I smirked at my grandmother, but I stole one last look at those daunting medical charts on the wall as I followed Emily from the room.

We took our seats in a row of brown chairs and Emily pulled out a notebook and pen.

“You really want to gamble your money on my business intuition?” I joked, tugging the flap of my coffee lid open to take a drink. But I paused as a strange sensation came over me. I looked around, but no one else was in the hall apart from Emily and me. My fingers drifted to my chest, and I rubbed it as coldness drained away, a new feeling I couldn’t identify taking its place.

I blinked my dry eyes, and for a moment, I considered curling up on the brown chairs to go to sleep.

“I don’t have ambitions, and I’m not super smart like you are. But you have dreams and a brain. So…I may have already put in an offer on the shop.”

My gaze shot over in surprise. “That’s…actually amazing…” A slow smile overtook my face and she laughed.

“I know, I’m the coolest friend you have,” she said, and I decided not to point out that she was the only friend I had. “I can’t wait to show Kaley when she gets back.”

My brows tugged in. The sensation returned, and my finger traced over my heart. I felt like I’d forgotten to lock Sylvia’s house when I left or something. “What do you mean?” I asked, taking another sip of coffee. “Where’d Kaley go?”

Emily rolled her eyes. “Ha. Ha.” She yanked up the flap of her own coffee lid and took a chug. “By the way, I think that magic train guy is cute, though I couldn’t understand a word he was saying.”

I blinked at my friend. “Okay,” I laughed. “What train guy?”

“Ugh, stop, Helen. You’re so bad at jokes. Anyway, about our café—I think we should call it The Steam Hollow Corner Café, since it’s on the corner, and we could make it like that little place you visited in the intersect that you loved.”

I feigned a laugh, but I was shaking my head. “Emily, what in the world are you talking about? Seriously, are you alright?” I put the back of my hand against her forehead to check for a heightened temperature, but she shot me a look and swatted my hand away.

I didn’t want to say aloud that a viable explanation was a delusional disorder—especially if her sleep was irregular—but after her years in a coma, I didn’t want to take any chances either. “Maybe you should see a doctor while we’re here.”

Emily’s face changed. “No…Helen…” She drew back.