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and I decided I should peek in her window to make sure she was all right. Mr. Singh once told me that people shouldn’t sleep right after a bad blow to the head.
    â€œWhat are you doing now?”
    My grandmother opened the door and motioned for me to come inside. “Haven’t you disappeared enough for one day?” she demanded. “You really are the most exasperating child.” She glanced at her watch. A look of relief passed over her face. “I think you should go get ready for bed,” she said.
    As I lay in bed, I thought of my father, far away. I hoped Grandpapa would find him soon and tell him that my mother and I needed him. I crossed my fingers and squeezed my eyes shut. I tried to send him a message.
    I’ll always know what you are thinking, my mother told me once. If you are in trouble, I’ll know it. I’ll feel it right here— she pointed to her chest— like an invisible telephone line.
    My father laughed and said, Alice, you are such a dreamer.
    But when he turned away, she winked at me. You’ll see, she said.
    I hoped my mother was right. And I hoped that wherever my father was, he would feel a vibration that would tickle his mind. Then maybe he’d hear my voice and know the meaning of faith.

Chapter 11
    The next morning before my grandmother left for the hospital, she sat me down and said, “Don’t go wandering around the streets. I’ve asked Elena to keep a careful eye on you.”
    The minute she was gone, I told Elena I was going to go read in my room. She nodded and then took a mop down into the basement. I stuffed my bed to make it look like I was lying under the covers and propped up an open book.
    I needed to check on Ethelberta. As I started across the lawn, my grandfather’s car pulled into the driveway.
    â€œWhere are you going?” he asked.
    â€œNowhere,” I said.
    He frowned. “I thought your grandmother asked you to stay inside.”
    â€œI’m sorry,” I said.
    â€œI came to get you,” he continued without really listening. “To take you to see your mother.”
    My knees got all wobbly. I hadn’t believed he’d do it. Now here he was, waiting for me. “Thank you,” I whispered.
    He opened the car door. “Get in,” he said.
    My grandfather didn’t talk all the way to the hospital. It wasn’t until we pulled into the parking garage and he turned off the engine that he looked at me.
    â€œI just hope I am not making a terrible mistake,” he said, running his fingers over his face. Then he opened the door, got out of the car and headed toward the elevator.
    â€œYou should know that she looks quite different,” Grandpapa said when we got off on the fifth floor. “She doesn’t respond to voices, and she won’t know you’re here.”
    I gulped, and my hands shook.
    He touched my shoulder and said, “Ready?”
    I nodded.
    I don’t know what I expected. I think I imagined she would be the same as always, only sleeping. And that when she saw me or heard my voice, she would wake up and smile, and that would be that. I really thought she would know who I was and that she would hug me and tell me that everything was going to be all right.
    She was lying in a white bed with bandages around her head. Grandmama was sitting beside her, but she got up and brushed past us when Grandpapa and I entered the room.
    I took a step forward. A machine beeped, and my mother lay as still as Snow White after she’d eaten the poisonous apple. Her face seemed lopsided, and there was a cut on her cheek.
    â€œMom?” I whispered. I reached out and touched her fingers. They twitched.
    â€œI’ve asked the doctor to meet us here,” Grandpapa said.
    As if he’d been waiting for his cue, a tall man wearing a white coat opened the door and glided into the room.
    â€œColette,” he said.
    I kept staring at the stranger in the bed,