Chapter Text
The cold rain pelted down on the already snow-covered cobblestones of the New York street, forcing passersby to rush for shelter. Shop owners quickly shut their shutters for fear of having their windows smashed. The layer of snow was melting rapidly and disappearing into a pile of brownish mud. Torrents of water flowed down the streets, the volume too great for the storm drains to handle.
Desperately seeking shelter, a woman fought her way through the storm, her hand shielding her eyes. The rain mingled with the tears on her cheeks. One bare foot after the other, she kept walking, breathless and with anxiety twisting her insides. Her long red hair clung to her skin, and her deep green eyes searched for shelter, in vain. All the doors were closed, and no one seemed to be reaching out to her. She let out a sob, mixed with a cry of pain, and leaned against a wall to keep from losing her balance. With a tender gesture, at odds with her current situation, she caressed the roundness of her swollen belly, nearing the end of her pregnancy. Summoning her last ounce of strength, she took refuge in an alley where the rain was less relentless. But she couldn't regain her balance. Trying to steady herself, she placed her hand on the lid of a trash can and slipped. She fell with all her weight, landing on her knees, her hands slammed onto the wet pavement. They were covered in blood. Blood that was still warm, still fresh. The same blood that covered her legs and her stomach.
Unable to get up, the woman dragged herself to a wall to lean against it, stifling her moans. With her eyes tightly shut, her attempts to steady her breathing were in vain. When a painful contraction paralyzed her, she couldn't help but let out a heart-wrenching scream. Her resolve shattered, and she burst into sobs, breathing faster and faster. Even more than the pain, she was overcome by fear—the inconceivable idea that she would die before she could meet her child, that she would take the child with her.
"Norah..." she whispered in a voice barely audible above the sound of the pounding rain. "I'm sorry..."