A Road Through the Mountains — Elizabeth Cooke

An accident victim desperate to return to her family, a child with Asperger's syndrome, and a man discovering the daughter he never knew are brought together by love in this suspenseful, moving novel by acclaimed author Elizabeth Cooke

After a car accident, single mother and painter Anna Russell lies in a coma in a Boston hospital. Her ten-year-old daughter, Rachel, who has Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism, is in the next room with a fractured arm.
 
Botanist David Mortimer can name any tree or form of plant life, but he can't commit to anything -- not even to writing his masterpiece about the rare flowers that fascinate him in the mountains of China. But almost as soon as he gets the call from Anna's mother, he's flying across the Atlantic to meet the daughter he never knew he had. Anna left him eleven years ago when he was mapping out an exotic journey for them, but David has never forgotten her. With help from Rachel, he comes up with a plan that might help Anna find her way back to them.