Page 65 of In Her Dreams

“She’s got her sister staying with her.Church ladies bringing enough casseroles to feed an army.”Frank paused.“She’ll be alright, in time.They all will.”

“And you?You and Sam were close.”

“I’m doing what I always do—putting one foot in front of the other.”Another pause.“You should go home, Jenna Marie.Get some rest.The paperwork will still be there tomorrow.”

“You’re right.I will.”

Jenna was about to end the call when another call beeped through.“I’ve got to go, Frank.Someone’s on the other line.”

She switched over without waiting for his response.“Sheriff Graves.”

“Sheriff, this is Nurse Daniels from Trentville Memorial.”The woman’s voice was crisp and professional.“You asked to be notified of any change in Jane Doe—the patient you brought in from the mine.The one who goes by ‘Jill’?”

Jenna’s heart lurched.“Yes.Has there been a change?”

“She’s regained consciousness about twenty minutes ago.She’s still disoriented, but she’s responsive and the doctor has been in to see her.”

“I’m on my way.”

The short drive to Trentville Memorial felt like it took hours.Jenna parked haphazardly in the emergency zone, slapping her sheriff’s badge on the dashboard.The antiseptic smell of the hospital hit her as she pushed through the automatic doors, heading straight for the elevator.

Jill had been moved from the ICU to a regular room on the third floor.Jenna found it easily, nodding to the nurse who recognized her from her previous visits.

“She’s been in and out,” the nurse warned.“Don’t expect too much.”

Jenna entered the room quietly.Jill lay in the narrow hospital bed, looking frail and much older than her years.Her gray-streaked hair spread across the pillow, her thin arms pierced by IV lines.She was staring out the window, her gaze unfocused.

“Jill?”Jenna approached cautiously.

Jill turned her head slowly.Her eyes—pale blue and clouded with medication—took a moment to focus on Jenna’s face.Then something flickered in their depths.Recognition.She smiled, a fragile lifting of the corners of her mouth.

“Piper,” she said, her voice a dry whisper.“I knew it was you.”Then Jill’s eyes drifted closed, her breathing evening out into sleep before Jenna could form a single word.

Jenna stood frozen as twenty years of searching collapsed into a single moment of possibility.Somewhere in this woman’s damaged mind was a connection to Piper—to the missing piece of Jenna that had never healed.Finally, she had a chance of finding out what had happened to her twin sister.