When it rains in the desert

Ding Dong

I walked through the dusty streets of this city I'd called my home for so long and my thoughts went back to my parents.

Both of my parents worked in criminal law. They were good at what they did. When I told them that I got into law school they thought I was following in their footsteps. I think my father was a little disappointed when i told them I'd wanted to go into family law. I'd always known I was privileged, I'd had it easy but that didn't mean I couldn't give back what I'd taken from the world. It wasn't easy, working at the firm, I'd seen families being torn apart because parents wanted custody of their children, parents wanted divorces, children needed adopting. Those were always the best days of work for me. Working to help a child who had no parents, find a home. It made me feel like I was doing good in the world.

I'd had this couple come in once because they'd given up their child when they were young and wanted her back. I mean there wasn't a lot I could do, they'd signed away their rights to their daughter. They'd later been arrested for trying to kidnap her. Now most of you may feel sorry for the parents but I get sad for the girl.

She'd been adopted when she was 3 so she'd had a pretty stable life considering she'd been in the foster system since birth. To be taken from that life and into the life of her birth parents. They'd given their daughter away for a reason. If they didn't willingly give her up, the CPS would've taken her away anyway. I like to believe that the system saved that girl that day.

I was pulled from my thoughts by the barging bodies of NYC bumping into me. Even though it was almost 1 am, the city was as alive as it is at 1 pm, maybe even more. I smiled knowing that if everything else changed, this moment would always be this moment. I could walk outside at any time of the day and the people here would just go about their day. It's weird when you think about it. You're whole life could shift into three different ways and the person you cross on the street is just going about their normal Wednesday.

I pulled out the keys from my jacket and turned left into my apartment building. I waved hello to the security guard at the door "Hello sir" he said smiling back at me.

"Hey Jimmy, how's the leg?" I asked.

"Well sir it's still there so I think I'll live". I laughed, shaking my head as I walked towards the elevator. Jimmy only worked on the night shifts, he'd recently gotten into a car accident and injured had to have an operation on his knee.

In the elevator I took off my coat now that I was inside and pressed the button for the third floor. I'd moved here a little after Celia had left, I had never expected to stay with Aaron for as long as I did and I felt it was the right thing to do. I mean I was 24 and was living for free at my best friends house.

The familiar ding of the elevator told me I'd reached my floor but as I stepped out I felt my heart sink down to my feet. I froze in the middle of the hall and prayed to god I was dreaming, as I took in the sight of her. I couldn't tell whether she was unconscious or asleep but the slow rise and fall of her chest was what told me she was still alive.

She could've fooled me though. I scanned over her face and she had a cut in her lip and a bruised jaw. Her shirt was torn from the bottom and the fabric had been used around her arm. She was sat on the floor outside my door, knees to her chest and head resting on the door.

My feet were planted. Like the floor had just decided I wasn't moving. Nope, not today Jacob. I felt numb. Like I couldn't feel my fingers anymore , I was flexing them but I couldn't few the movement. After a few seconds I pushed myself forward and was by her side in an instant on the floor crouching beside her.

In that moment, everything that had happened between us was forgotten. In that moment she was just my Celia. My Celia with her beautiful brown hair, it had grown quite a bit. It now sat at  the middle of her back, her lips were swollen from the cut and her jawline purple and red. I slowly reached for her face, gingerly feeling my thumb across her lips and my fingers down her jaw.

I took a look at her arm and noticed it wasn't actively bleeding although the ripped up t-shirt was drenched. I couldn't even come up with possibilities as to why she was this way, as to who had done this. I noticed one of her arms was cradling her stomach loosely. As though even asleep, she was holding herself up.

"Celia" I whispered to wake her, trying not to startle her awake. Sudden movements seemed like they'd hurt. I grabbed her arm, the one holding her up and she jolted awake and winced  at the movement.