Us Against The World

This Can't Be Real

"Where is my wife? Where is Fatima?" Zac yelled out.

He couldn't even put into words the void forming in his chest. The moment he saw Fatima laid out on the bed, covered by a thin white sheet, something inside him broke.

Tears streamed down Zac's face as he looked into Madame's eyes.

"You said you were gonna bring her back to me. You promised. You were too late."

Madame could only cry. She had made a promise, and she fully believed she could keep it. She'd spent years saving everyone else, but now, the one person she wanted to save the most—she had failed.

"Yesterday wasn't enough," she whispered. "We should've done it today..."

Zac stood at the head of the table, frozen, unable to lift the sheet. Unable to face the reality of his wife lying lifeless before him.

He heard small footsteps behind him. It was Zaya.

She rushed in screaming, "Mommy! Mommy! I missed you!"

Before Zac could catch her, she froze mid-step. The family picture she'd drawn for her mother fell from her hand.

"Why is Mommy under the sheet? Is she playing hide-and-seek?"

"Mommy is just resting, princess," Zac whispered.

"Why are you lying to me?" Zaya screamed. "I KNOW the white lady took Mommy! You lied to me this whole time and now she's never coming back. I hate you—I hate you, Daddy!"

Her words pierced Zac's heart deeper than any wound ever could.

Zaya ran out, with Madame chasing after her.

Zaya collapsed in a corner of the hallway, sobbing uncontrollably. "I just want my mommy..."

A tear slipped from Madame's eye as guilt tightened her throat. This felt like her fault—a failure she couldn't undo.

All she could do was wrap Zaya in her arms and hold her tight.

Hours passed. Zac hadn't moved from Fatima's side.

Nurses came and went, asking to take her body, but Zac refused every time.

"She's not going anywhere," he muttered. "Not yet."

He whispered into the still air, "Why, God? Why did you let this happen? You took the person I loved the most... she was my everything."

Memories flashed through his mind—how they first met, when Fatima hit him with her car. He chuckled softly, even through the pain.

They had been through so much, but one thing was always certain: they loved each other hard. They protected each other.

Fatima was his soulmate.

Finally, Zac reached forward and pulled back the sheet. Her lifeless face made his knees weaken. He placed his hand gently on her stomach, thinking of the unborn child he would never get to meet.

He lowered his head onto her chest, hoping—praying—for even the faintest heartbeat. Hoping to feel the soft way she always caressed his head when he lay there.

But there was nothing.

Down the Hall

Ebony had just woken up. Her face was bruised, her head pounding, but one question burned in her mind.

"Where's Fatima?"

She pressed the nurse's call button until someone finally came in.

"I'm looking for my friend. Was someone else brought in with me?" Ebony asked.