He felt now that he was not simply close to her, but that he did not know where he ended and she began.—Leo Tolstoy, Anna KareninaAn ear-wrenching scream tore through the hallways of St. Gerald’s Memorial Hospital, which caused everyone, patients and staff alike, to stop whatever it was they were preoccupied with at that moment as they tried to locate the source from which the hellish noise had emitted. All eyes descended on the stretcher upon which a heavily pregnant young woman laid spread. She was panting heavily. The harsh fluorescent lights revealed the liquid slicked sheen of her agonized face, which was covered in tears and mucus. Sweat rolled off her in rivulets, leaving the fabric of the elastic wife beater she has on soaked, and for a moment all was silent as the paramedics streaked past, but this peace was broken once more by another chilling scream followed by the ugly sound of vomiting as she turned her face to the side and retched out the contents of the meager lunch s

VIVTwo years was a lot of time to become an entirely different person. Truth be told, even a month would do if you were as determined as I was when I walked into my bank the morning after I delivered Xavier, shivering and more than a little bit ragged from having spent the night at a homeless shelter, but otherwise resolved.I knew that time was of the essence, and Willa would act swiftly to try and lock up all of my assets—so I requested a transfer of half of it into my best friend Kaleb’s account, before withdrawing the other half, effectively draining every single penny from it as my despair from the night before crystalized into a cold, hard rage when I saw that the money would not be enough to live comfortably off.I was angry at my father and his wife, angry that they would throw me out to the wolves without a thought for the baby I was now responsible for. I was angry that the sun still rose, and things continued as if my whole life hadn’t been thrown out the window. I was ang