PART 1

“My niece should have gone home with her newborn—not ended up barefoot in the freezing street, clinging to him like her life depended on it.”

On December 27th, in below-freezing Chihuahua, I was on my way to pick them up from the hospital—flowers, gifts, everything ready.

Then I saw her.

Elena sat outside the emergency entrance in a hospital gown, an old coat thrown over it, barefoot in the snow. Her lips were purple, her body shaking, and she held her baby so tightly it looked like she was afraid someone would take him.