Raining on wet ground

Gia stood there, shivering, desperately trying to keep the towel in place as she picked up her clothes from the floor, her hands shaking so much she could barely hold the garments.

"Look at the little bitch!" someone shouted from one of the doors that had opened. "She looks better in a towel than with clothes on!"

Laughter echoed down the hallway as more neighbors came out to watch the spectacle. Gia recognized the lady from 3B, who had always given her the dirty look, holding her phone up high.

"This is going straight to I*******m!" the woman exclaimed maliciously. "The true face of young girls today!"

"Please," Gia whispered, her voice cracking as she tried to pick up a bra that had fallen near the feet of a teenager who kept taking pictures. "Please stop..."

Everyone pointed at her, but no one took pity on her and tried to help her.

The sound of a door slamming open startled her, it was Dan, coming out of the apartment.

"Do you need help, sweetheart?" he asked with a mocking smile, as he threw her a pair of pants that had been left inside. "I could help you get dressed..."

"Get away from me!" shouted Gia, backing up until she collided with the wall.

Sondra's voice echoed from inside:

"And don't you dare come back here!" She said in a stern tone.

As if the universe wanted to mock her even more, thick drops of rain began to fall through the hallway skylight, the cold water hitting her mercilessly as she tried to put her clothes in her suitcase with trembling hands.

"It's raining on wet ground!" someone shouted, causing more laughter from the people watching her.

Gia managed to put on a dress hastily under the towel, not caring that it was upside down. Her bare feet slipped on the wet floor as she tried to maintain her balance and dignity.

"You don't have anywhere to go, do you?" A man leaned against the door frame, his voice feigning concern he didn't feel. "You know I could help you... for a price."

"I'd rather sleep on the street!" Gía grabbed her suitcase and ran away.

The rain was pouring down, she had no umbrella, no direction, she only had the impulse to run as far away from this terrible humiliation as possible.

Her bare feet stepped in puddles as she ran through the streets, her soaked dress clinging to her body, causing car horns and whistles from passersby.

"Hey, gorgeous!" a driver shouted. "Get in, I'll take you wherever you want!" trying to stop his car.

Gia quickened her pace, tears mixing with the rain. There was only one place she could go, a place where she would at least have a roof over her head for a few hours. To get there, she walked for almost two hours.

When she arrived at the hospital, she was so soaked that she left a trail of water in her wake. The nurses looked at her with a mix of disgust and pity as she made her way to her mother's room.

"Miss, you're getting the whole floor wet," a nurse chided her in a stern tone.

"I'm sorry," Gia muttered, but she didn't stop.

As she entered her mother's room, the constant beeping of the machines greeted her as always. She sank into the chair next to the bed, taking the limp hand in her own.

"Mom," her voice broke into sobs. "Everything is wrong, everything is so wrong... I don't know what to do anymore. Dad abandoned us, Sondra betrayed me... I'm alone, all alone."

Her mother's serene face showed no change, her eyes remained closed, as they had been for the past eleven years. Gia rested her head on the edge of the bed, her shoulders shaking with each sob.

Needing some comfort, something that only her mother, despite her condition, could give her, she stayed there for a moment, just listening to her body's breathing, it was a rhythmic, slow sound.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Dr. Kumar's sharp voice made her jump, the doctor was at the door, his face twisted in a grimace of disgust at the sight of the puddle of water that had formed beneath her, Gia stood up upon hearing him.

"Doctor, I..." Gia stood up quickly, wiping her tears with the back of her hand, saddened by her condition.

"Have you gone crazy?" Dr. Kumar entered the room, closing the door behind him with a thud. "This is a hospital, not a homeless shelter! You're going to infect our patients with some virus."

"I'm sorry, it's just that... I had nowhere to go and..." She tried to justify herself, but the doctor abruptly interrupted her.

"Visits are for an hour, and they've already passed." The doctor pointed at the suitcase with disdain. "And this isn't a hotel. Are you planning to move in here?"

Gia recoiled at his aggressive tone. He had never spoken to her like that before, on the contrary, he always seemed very professional and polite, but it only took seeing a girl in distress to show his true colors.

"Please, I just need a little more time, about the payment..." She pleaded, hoping the doctor would take a little pity.

"Ah, yes, the payment." The doctor's voice suddenly changed, becoming softer, almost syrupy. His eyes scanned Gia's body, stopping where the wet dress clung to her figure. "Your father called this morning. He won't be taking care of the expenses anymore."

"I know, but I'll get the money, I just need more time."

Dr. Kumar took a step towards her, then another. Gia backed up until her back touched the wall, the smell of expensive cologne and disinfectant making her dizzy.

"You're very beautiful," he whispered, getting too close. "Even like this, soaked like a stray cat. We could... come to an agreement that benefits us both." He said with a smile that Gia thought was almost devilish.

The girl's heart began to race.

"What... what kind of agreement?" She asked, frightened, although she could guess it from the intensity with which he looked at her.

The doctor's smile turned predatory as he raised a hand to touch her cheek, Gia stepped back to avoid it.

"Oh, come on, you're a smart girl, one night with me and I might... forget about the payment deadline, what do you say?"

Gia turned her face away, feeling her stomach churn. "I... I..." The words caught in her throat because of fear.

"Think about it," his hot breath on her ear made her shiver. "Your mother needs this care. Without it... well, accidents happen. The machines are so delicate... a cable coming loose, a button being pressed by mistake..."

That was the straw that broke the camel's back, with a strength born of desperation, Gia pushed the doctor away and slipped under his arm. She grabbed her suitcase and ran out of the room, not caring about the murmurs of the staff or the stares of the patients.

She ran until her bare feet could no longer carry her, until she felt the air burning her lungs. She found herself in the small park in front of the hospital, where she usually sat for lunch when she visited her mother on better days.

She dropped onto a wet bench, her suitcase just as soaked as she was at her feet. The sobs shook her so hard she could barely breathe. The rain had stopped, but she was still shaking, more from fear and anger than from the cold.

“Mercury must be in retrograde,” she murmured through her tears, looking up at the cloudy sky as if searching for answers.

Sondra had always laughed at her penchant for astrology, but right now she needed to believe that there was a cosmic reason for so much misfortune.

“Yes, that must be it, that alone would explain so much chaos in my life.”

The wooden bench creaked under her weight as she hugged herself, trying to find some comfort. Her dress dripped, forming a small puddle at her feet.

She was so lost in her misery that she didn’t notice the approaching footsteps until a pair of Italian shoes appeared in front of her.

She stared at those shoes, so perfectly polished that she could see her distorted reflection in them. Shoes that probably cost more than everything she owned in the world. With her heart in her throat, she slowly looked up.

A perfectly pressed pair of designer pants, a tailored suit that fit an athletic body as if it had been painted on.

And finally, a face that had been appearing in her nightmares for the past few days. 

Juno Greco was standing in front of her, and for the first time in her life, Gia wished the earth would swallow her up right there.