PROLOGUE

Anna placed the tips of her trembling fingers against the rain-frosted glass of one of the larger sixth story windows that overlooked downtown Chicago. Though the hospital was mildly cool, she was feeling extremely over-heated. She leaned forward and rested her forehead against the glass, keeping her eyes closed as she took in deep breaths and listened to the thunder and patter of rain, attempting to calm herself.

The doctors had already set her down, talked her through the next few weeks of her life. They had looked at her with pity in their eyes as they spoke, as if she was a toddler rather than seventeen. She couldn't blame them, they were only doing their job.

They had left a manilla folder of paperwork on one of the pale blue polyester chairs behind her. Anna hadn't even looked at it yet; she wasn't ready to accept how drastically her life had just changed.

Death hardly comes easy, especially when unexpected. She felt as if she were trapped in some infinite nightmare. Why can't I wake up? Her thin fingers curled into her palms, piercing into the crevice in the flesh as she fought back tears. Get it together, she chided herself.

Ever so slowly, she pried herself away from the window and turned, her wide hazel eyes falling to her mothers purse and the pile of papers beside it that would change her life forever.

With a heavy sigh, she ambled towards adulthood.