64. Birdy

Six months earlier, Birdy sits in her flat, reeling from a letter that states her date of death. After days of shock, she decides to change everything: she quits her police job, considers selling her London flat and her grandmother’s house, and imagines escaping to somewhere quiet with her dog, Sunday.

Before leaving, Birdy resolves to confront the past. She travels to The Manor, a high-end institution where Gabriella—whose life was devastated by an accident Birdy caused a decade earlier—now lives. Birdy intends to apologize and say goodbye, still consumed by guilt that has made her deny herself joy, hope, and love.

At The Manor, a nurse named Mary explains that Gabriella has not spoken since the accident, communicates through childlike paintings—wolves for sadness, foxes for fear, birds for happiness—and might one day be unlocked by the right trigger. Birdy is warned to prepare herself, then is led to Gabriella’s room.

Seeing Birdy, the now-eighteen-year-old Gabriella drops her paintbrush. Against all expectations, Gabriella whispers a single word: “Mummy.” The recognition shatters Birdy’s restraint. She rushes to hold Gabriella, and the revelation that Gabriella is her daughter reframes Birdy’s guilt and the years they lost, as Birdy wishes she had never let her go.