"Are you okay?" Little James called out to Strelitzia.
Strelitzia grit her teeth and smiled, sweat beading her face. "I'm fine."
The boy reached through the bars with a torn piece of his shirt and patted Strelitzia's forehead, collecting the sweat. "I heard them saying they were going to come get you and give you medicine. Hang in there. It's all my fault." He hiccuped.
She reached upwards and caught his hand. "It isn't your fault. Colton did this out of cruelty and because I made some bad choices." For James and for herself. Though she had no hope of ever being the woman she once was, she wouldn't trade anything for the moments she had. "It'll be okay. I'm stronger than I look."
No medicine could fix what was truly broken anyway. It wouldn't give her back her womanhood. It wouldn't bring back the life she'd lost.
Whistling rose up and the sound of jangling keys grew closer. "Get up whore." The guard called out.
