AUTHOR’S POV
The officer repeats himself, his voice cutting through Nina's haunting nightmare. “Your mother is here to see you.” A sob escapes her before she can stop it. Her legs feel weak beneath her as she scrambles to her feet, her hands trembling by her sides. She doesn’t even look at the officer as he unlocks the cell and leads her out.
Everything around her blurs—the cold walls, the dim overhead lights, the heavy odor of stale air—but none of it matters. All that matters is getting to the person she had given up on seeing.
When she was first arrested, she expected her family to come to her aid, as they always do; even after her brother arrived and informed her that the family could not help her, she clung to hope.
But after weeks of waiting, she gave up, and now that she is f
