After their emotional embrace, the world slowly found its way back into focus.
Raya pulled back first, though her arms still lingered around Anna as if letting go too fully might cause her to disappear. Anna's face was pale, her eyes swollen and rimmed red, lashes clumped together from crying too much and too long. The confident woman Raya had known, sharp-tongued, always composed, always in control, was nowhere to be found.
Raya swallowed, forcing her voice to stay steady.
"How are you feeling? Are you okay?" she asked softly, but after asking the question, she realized how stupid it is.
How can Anna be okay when she is behind bars, for crime she didn't even do?
Anna's lips curved into a weak smile, one that fooled no one.
"I'm fine," she replied.
The word felt hollow the moment it left her mouth.
