[[CW: Just for the heavy feelings/depression type of stuff]]

Alice still held her eyes closed when the woman left and returned and when she felt her touch. She wanted to pull away her hand and yet she wanted to be comforted at the same time, even by this woman she mistrusted. She didn't know how to answer the question. She didn't understand her own motivations. Her thoughts and feelings and memories were all jumbled. She had been feeling like she was losing grip on them for a long time, but the birth had intensified it. Had she died then? "It hurt," she whispered. She shuddered.