"They just arrived downstairs," a nurse said from my bedside and continued to adjust at her starched white suit.

Her words were a sticky kind of sweet, much too sticky for my taste. From the fresh pink flowers in the bright window sill to the trays of fruit not meant for eating to the black boxed shaped devices in every corner of the hospital room walls and the men in plain gray suits tended to them.

I watched a little red light flicker within black devices.

This was all a recorded show for the Union. Only it was my life they were watching. My family reunion.

My legs twitched under the quilted covers of the hospital bed.

How many people were watching? More importantly, who going to? Was Nate?

I hadn't been able to see any of them since I got here, but I didn't have to be told why. I wasn't going to get out here until I followed Gen's plan. Whatever this plan was. It needed to be broadcasted to the whole Union.

A heaviness flared through my chest like bird in a small cage. It bruised me with each thud. I watched the nurse's stares close in on the end of the bed where my legs fought to stay still.

The buzz of the door alarm rattle through me. The nurse moved to open the door with a hasty spring in her step.

The door was slow to open. Much to slow for someone waiting for eleven years. Or was this part of the show?

Hold the audience on the edges of their seat, huh?

I felt sick all over again. This was my life, not theirs.

A dark-skinned old man was at the door. He was holding a bright bouquet of wildflowers wrapped in dirty cloth and stood sheepishly beside a girl, a girl who looked just like me. Her ragged clothes were held together with colorful pins.

"Lillie, it really is you," the old man said into his hand, his round bulgy eyes teared up as he walked forward to embrace me.

I waited for the dark shadow of another fainting spell or for the doctors to pull another mask over my head, but nothing came. There was no way I was getting out of this now.

Before I could say anything more, Gen's tall figure walked through the door.

Her hair had been cut and curled since I had last seen it. It was just as white but cropped close to her ears at one side, and the other side swept across her eyes. She wore a loose blue dress that cinched at her small waist and a necklace with water drop like beads down her neck.

"It's so good to see you, Lillie," Gen said, bending the tone of my new name "But much longer for your father and sister, as you know."

Gen let out a soft laugh, all at her own cleverness. It made my jaw clench into the soft parts of my cheeks. I didn't find her or any of this clever.

"I'm sure there is a lot to be said," she continued and stepped to the side of the room where the men in gray suits stood behind the black boxes.

My father shifted in his worn shoes, unable to look up from the wilting flowers in his hands. The girl who looked just like me put her hands on his. The sight made my face turn cold.

"Lillie," my father said, the sound of his voice sent shocks into me once more.

"You have every right to be mad at me," he said, "Every right to tell me I should walk out of here and never speak to you again. And I can tell you, I would feel the same way."

Of all the things I thought he would say this was not one of them. I softened my tense shoulders as I listen to him speak.

"I can't take back the years. I can't take back the loss you must have felt every day knowing we were apart. But what I can do is try to give you some peace. Let you find some happiness with or without us."

I was frozen in place as every word poured into me in slow drips.

"We never forgot about you, not one day," my father continued.

"Then why'd you do it?" I said, "Why'd you give me up, then?"

"They were coming to collect our dues," my father said and lowered the flowers to his sides.

"So give them food," I said cold and looked up at the ceiling.

"They didn't want food, they wanted to take me," he said, and walked to the edge of my bed, "But they promised they'd give you girls a good life. All the food and schooling you needed. All the things you had never known. And without your mother," my father lowered his voice, "There would have been no one else to care for either of you if I was gone too."

"Then why me?" I said and looked into my sister's eyes that trailed the floor.

"I knew you were strong, just like your mama," my father said and wrapped a finger around one of my curls, "Knew you'd find a way back to us."

I didn't plan to, nor did I want to, but I cried.

I cried as I took his bundle of flowers, I wept as he wrapped himself around me and smelt the heavy scent of motor oil on his skin.

I cried, but my sister stayed timid and far.

"I am overjoyed by your touching reunion, as we all are," Gen said as she stepped into the view of the cameras and wiped at her dry eyes.

I pulled back a few of my tears, remembering just where I was and just who was watching.

Gen continued to speak into the cameras.

"It is the union's greatest honor, to reunite our residents with their loved ones. Let this occasion be a testament to the Union's liberation efforts which have been so generously aided by the support of its refugees. Please let this touching story comfort you into someday reuniting with your own loved ones. Thank you for your time and attention."

The red light of the black box stopped, and it was as if the whole room had been blown up like a balloon then deflated all at once.

"Lillie," Gen said to me, "Thank you for sharing your story today with the Union. We hope it will inspire others to keep their hopes alive."

I wanted to correct her, tell her my name was Evee but now wasn't the time. My father looked more shaken than a ball of tumbleweeds, and I wasn't willing or able to be that cruel.

Not to a gentle face that I still remembered.

The nurse grabbed my father and sister by the arm and began to move them out the door.

"Hold on, one minute," my father said and stopped to look at me, "Just when are we going to get to see you again?"

His eyes were eager, waiting for my reply.

"An approved gathering has already been arranged," Gen said, her hands clasped together, "My attendant will be sure to coordinate with you before you leave the grounds."

"Thank you, Miss Vossler," my father said, his crooked smiled beamed through his beard, "I cannot thank you enough for all you have done for this family."

I watched my sister again. Her missing arm was hidden behind her back. I noticed she did this often. The shades on her face had changed from a timid fear to seething anger as she looked at Gen.

Gen didn't say anything more as they were led out, just a polite smile as she always did.

"And I expect to see you Evee after you are discharged," Gen said to me, not looking up from her bracelet.

"No problem," I said, already dreading the very thought of being alone with her.

"Very well," Gen said with another polite smile and turned towards the door, "I will see you then."

I felt as hallowed as ever. Drained of every emotion.

I could, as my father had said, find happiness without or without them.

And because this time I had a choice, I finally had a chance.