“Nurse! She’s trying to talk!” Brit’s mom was almost shouting in her excitement. The nurse looked annoyed and began checking the bruised girl. She called in an attending who promptly removed the tube from her throat.
“Oh! Brit!” Mrs. Halloway tried to hug her.

“No.” squeaked the girl hoarsely.

“Oh, I’m sorry! It must hurt!”

“No.” She breathed heavily for a moment. “Leslie.”

“What? Leslie’s dead, dear.”

“Brit.”

“You’re Brit, dear. I’m your mother.”

“No. Leslie.”

The nurse jumped in, having an IQ higher than Mrs. Halloway, and volunteered a clarifying question, “What is your name?”

“Leslie.”

“Oh God!” Mrs. Halloway shrank back and clutched her chest. Her face went pale. Her mouth frowned in a silent sob, gaping. Then she shrieked, “Brittany!”
_
Mr. and Mrs. Gosnell soon swarmed around Leslie and showered her with love.

Mrs. Halloway silently slipped down to the morgue and wept beside her daughter. She texted her husband who was away on business, and soon friends came to take Mrs. Halloway home.