Stumbling a few feet to the nearest seat, I collapse. Is this really happening or am I dreaming? I pinch myself to make sure I’m here. I’m here. This is happening.

Jeff follows. Kneeling down in front of me, he says, ‘Are you okay, Becca? What’s wrong?’

Thomas rushes to the faucet and fills a glass with water.

‘Are you okay?’

I can hear him, but I can’t answer him; can’t think, can’t move. Stuck in this thing, this fear. Jeff hands me the glass which I attempt to sip from.

‘What are you thinking, Becca?’

I lift my face to look at him. My thoughts must be etched onto it because Jeff says, ‘It’s not you, Becca. Don’t think like that. You are not Katie’s abducted sister.’ Jeff is trying to reassure me, but what does he know? Nothing.

There’s no face now, just a blur. Someone is speaking but I do not understand the words.

Eventually the world becomes familiar again, the room, the noise, the smell. In the distance a baby cries. In front of me is Thomas Collins. He looms above me, a tornado approaching. It doesn’t make sense, none of this makes sense. I’m panicking, creating something that doesn’t exist. I’m not the abducted girl. I can’t be. I have a birth certificate, photos of Mom pregnant with me, and I know it’s me because Danny is there too. Then there’s the photo of me two hours old, in hospital, in my Dad’s arms. Well I always thought it was me, was told it was me. But what if it wasn’t me? What if that baby was somebody else?

Relax, Becca. Stop building a world that doesn’t exist.

‘I’m sorry,’ I say. ‘It must be the heat.’

‘Can I get you something else?’ Thomas says.

‘No, I’m okay now.’

I need to ask him the question. That’s why I’m here.

‘Thomas,’ I say. ‘Did you know I’m the person your wife was looking for?’

‘One of them,’ he says.

‘One of them?’

‘Yes, it was ongoing. Every year there was someone new. “It has to be her, she’s my sister… or maybe this one,” she’d say, showing me a picture from some magazine or the laptop.’

A warm gush of hope sweeps through me. This is not just about me, there are others.

‘I can show you her room if you want,’ he says.

I want, of course I want.

‘If it’s not too much trouble,’ I say.