As soon as Anna heard Adam's footsteps moving away down the corridor, she quickly locked the room. She put on her clothes, checked to see if the money was still in the lining of her shorts, and breathed a sigh of relief when she found all the money there.
She went to the window and smiled with satisfaction. They were on the second floor. She imagined they would make sure she stayed away from the stairs. She opened the window slowly, afraid of making a noise, and jumped out. Adam didn't lie. They were on the side of the road. She went to the front of the hospital and recognized Adam's men. She needed to escape that way. Behind the hospital was a high wall that she would be unable to climb. She began to walk past them, hiding between the cars. As she did so, she tried to open their doors. She managed to open one of them. She got in and hid behind the back seats, and waited anxiously. If they discovered her escape, Adam would search every corner and every car. She needed to make sure that the car she got into didn't belong to a doctor who was spending the night there.
She was startled when she heard the car door open, and tensed up. It was a doctor. He put the coffee in the cup holder and started the car. Anna remained silent. He drove around for thirty minutes before stopping. Anna got out of the car as soon as he pulled into an inn and ran to the reception desk.
The attendant looked at her curiously.
"Can I help you?"
Anna said quickly.
"Can you call a cab?"
The woman looked at her, as if she suspected something, but then shrugged and called the cab.
Anna hugged herself. It was cold and her clothes weren't warm. She stared outside, waiting for fate to choose for her. If the cab arrived first, she would be free, but Adam must have known about her escape and was probably already looking for her. If he found her, his sentence would perhaps be much worse than death.
She felt someone touch her shoulder and looked back. The attendant was looking at her curiously. Anna wanted to ask her if there was a problem, when she looked at her hand. She was holding a jacket and a long skirt.
"I'm sorry, I don't have anything better, but it will keep you warm until you get home." She said and offered the clothes.
Anna felt tears welling up in her eyes. The woman was just being kind. She accepted the clothes and put them on over her own.
"Thank you." She said as soon as she was better protected from the cold.
"The cab's here, dear." The woman said, pointing to the door.
Anna got out and got into the car.
"Where are we going, miss?" The driver asked quietly.
"To the nearest airport."
The man started the car and Anna leaned back in the seat. She discreetly took a hundred-dollar bill out of her pocket. When he stopped the car, she handed it to him, and after receiving the change, she entered the airport, and bought a ticket for the flight that would leave in thirty minutes.
Inside the plane, heading for England, Anna smiled. She was happy with her destination. She had chosen a good option. The one she had hoped and dreamed of for some time. Freedom.
...
Anna was in England, but she didn't want to stay there. She wanted to see Scotland. But she was tired. She went to a hotel and paid for two days. She thought about getting a job, but apart from the fact that she didn't know how to do anything, no one would give a job to someone with a baby in the womb, not long before birth. She did the math mentally. If she saved, rationed her food, she would be able to live on the money she had left. Her dream of seeing Scotland would be put off until later. She didn't want to think about what it would be like afterwards.
Anna got used to eating in a restaurant, where the food was simple and cheap. She couldn't afford luxuries, and she didn't look at the menu either, lest she give in to her desire to eat something other than broth and exceed her budget. She knew she was weak. She only ate one meal a day, but she had no choice.
The waitress got used to her constant presence and one day, she stood there after delivering Anna's broth.
"Is something wrong?" Anna asked. It was the first time she had spoken to the woman.
"You're alone and pregnant. I realize you don't have any money either..."
"You're a very observant woman." Anna said wryly.
"Your clothes... You're always wearing the same ones, and you only eat broth."
"Revealing, don't you think?" Anna said cuttingly.
"I know a good family who... Would raise your baby safely and give you good money..."
"No." Anna said angrily and started eating her broth.
But the waitress didn't give up.
"You won't be able to keep that child. Social services won't allow it. You can't give the child a decent life. When the social services come, they'll take him to an orphanage, but you have the option of choosing a good family for your baby."
"No." Anna told her to get out of there, but her words penetrated like an icy knife into her heart.
The waitress sat down facing Anna. She didn't like the boldness, but she didn't complain. She preferred to ignore it.
"I know people like you. You'll insist that you want to raise your baby, you're young and beautiful, and once the child is born, you won't want to be away from it. You'll do everything you can to raise it by your side, and because you're very young and probably don't have a job, some older man will offer you a good sum of money to lie with you for one night. You'll accept, because it's for the good of your child. Then the money will run out and you'll feel disgusted with yourself, but you'll promise yourself that it will just be one more time, and you'll find another man who will pay for your body. He'll pay less than the first man. This will become your livelihood. But you'll feel disgusted living like this, and you'll start drinking to let men enjoy your body without repelling them. You'll find a house of male pleasure, and you'll start doing shows with them to make a living. Most likely, you'll start using drugs that distance you from reality. It will become easy to give yourself over to the rough hands of the men who buy your hours. But you won't be able to give a child the attention it needs, and anyway, the child will go to an orphanage, and then you'll end up here. In a decent job as a waitress, trying to get your life together so that one day you can get your son back. But it's an illusion. There's never any money left..."