“I’m telling you that’s the morphine talking.” Kristi was laughing through her tears.

“You didn’t see her?”

Kristi shook her head. “No one was in here, I was here all the time. Yeah, I dropped off, but…Jesus, it’s cold in here.” She shivered. “But I’m just glad you’re back,” she said. “I was so afraid…I mean, I thought you might not make it…But then you’re tougher than most.”

Bentz wasn’t deterred. “But she was here…your mother…I saw her…just walking out the door….”

“No way, Dad, it’s me. You’re confused.” She eyed him a little more critically, then glanced to the doorway. The empty doorway. “You know,” she said, turning back to him, “you’ve been in a coma for nearly two weeks and I know what it’s like. Weird as hell. Sometimes when you finally wake up, you’re all messed up in your head.”

“You didn’t see her?” He tried and failed to pull himself into a sitting position. His arms were weak and his legs…Hell, they still weren’t working. He couldn’t even feel them, not like he could his arms and shoulders.

“She wasn’t here,” Kristi said anxiously, and quickly. As if she, too, knew something odd had happened. “Look, I need to call the nurse and the doctor. And Olivia. She’s on her way back here already, but she’d kill me if I didn’t call her. And the staff. I need to let everyone know you’re awake.” She was already walking to the door, the very doorway in which Jennifer had stood only seconds before.

“She was here, Kristi,” Bentz said, certain he was right. This was no hallucination. No bad trip. No confusion from medication. Whether anyone believed him or not, he knew the truth.

Jennifer Bentz was back.

KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by

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Copyright © 2008 by Susan Lisa Jackson

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

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Library of Congress Card Catalogue Number: 2007942805

ISBN: 0-7582-3065-6