“I need to find T.J.,” I said, but she shook her head and, noticing my shivering, pulled the sheet up to my neck.

The chaos of so many voices, only some of them speaking in English, thundered in my ears, louder than anything I’d heard in the last three and-a-half years. I inhaled the smell of disinfectant and blinked at the fluorescent lights that hurt my eyes. Someone pushed my bed into a hallway around the corner. I lay on my back fighting to stay awake.

Where is T.J.?

I wanted to call my parents, but I didn’t have the strength to move my body. I fell asleep for a minute, jerking awake when footsteps approached. A voice said, “The Coast Guard just brought her in. I think she’s the one he’s looking for.”

A few seconds later a hand pulled back the sheet covering me, and T.J. climbed from his hospital bed into mine, trying not to tangle the lines of our IVs. He wrapped his arms around me and collapsed, burying his face in my neck. Tears ran down my face at the sheer relief of holding the solid weight of him in my arms.

“You made it,” he said, trembling all over. “I love you, Anna,” he whispered.

“I love you, too.” I tried to tell him about the pay phone, but exhaustion overtook me and my garbled words didn’t make sense.

I slept.

***

“Can you hear me?” Someone gently shook my shoulder. I opened my eyes and for a moment, I had no idea where I was.

“English,” I whispered, comprehending that the man looking down at me was a blond- haired, blue-eyed American in his mid-thirties. I glanced over at T.J. but his eyes were still closed.

Phone. Where is that phone?

”My name is Dr. Reynolds. I’m sorry no one has checked on you for a while. We’re not equipped to handle extra casualties. A nurse took both of your vital signs a few hours ago and they were good, so I decided to let you sleep. You’ve been out for almost twelve hours. Are you in any pain?”

“Just a little sore. And thirsty and hungry.” The doctor motioned to a passing nurse and made a pouring gesture. She nodded and returned with a small pitcher of water and two plastic cups. He filled one and helped me sit up. I drank it all and looked around in confusion. “Why are there so many people here?”

“The Maldives is currently in a state of emergency.”

“Why?”

He looked at me strangely. “Because of the tsunami.”

T.J. stirred beside me and opened his eyes. I helped him sit up and hugged him while the doctor poured a glass of water and handed it to him. He drank it down without stopping.

“T.J., it was a tsunami.”

He seemed confused for a minute, but then he rubbed his eyes and said, “Really?”

“Yes.”

“Did the Coast Guard bring you in?” Dr. Reynolds asked, pouring each of us another glass of water.”

We nodded.

“Where did you come from?”

T.J. and I looked at each other.

“We don’t know,” I said. “We’ve been missing for three-and-a-half years.”

“What do you mean, missing?”

“We’ve been living on one of the islands ever since our pilot had a heart attack and crashed into the ocean,” T.J. said.

The doctor scrutinized us, looking back and forth at our faces. Maybe it was T.J.’s hair that finally convinced him.

“Oh my God, you’re them, aren’t you? The ones who went down in the seaplane.” His eyes were wide. He took a deep breath and blew it out. “Everyone thought you were dead.”

“Yeah, that’s what we figured,” T.J. said. “Do you think you could find us a phone?”

Dr. Reynolds handed T.J. his cell. “You can use mine.” A nurse removed our IVs and T.J. and I climbed carefully off the hospital bed. My legs wobbled, and T.J. steadied me, putting an arm around my waist.

“There’s a small supply room down the hall. It’s quiet and you can have some privacy.” He stared at us and shook his head. “I can’t believe you’re alive. You were all over the news for weeks.”

We followed him but before we reached the supply room, we came to the women’s bathroom.

“Can you wait, please?” I asked. They stopped, and I pushed open the door, closing it behind me and plunging into darkness. My hand fumbled for the switch and when the lights came on, my eyes darted from the toilet to the sink and finally to the mirror.

I had completely forgotten what I looked like.

I went up to the mirror and studied myself. My skin was the color of coffee beans and T.J. was right, my eyes did look bluer because of it. There were a few lines on my face that hadn’t been there before. My hair was a mess of tangles and two shades lighter than I remembered. I looked like an island girl, savage, unkempt, and wild.

I tore my gaze away from the mirror, pulled my shorts down, and sat on the toilet. I reached for the toilet paper. Unspooling some, I rubbed it against my cheek, feeling the softness. When I finished, I flushed and washed my hands, marveling at the water that flowed from the tap. T.J. and Dr. Reynolds were standing in the hall waiting for me when I opened the door. “I’m sorry I took so long.”

“That’s okay,” T.J. said. “I went to the bathroom, too.” He smiled at me. “That was weird.” He took my hand and we followed Dr. Reynolds into the supply room.

“I’ll be back in a bit. I have to check on some patients and then I’ll call the local police. They’ll want to talk to you. I’ll also see if I can find you something to eat.”

My stomach growled at the mention of food.

“Thanks,” T.J. said. When he left we sat down on the floor. Shelves of medical supplies surrounded us. It was cramped but quiet.

“You call yours first, Anna.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

He handed me the phone. It took me a minute, but I finally remembered my parents’ phone number. My hand shook, and I held my breath as it rang. There was a click on the line. I started to say hello but then a recorded voice said, “The number you are trying to reach has been disconnected or is no longer in service.”

I looked at T.J. “Their number has been disconnected. They must have moved.”

“Call Sarah.”

“Do you want to try your parents first?”

“No, go ahead.” T.J. buzzed with anticipation. “I just want someone to answer.”

I called Sarah’s number, my heart hammering in my chest. It rang four times before someone answered.

“Hello?”

Chloe!

“Chloe, can you put your mommy on the phone right away please?”

“May I ask who’s calling?”

“Chloe honey, just get your mom, okay?”

“I have to ask who it is and if they don’t tell me, I’m supposed to hang up.”

“No! Don’t hang up, Chloe.” Would she even remember me? “ It’s Aunt Anna. Tell your mommy it’s Aunt Anna.”

“Hi, Aunt Anna. Mommy showed me pictures of you. She told me you live in heaven. Do you have angel wings? Mommy’s grabbing the phone so I gotta go now.”

“Listen,” Sarah said. “I don’t know who you are, but that’s a sick thing to do to a child.”

“Sarah! It’s Anna, don’t hang up, it’s me, it’s really me.” I started crying.

“Who is this? What do you get out of these kinds of calls? Do you think they don’t hurt?”

“Sarah, T.J. and I didn’t die in the plane crash. We’ve been living on an island and if it weren’t for the tsunami, we’d still be there. We’re at a hospital in Malé.” Now that I’d gotten the words out, my crying intensified. “Please don’t hang up!”

“What? Oh my God. Oh my God!” She screamed for David but she was crying and talking so fast I couldn’t understand anything that was coming out of her mouth.

“Anna? You’re alive? You’re really alive?”

“Yes.” I was bawling and T.J. was jumping up and down he was so excited. “Sarah, I called Mom and Dad first but their number was disconnected. Did they sell the house?”

“The house was sold.”

“What’s their number?” I looked around to see if there was a pen or something to write on but came up empty-handed. “Call them, Sarah, call them the minute we hang up. Tell them I tried to call them first. I’ll call you back and get their number as soon as I can find something to write it down with. Tell them to wait by the phone.”