I say, Doctor Beck, take me back to the island where the Coast Guard found me.

Doctor Beck looks at me the way she did when I asked for the doors to be unlocked. She explains again about the government money. She explains again about the government rules. She says, You are asking me to break the law. If I do what you ask, I will go to prison.

I look at her. I am already in prison.

Sandy says, We have to let her go.

What can they do to us that’s any worse than what we’ve done to her? We have to let her go.

I am a face of bones.

Doctor Beck sees. What she sees is not a curiosity. It is not a laboratory experiment. Not a government project.

She sees me. The girl they call Mila.

She says, Maybe we could visit there, but you couldn’t stay, Mila. I couldn’t leave you there.

I need the roll of the sea, I need the gentle touch of the dolphin. I need home.