Eliana's knees hit the pavement with a crack, the cold concrete biting through her skin as her entire body folded over her father's fallen form. She clutched him like a fragile lifeline, her slender frame trembling uncontrollably, collapsing over him the way a flower bows under the weight of a violent storm.
Hot tears streamed down her face in shaking rivers, blurring the world into smears of color and panic. The metallic scent of blood hit her next. Not just his blood but—her blood. A warm, horrifying wetness seeped through her jeans, crawling down her thighs. The realization sliced through her heart: her baby… something was wrong.
