Summary

As Hanna Jensen lay in the pod for her CT scan, she wondered if the machine could read her thoughts. It felt like she was an astronaut floating through space. She was seven-years-old, and she had never spoken a word.

Suzette walked her daughter Hanna through the hospital to her next appointment. She hated hospitals; they reminded her of her Crohn’s disease, a severe inflammatory intestinal disorder that required constant medication and even occasional surgeries. Her most recent laparoscopic procedure had taken place eight weeks earlier, and she still feared developing a fistula. The doctor greeted them at the door. Hanna’s scan had been clear, and he advised that they begin to search for a psychological, rather than a physical, reason for her mutism. He recommended a child psychologist named Dr. Beatrix Yamamoto. Hanna had been kicked out of three preschools...