Emily was glad she had her own room in the hotel suite. It was the perfect arrangement. She could spend as much time as possible with her parents but also retreat to her own room to sleep and rest.

After several hours of reminiscing once again with her mom and dad, she had taken a much-needed nap. She was now staring at the ceiling when a soft knock sounded at the door. “Come in.”

Her mother eased into the room, shutting the door behind her. She smiled as she sat on the edge of the bed. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“No. I was just lying here thinking about standing again.” She turned to her side to face her mother. Joy Zorich was a strong woman. She had instilled a love of medicine in her daughter from a young age. After all, she was a high school biology teacher. Her father, Roger, was an engineer, so there was no lack of math and science in their home.

“You doing okay?” Joy tipped her head to one side.

Emily sighed. “I think so. It’s overwhelming, and I don’t like the idea that the media is inevitably going to find me and then hound you guys too.”

Joy smiled. “Don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine. It’s you I’m concerned about. You have to be in a state of shock and confusion.”

Emily nodded. “Most of the time, yes.” She forced a smile for her mother. “But it’s getting easier.”

“Is it?” Joy quirked a brow. She knew her daughter well. “I know we haven’t talked about it much, but I realize there’s a man in your life and he’s pretty important to you. I assume it’s Ryan Anand, the man we met when we picked you up last week.”

Emily turned her head toward her mother. “Yeah. I’m trying not to let myself get too involved. Ryan has a busy life right now. He doesn’t have time for this.” It was true, but she knew she was also copping out. Ryan had never once insinuated he wouldn’t make room for her in his life. He also hadn’t stated that he wanted to either. They weren’t at that place yet.

“He must care a lot about you. He calls every day at least once and texts you often.”

Emily glanced at her mother again, smiling. “It makes my heart race. Not going to lie. But it’s new. And I have decisions to make too. I don’t have the foggiest idea what I’m going to do next in my life. I can’t make promises to a man who is married to his work.”

“What makes you so sure he’s inflexible?” She frowned.

“His parents are both also cryonically preserved inside that bunker.”

“Oh.” Joy sat up straighter.

Emily hadn’t spoken much about Ryan to her parents. It hadn’t come up, and they’d spent all their time with each other concentrating on what her family had been doing for ten years and dealing with the shock of seeing her brother, David, again and meeting his wife, Karen.

“He does have a full plate. It makes more sense now.”

“They’re bringing his father out of preservation next. They started this afternoon.” Emily took a deep breath. She hadn’t received any texts from Ryan since she’d last spoken to him when she arrived at the hotel. She didn’t want to read anything into it.

“Wow. That’s stressful. Do you want to be there with him? I don’t want you to feel like you’re obligated to stay with us, honey. We’ll be fine. We have our entire lives to get to know each other again.” Joy reached across the bed and grabbed Emily’s hand to squeeze it.

“Thanks, Mom, but I think I belong with you right now. I’d just be in the way at the bunker. Ryan doesn’t need me competing for his time, and even though I spent several hours helping out in the lab each day, the truth is, I’m not up to speed on the latest medical advances. And even if I were, I’m not sure the government will offer me a job in the same capacity as before. I need to make serious life decisions. They’re easier to make in a less stressful environment.”

Emily had no idea if she truly believed everything she was saying, but the words sounded nice.

“Okay, hon. But don’t hold back from whatever your heart desires because of us. We love you so much, and we’re so happy to have you back. It was totally unexpected, but the nicest surprise of our lives. You, however, need to live your own life just like you did before you got sick. Take all the time you need. You know you’re welcome to stay with us or go somewhere else or anything you want. If you need money, we’ll help you out.”

A tear formed in the corner of Emily’s eye, and she reached to swipe at it. “Thank you, Mom. I don’t have any of the answers yet, but I appreciate your words.” She swallowed the lump in her throat and then asked her mother a question. “Do you think I’ve changed?”

“In what way?” Joy tipped her head to one side, confused.

Emily shrugged. “I was so devoted to medicine, I didn’t have anything else before. Now I feel different somehow. It kind of scares me.”

“I think it’s natural for you to feel a little off kilter.”

She decided to be more blunt with her mother. It wasn’t like she had any close friends she could talk to. “It’s like I went to sleep one day one hundred percent devoted to science and woke up the next staring up at a man who took my breath away.”

A smile spread across Joy’s face.

“That was never the kind of woman I was.”

Joy laughed. “The kind who found men attractive?”

“The kind who cared to take the time to notice.”

Her mother squeezed her hand again. “Hon, I think it happens that way for most people. You’re going along thinking your life is in perfect order and then bam, someone steps in your path and makes you do a double take. It’s probably just a coincidence that you happened to have taken a ten-year nap between those two moments.”

Emily blew out a breath. Was it possible her mother was right? It seemed a bit too convenient. She was still hung up on the idea that somehow she’d awoken with a new personality, and it scared the hell out of her.

Because she didn’t know this woman occupying her body at all. She had Emily’s memories, but she had a new look on life that didn’t match the Emily she had once been. Perhaps it wasn’t her attraction to Ryan so much as having faced death in the eye and beaten it.

With that new idea rumbling around in her brain, Emily pushed her concerns aside. “We should order dinner.”

“Sounds great. Your dad gathered several menus. Is Italian still your favorite?”

Emily smiled as she pushed to sitting. “Yes.” She didn’t even care that she’d had it yesterday with Ryan. She could eat it every single day for weeks.