Chapter 6

The day I transferred out of ICU, heavy snow fell. Alan pushed my wheelchair down the hospital corridor. Wrapped in his cashmere coat, breathing in the faint scent of cedarwood, I suddenly remembered a winter when I was fifteen. Running a high fever, he carried me three bus stops to the hospital. Snow melted on his hair, dripping cold onto my hand. "Jane," he stopped suddenly, pointing outside. "Look at that pine tree." Bare branches laden with snow, yet stubbornly upright. Just like me now. "Anna..." I hesitated, but had to ask. "She..." "Police are involved." His voice was calm. "Mrs. Lee found neighbors willing to testify. And Julia's confession... it details everything." I silently watched the pine tree. I'd seen Julia's confession before, hidden in the frame of Old Church in Morning Fog. She wrote of her jealousy – my better art, Alan sneaking me apple pies, Grandma giving me her best silver bracelet. She said she hadn't meant to push me down the stairs; she just wanted