Samantha first noticed the dryness of her throat. She tried to say something, but could only make a gurgling sound. Water dribbled into her parched throat until she could at last say, "Thank you."
"You're welcome," growled a familiar voice. Samantha opened her eyes to find herself in her bedroom at Mr. Pryde's house with Mr. Pryde standing at her bedside. "About time you woke up. How're you feeling?"
Her head felt as though someone had filled it with cotton while the rest of her felt limp as boiled pasta. With Mr. Pryde's help, she managed to sit up in bed. "I'm feeling better, I guess," she said. "What about you?"
"I'll survive," he said. "I'll let your cousins know."
Mr. Pryde got up, leaving Samantha alone in the bedroom. She pulled her arms out from underneath the covers to see the familiar bronze tone of her skin. She wiggled her long, knobby fingers before she reached up to feel the acne, short hair, and big ears that had driven her to using Joseph's potion.
She didn't have long to consider this change before Prudence and Wendell came in, the former with her left arm in a sling and the latter with a scar on his forehead, reminders of the damage she'd done to them. "Mr. Pryde said you were awake," Prudence said. "We weren't sure if you ever would wake up."
"How long have I been out?"
"Two weeks," Wendell said. "I'm sorry about that. I didn't have time to test the formula before I gave it to you."
"It's all right. At least now I'm caught up on my sleep."
They all shared an uneasy laugh about this. "How much do you remember?" Prudence asked.
"Everything," Samantha said. She couldn't stop herself from crying at this realization. Prudence leaned down to put her good arm around Samantha's shoulders. "You must hate me now. All those awful things I said. And what I did to you. Can you ever forgive me?"
"Of course we can. You weren't yourself. We know that."
She thought about what Mrs. Milton had said. "No, I was myself. For the first time, I was myself."
"How can you say that after all you've done for us?" Wendell said. "If it wasn't for you we would never have gotten rid of Reverend Crane."
"You've been my best friend. My sister," Prudence added. "You've cared for everyone in Eternity."
"It was our turn to return the favor." They shared an uneasy laugh before Wendell and Prudence got up at the same time. "We'll let you rest."
"Now that you're awake, we'd better start loading up the supplies to take back," Prudence said.