Drink!” She smiled through tears and drank. But her chin was still trembling pitifully. “It could have been worse.” “Yea, you should be ...positive,” I said, then thought that my words sound like a cliché. She nodded enthusiastically and several teardrops landed on the casts. “Positive, positive, but I need to go to the toilet. “What will you…” “I have to pee, silly thing. We are drinking beer, remember?” “I will help you, no problem.” “I did it by myself this morning. It took me. "Hmmm"John kissed Beth's cheek and smoothed her hair from her face. "Beth, baby, are you ok?"Beth's eyes opened slightly and she turned her head to look at John, her eyes slowly came into focus. John felt a twitch then Beth's whole body tensed and her eyes widened farther than John had ever seen them. Her face flushed a deep shade of red."Oh my god!" and John watched the tears build up at the corners to slowly overflow and roll almost simultaneously down both of her cheeks."Let me up!" Beth. I had somehow managed to sleep in the straw on the jail floor along with various of God's smaller creatures including a large family of field mice. I struggled to my feet, disturbing the scurrying mice. The cell was about eight feet long and four feet wide. All four walls were stone and there was one small window with iron bars high on the outside wall. The day appeared to be very gray, and I could see a few snowflakes blowing around. I suppose it was shortly after sunrise. My crushed little. It hadn’t been a great day, but maybe it could still be a good night.She could hope for that, right?Sam collapsed, banging her knees on the sidewalk. Her stomach felt like it was being stabbed. She grabbed at her clothes, frantically trying to unzip her coat and lift her shirt. There, beneath her navel, a ring of foreign letters were being burned into her skin, sizzling as if she had been stuck with a brand. She sucked in a sharp breath, trying not to cry, completely at a loss. The pain started.