.” She needed to clear her mind before she left and started a new life.