“We saw her accept the pager. Do you think she understood what it meant? That the others abused her trust? And that the pager was a symbol of her innocence?”
Assad nodded. “She understood everything, Carl. She was crying all the time, and I almost didn’t dare to go on, but the nurse kept encouraging me, so I did.”
Carl looked at Mona. “Do you think Rose has a chance?”
She smiled, tears running down her cheeks. “You boys have certainly given us all hope, Carl, but time will tell. But I think from a psychological point of view, she might be recovering.”
He nodded. He knew full well that she couldn’t magically produce a different reality from the one they were faced with.
Mona’s face suddenly contorted with a pain he had never seen in her before. And then he suddenly remembered. Why hadn’t he thought about it earlier?
“Why were you here at the hospital in the first place, Mona? Is it your daughter?”
She looked away, blinking her eyes and pursing her lips. Then she suddenly nodded and looked straight into his eyes.
“Hold me, Carl,” was all she said.
And Carl knew that if he was going to hold her, it would have to be close, tight, and long.