Resilience

We emerge from the hospital ED in the cool breeze of the morning. The street looks so different in daylight.

She's just stopped crying, and her sunglasses hide her swollen eyes.

I check one last time to make sure she is ok, and hail her a cab. As she hugs me goodbye, I notice that she's applied mascara and lipstick. The bruises around her neck can't be covered; they are the visible reminders that her boyfriend (a martial arts expert) tried to choke her to death in the early dawn hours. When that didn't work, he slammed her into the ground and kicked her. He loses, though, because she's beautifully alive.

She adjusts her jacket, checks for her house keys, and steps into the cab with a last wave in my direction. I offer a silent prayer that she'll be safe, and start my walk home.