Nathalie, standing on the hospital roof and staring out at the city lights, found the noise both jarring and soothing. She missed the wide open spaces of her home in Africa; the way the night sky would be blanketed with stars and how you could hear the earth breathing. At the same time, the hustle and bustle of Manhattan reminded her of Chicago - the life she led there and then left behind. She had a foot in two worlds and was no longer sure where she belonged. Thoughts of Jack had been swirling around in her mind since Sarah's visit earlier in the day. Sarah had wanted to talk about Jack but she couldn't. She was probably going to tell her she had found a good family for him and she knew he was well looked after but those assurances were of no comfort to her. It was important to her that he was happy and healthy but she didn't want the details - she couldn't cope with the details. It had been a monumental effort, in the intervening years, to bury the memories of him as deeply as she could.
