Chapter 2.1 "Wake-up Call"

Humphreys was saying something but Martin kept his focus on this miracle. He held her hand and noticed a tinge of gray in her hair. Had that been there before?

"Why?" he heard himself ask. "Why is she sleeping?"

"She's fine," said Mr. Ito. "But I'm afraid she may not be waking up for a while. There's still some hitches in our process."

"Hitches?" Martin asked, rising slowly. "You mean, she's in some kind of coma or something?"

"Not precisely, Mr. Dial. It's more like a suspended state of being somewhere... somewhere in between."

"What are you saying, Mr. Ito?"

"I'm saying that it's going to require extensive resources to bring Jennifer all the way back, Mr. Dial, more resources than we have at the moment."

"Look, Ito, does this process work or doesn't it?"

"In most cases, it works quite well Mr. Dial. We have successfully brought back three others as of this time. But your wife has presented us with an unexpected challenge."

"How do you mean?"

Ito cupped his hands and raised them to his mouth. "I don't know how to tell you this," he said. "But it seems that Jennifer does not want to come back."