But Amina’s expression twists. ‘No. She knew itwouldwork. That was why she was terrified.’
‘Oh.’ I pause. ‘But it didn’t work.’ I feel bad for stating the obvious.
A ghost of a smile flashes across Amina’s face. ‘Didn’t it?’
‘Touché,’ I concede. ‘But she did end up in a coma.’
‘Well, yes. I knew something had gone wrong in the split second after she flicked the switch. I don’t know if she drew too much power, or if it was something else, but all of a sudden she was slumped in the seat, her head just hanging there, like a baby who can’t support their own weight.’ She glances around as if she is reliving that time, desperately searching for an answer to the comatose woman in front of her.
‘She had a heart condition,’ I tell her.
‘A heart condition?’
‘We all have it, some genetic quirk. I was in a world where that Bethany had a panic attack and ended up in hospital. It’sone of those things no one would ever think to look for until BAM!’ I clap my hands together and Amina jumps.
‘What happened? To that Bethany?’
‘She’s fine. I left her with a long list of instructions about diet and managing stress and all that jazz.’ I wave my hand as if it isn’t a big deal.
‘I didn’t know if she was going to make it,’ Amina whispers. ‘I called an ambulance and then I carried her outside so …’ She trails off.
‘You didn’t want them to know the truth about what happened?’
‘I didn’t want Nick to know.’
I nod. I understand that.
‘And I didn’t know where she was,’ Amina adds.
‘She was in the hospital.’
‘Not like that. I knew where her body was, but I didn’t know where she had gone. I tried … I tried to bring her back.’
I pause for a moment. ‘You thought that was why she was in a coma?’
‘Because there was no one inside her? Yes. Of course.’
I pause again, allowing my racing brain to coalesce my thoughts into some semblance of a structure so I could articulate the question into words. ‘Could the body live without …’ I stumble over the idea of the soul. ‘Without a consciousness?’ I ask instead.
Amina stares at me.
I continue. ‘Because I think the coma was purely physiological. The result of that heart attack from the power surge.’
‘But then …’
‘Yeah.’ I breathe out loudly. ‘I think she swapped with another Bethany. And so there was someone else inside. Trapped.’
Amina shivers. ‘That’s hideous.’
‘Yeah.’
‘Bethany wouldn’t have done that. If she thought that would have happened, she wouldn’t even have tried. I know her. She’s not like that.’ But I can tell she’s trying to convince herself this, a voice in the back of her skull raising a quiet question that perhaps Bethany would. Perhaps she was desperate enough.
I shift the subject slightly, aware this isn’t something we should dwell on. ‘So you tried to bring her back?’
‘I thought perhaps I could pull her back and then she’d wake up and this would all be okay. But nothing worked. I began to think it was because her body wasn’t here, but I couldn’t exactly take the machine to the hospital, imagine how messed up that would look. I kept trying though. I had to sneak out of the house in the middle of the night to make sure no one knew what I was up to. And then I’d come here and work for a few hours and try again. And again. And again.’
‘Always at night?’
