I awakened in a pool of blood. I was wet and cold, it was December in Siberia. I shivered as the loss of blood combined with the weather took hold. My head ached and the severe pain I felt in my abdomen was excruciating. I knew that I had lost the baby. The possibility that I myself would die crossed my mind for a moment. There was so much blood. It was as if a murder had been committed. The sheets were soaked with it. A rich substance of bright red mixed with a garnet color almost black. Pieces of matter were intermingled with the thick liquid and as I touched them I wondered if they were parts of my unborn child. The bile rose in my throat and I had no strength to move so I turned and vomited over the side of the bed. It's quite strange really; the things that you think about when you feel that perhaps you will die. In delirium I laughed to myself. Until I had moved into this small room I had never slept in a bed. The Rom does not sleep on beds and it had taken me a while to adjust. I thought about this and how in the beginning I felt as if I were floating on a cloud.
