At the clinic gate, a 7-year-old collapsed, crying, “Mommy has been sleeping for three days, please save them.” The doctor rushed to help the newborn twins, but as he lifted them, his hands shook. Underneath the babies was a handwritten note from the mother that made the doctor freeze in terror…

with me,” I croaked, my throat lined with sandpaper. “We’re going to the white building. They have cold water there. They have beds.”

The heat baked the moisture right out of my skin. My vision began to swim, the edges of the world turning a fuzzy, vibrating gray. The wheelbarrow grew heavier with every yard. It felt as though invisible hands were pulling continue reading …