"Music saved my life," Carlos told Maria as they sat at dinner. "When everything else was gone, I still had my violin."
"Same with me," said Aisha. "Singing was the only thing that made the pain bearable."
Dr. Murphy assigned Maria to work with a counselor named Miss Rodriguez. They met every day to talk about Maria's feelings and help her process all the difficult things that had happened to her.
"It is normal to feel scared about the future," Miss Rodriguez explained. "You have been surviving day by day for so long that thinking about long-term plans feels impossible."
While Maria was learning to feel safe again, the search for her mother continued. David Chen's team found a lead at a hospital in Queens: a woman matching Elena's description had been treated for alcohol poisoning 6 months earlier, but she had left before doctors could help her with her addiction.
They found another lead at a shelter in the Bronx. A woman named Elena had stayed there for 3 weeks in the winter, but she had left suddenly one night and never returned.
The breakthrough came from an unexpected source. A Russian Orthodox church in Brighton Beach had posted flyers about Maria becoming famous, and a priest named Father Dmitri called David Chen.
"I think I know this woman you are looking for," Father Dmitri said. "There is a lady who comes to our soup kitchen sometimes. She is very sick and sad. She talks about losing her daughter. Her name is Elena."
David Chen rushed to Brighton Beach with Jonathan and Dr. Murphy. They waited at the church for hours, hoping Elena would come for the evening meal. Just as they were about to give up, a thin woman with gray hair walked slowly through the church doors.
Jonathan recognized her immediately from old photos he had found of Victor's family. Despite the gray hair and the lines on her face, this was definitely Elena Petrova.
Elena looked terrible. She was much too thin, and her clothes were dirty and torn. Her eyes were empty and sad, like someone who had given up hope. She moved like an old woman even though she was only in her 40s.