“Emily.” When I eventually regained consciousness and realized how to breathe, I croaked out her name.

I was completely unaware that I had moved until all of a sudden, I found myself standing next to her. After dropping to my knees next to the bed where she was lying on her back, she turned her head toward me. I reached out and took her hand in mine. It lived up to my ideas of being kind and comforting by being exactly that way.

She did not react in any way to my touch; she stayed motionless, her respiration being constant and deep the whole time. As if she were the...