The hollowness of my breath rippling out in front of me keeps strange company as I stand in the hallway of the Justice Building, waiting for my female partner to be finished with her visitations. She's taken much longer with her four visitors than I with my three. As a matter of fact, we share two of the same visitors; her father and her brother. I try to piece together the reason why they both came to see me, but all I keep remembering is the hell of a day we've had so far. I suppose it all started at around five o'clock this morning, when I heard a pounding at my door.
~o0o~
They've come for me. That is the very first thing to pass through my mind as the room slowly comes into focus. I see darkness out my window, but that must be the black curtains Grandmother hung for me when I first arrived and that I haven't taken off since. The sky is actually softly turning blue from the horizon. Yellow streaks of the sunrise can be seen out the parlour window as I leave the comfort of my bed to see about Grandmother and the knocking at our door. It sounds very urgent. The only consolation I can cling to is the fact that if they were Peacekeepers my door would no longer be on its hinges. I see Grandmother, white cotton dress that touches the floor, hair equally as white in a long braid across her shoulder, making her way to the door with a torch in her hand. We both head for the urgent pounding, a sense of deep anticipation in our stomachs. Grandmother, with frail bones not meant to be awoken in the middle of the night, doesn't make it there as quickly as I do. I grasp the handle and open it up, inviting the disappearing darkness inside. A tall girl with dark skin and brown hair stands in the doorway, her face paled with an expression of grave danger. It's Ticella, Ramie's older sister.
Before a word can be said I've taken my black coat off the rack, and kissed Grandmother goodbye. She watches us leave with the door wide open until we can't be seen anymore, and the light of her torch disappears inside.
"So? How is she?" Ticella has tears in her eyes but none of them move. I wait for an answer, but Ticella is too focused on running in the general direction of their house to pay any attention to me. My jaw locks, my fists clench and my eyes stay on the back of Ticella's head until we get there, the rickety grey porch on the rickety grey house in the dead of the night.
We hear screams of pain before we're even inside. My eyes widen. The door opens loosely, revealing Ticella and Ramie's older brother, Raffia. Sometimes we call him Raffie, but that is rare for me. He nods us inside. My bare feet curl on the steps, careful not to receive any slivers. Raffia ushers Ticella and I to the back room, the one the girls share. I stare at the wooden door propped against the frame. I guess they haven't found any hinges for it yet, but the much needed privacy didn't have time to wait for such materials. I swallow.
"Could you find a doctor?" Mr. Ashworth says behind me. I turn back to see Ticella give him a hasty shake of the head, and then grip the sides of the door to move it out of the way. It isn't heavy, being so thin and made from weak timber. I lay it back and rush inside. Ramie is sprawled across a table in the middle of the room, but she's on her side, not quite in the birthing position yet I suppose.
"Rayon," She looks at me with a glowing smile. "The baby, it's--"
"I know, I know." I whisper back, and find a chair to take to her side. Before I'm halfway to the table she starts screaming, clutching herself over the abdomen very quickly. My heart races and I look to the only other person in the room, Mrs. Ashworth, hoping she can help my only love.
"Ramie, just take a deep breath. That's it, breathe with it, there you go." The elder woman urges her daughter, gently patting her side. I swallow whatever is in my throat and sit down. Immediately Mrs. Ashworth shoots me a glare, and I'm reminded that we don't get along very well. I send an equally hateful glare right back, and take Ramie's paled hand to show Mrs. Ashworth I won't be scared off so easily.
