"Mrs. Scanlon?" Sondra flung the door open and rushed into the conference room, Devalos directly behind her.
"What is it?" she asked.
"A call just came in, Allison," Devalos said. "Two officers down."
Devalos drove her to the hospital. Everything was in slow motion: trees passing, cars passing, buildings passing, life passing, as they drove. Allison felt he was driving very quickly, even erratically, but to her it was still slow, slurred. It was like it happened a long time ago and was being replayed leisurely, even backward.
The hospital was worse. Devalos touched her shoulder and she thought he said that he would find out what was going on and be right back. For her to stay where she was and not to move. That was fine with her. She didn't move because she couldn't.
All activity in the hospital stopped for Allison. The only thing that remained was a murmur of voices, none distinct.
She saw herself at the end of the hospital corridor walking toward her.
She walked up to her and faced her. "He's dead," she told her.
Allison shook her head. "No."
Her double shook her head violently, her face wet with tears. "Yes. And they wouldn't even let me see him!" She grabbed Allison's arm tightly. "They wouldn't even let us see him!"
Allison pushed her away and looked wildly down the hospital corridor. "No, I don't understand. I don't understand this! What is happening?"
"I brought you here," her other said. "To show you."
"To show me what?" Allison shouted. "What? What is this? What in the hell is this?"
"This is what happened," she responded.
Allison stared at herself, angry at herself for not being clearer. "So, what, this is some kind of an alternate reality?"
"No, this did happen. It happened to me. To us. He died, and he was my whole life for more than fifteen years and when he was gone, I had nothing!"
She paused, taking several deep breaths. "Nothing!" she shouted, now hysterical. "We waited to have children, and so I didn't even a part of him to hold onto. I couldn't live any more."
"I don't understand!" Allison cried. "What happened?"
"He was everything," she said. Tears rolled down her face. "Now I'm nowhere. Trapped nowhere."
"But you see, we've found him again!" she continued, grabbing Allison's sleeve. "It was impossible, but it happened anyway! Don't you see? We can be with him again!"
Allison pulled away from herself. "I'm married and I have children." She said it as calmly as she could, but she was not at all calm.
"You will remember me and you will remember him." She paused, Allison's blue eyes staring into Allison's blue eyes. "But I think you've always remembered."
Allison was then in her bed, the bed in the house that until recently was the one she always slept in. She looked to her left and saw Joe sleeping peacefully next to her.
The bedroom was dark. No sunlight came through the blinds. The soft rush of rain came from behind the window. Uncertainly, Allison looked at the alarm clock: 6:28.
The phone rang.