Even now, twenty-four hours later, she had trouble coming to terms with what had happened. She couldn’t comprehend the idea that her heart, her own precious heart, had stopped beating, that clinically speaking, she had died.

The doctors believed she had been gone for two to three minutes at least, but no one really knew. Amy remembered taking the pills, getting into the bath—and she remembered the violent force with which she awoke, that awful sensation of water clogging up her throat—but everything in between was a blank. There had been no out-of-body experience. She hadn’t walked through any pearly gates or seen a blinding white light. The truth was that it had felt no different from being asleep, and that’s what really scared her.

The psychiatrist said she’d need time to process the event, but Amy doubted if that would ever be possible. Even with all the time in the world, how was she ever going to make sense of the fact that, for a short while last night, for a few missing minutes, she had simply ceased to exist?

There was a knock on the door.

“Amy, we’re all done out here.”

“Okay,” she called out. “I’m coming.”

They exited the hospital and sat on a wooden bench, waiting for a cab that would take them back to Seabrook. The road was busy; a continuous procession of cars turned in and out of a nearby parking complex while a steady stream of buses, painted in unfamiliar colors, arrived and departed like clockwork.

“This is going to sound a little strange,” Amy said, “but what town is this?”

The question made her dad think for a moment and smile. “Do you know something? I’m not even sure I remember myself.”

She smiled too, noticing how different he seemed. His demeanor had changed since his big announcement. It was as though the decision to quit had taken a huge weight off his shoulders. Amy was happy for him, if still a little surprised, but mostly she was curious about what the future now held. He had been with the state police for so long that it was impossible to imagine him doing anything else. She was also curious about Uncle Jack. Her dad and her uncle had worked alongside each other their entire careers. What was his reaction going to be?

When she raised that question, Kevin instantly tensed up.

“Yes, well, that’s sure going to be an interesting conversation,” he replied through gritted teeth. “I think your uncle thought we’d be seeing out the rest of our days in that place, collecting our gold watches, photos put up on the wall, the whole nine yards. I’ll wait till we get home before breaking the news.”

Amy smiled, not knowing what else to say. This was the most she and her dad had spoken in a month. It was unfamiliar territory. For him as well, she imagined.