The sterile hospital lighting casts an eerie pallor over Cindy's face as I approach her bed, making the dark circles underneath her eyes seem like sunken voids. She looks so small, fragile... mere wrath of the vibrant, positive woman I've come to know and love like a sister.
My heart clenches painfully just taking in her withered, haunted appearance. This is the devastating aftermath a single act of evil can unleash - robbing someone of their very light and spirit until they become an empty husk, peering out at the world through the thousand-yard stare of the traumatized.
"Cindy..."
I have to fight to keep my voice steady as I settle into the rigid chair beside her bed.
"I came as soon as I got the message from your doctor."
