Chapter 9 - Page 122 - New Passion

    Rhasha put down the hairbrush. She lifted the little girl’s hand and held it between both of hers as she spoke to her. When Rhasha finished talking to the little girl, she kissed her on the cheek and went to the office to find Jim. The office door was closed.

    When Rhasha entered the office, she saw Jim sitting in a chair, crying. The nurse stood beside him with her hand on his shoulder. Alarmed, Rhasha immediately leaned over and put her arm around Jim’s neck. She kissed him on his tear-soaked cheek.

    Jim quickly stopped crying and wiped the tears away. In front of him, on the desk, lay a picture of a little girl in a hospital bed. The girl’s face was sunken, and her body was twisted. Her hair was thin and her stomach was swollen from hunger. She had an open sore above her right eyebrow and another below her lip on the left side.

    As Rhasha looked at the picture, tears ran down her cheeks, too. She was sure the girl in the picture was dead. Rhasha suddenly lost all strength and dropped to her knees. She lay her head on Jim’s leg as she sobbed. Jim put his arm around her neck and kissed her on the back of her head.

    Rhasha stopped crying, but she still blinked tears from her eyes. “Who is she?” she asked.

    Jim couldn’t control his expression. Tears fell from his eyes, and he covered his face with his hands.

    The nurse put her hand on Rhasha’s shoulder. “Rhasha,” she said, “we take pictures of every patient who comes into the hospital. It helps us to determine the patient’s recovery progress.”