Broken Inside:

Ann glanced around her. The first thing she noticed was the chill of the wind on her skin. The woman huddled in close in cold. I wish I brought a coat, she thought. The siren on an ambulance whizzed by her. The Goth woman looked and saw it pulled up. The doctors hurried over to a battered pregnant woman. The poor soul appeared about seven months in and looked close to death. Both eyes looked so black and bruises covered most of her skin. Her jaw looked wired shut.

“What happened?” one of the doctors asked.

“It’s pretty serious,” the medic told him. “Her boyfriend beat her within an inch of her life.”

“And the baby?” a second doctor asked.

“Not good,” the medic answered. “If we don’t hurry, both could be lost.” They all rushed into the hospital once they got the woman on the stretcher. Ann reached out to touch one of the medics, but her hand went through. What?, she thought. Why can’t I…?

“They cannot see you,” a voice whispered. Ann whipped around to see the Rabbit Girl floating behind her.

“Why not?” the Goth woman asked.

“We are in between the riff,” the little girl answered.

“Between the riff?” Ann asked.

“We are in this world, but yet at the same time, we are not,” she explained. Ann tilted her head in confusion.

“What?” she asked. The Rabbit Girl gave her a sympathetic smile.

“Too much for you to take in?” she asked.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” the woman hissed. The Rabbit Girl’s stoic facial expression didn’t change.

“Aren’t you going to go after that lady?” she asked. Ann gave her a rather puzzled look.

“What lady?” she asked. It suddenly hit her. “Oh, where did they take her?”

“You have the eyes to see,” the Rabbit Girl answered.

“What do you…?” Ann started to ask. Before she could finish her question, the woman found herself floating away high in the sky. The child guided her hand away towards the hallway. Ann’s body floated in the direction that she was sent.

You must hurry!, the child shouted in her mind. Mother and child will die if you aren’t careful.

“But where do I find them?” Ann asked.

Use the senses around you!, the Rabbit Girl shouted. The Goth woman closed her eyes and focused in on her mind to find the battered mother-to-be. Sounds rattled around in her brain as she sailed above invisibly. Ann pushed her frail mind to keep on track.

Come on, she thought. Where are you? You can’t die now. Tell me where you are. Suddenly, the sounds narrowed out in her ears as she tightly shut her eyes.

“Suzuki-san, can you hear me?” Ann heard in her ears. The woman trained her ears hard to find the voices.

“Blink if you can hear me,” another doctor told the patient as she struggled for her life.

“This isn’t good,” a third doctor said, “Get her the OR ASAP!” Ann jerked open her eyes.

There!, the woman thought. She felt her body sped up to the source. Ann glanced down to see the battered pregnant woman being rushed away on the stretcher to the operating room. She followed close behind. Inside, the sweat and blood work began. The mother-to-be hung on between life and death. The doctors worked to save both mother and child. Ann floated off to the side with a heavy heart. She shook her head to herself.

She won’t make it… Ann thought. The woman could see the mother-to-be’s soul slipping away from her body. She even counted down to when the other woman would die with her child on the operating table.

Suddenly, she noticed someone watching her. Ann’s eyes glanced upwards to see that same woman staring back at her on the other side of the room. Her stare was so intense that it made the Goth woman jump back with a gasp.