“Samantha, if you had tried to free him, what would Stone have done?”
She said nothing.
“You knew.”
Her eyes closed.
“He would kill us.”
“Then your escape was not betrayal.”
Samantha shook her head violently.
“I ran.”
“You brought help without knowing you were bringing help.”
She looked at him.
“If you had stayed, police might never have found Stone.”
The thought seemed impossible for her to accept.
Dr. Wong continued.
“You survived long enough for the truth to come out.”
Days later, doctors agreed to a reunion.
August 3.
2:30 p.m.
Samantha was taken to Henry’s room in a wheelchair.
Martha waited outside.
She wanted desperately to be present.
But the doctors decided father and daughter needed the first moment without anyone asking them to perform normal family emotions.
The door opened.
Henry lay in bed.
His face was hollow.
His beard had been trimmed.
Bandages covered several injuries.
Samantha entered.
He looked at her.
She looked at him.
