In Philadelphia, USA

Two in the morning.

Jian Chengzi woke up in a dim bathroom stall, a searing pain exploding in her abdomen. Her mouth reacted before her brain could catch up. The pain was so intense she could barely breathe. She wanted to scream, but for that moment, she was too overwhelmed by pain even to breathe.

Someone above her said frantically, “Almost, almost!”

Jian Cheng saw her swollen pregnant belly, and a hand beneath her, frantically tugging at something with one hand. He carefully held her knee with one hand, while the other seemed to be... pulling the baby out?!

The moment before, she had been in class. In the blink of an eye, she had become an American girl named Celine Evans in 1988, a teenager about to give birth, hurriedly brought into a bathroom by her high school track star boyfriend.

Jian Cheng’s head felt ready to explode as she absorbed memories that weren’t hers.

The nineteen-year-old boy before her was at a loss, trying to deliver his girlfriend’s baby.

Jian Cheng knew him. Spencer White. They had covered his case in her college criminal psychology class. On June 12, 1988, the day his daughter was born, he died in a hit-and-run. The culprit was never found.

And a few hours later, his daughter would be thrown into a trash can.

She was having contractions. Maybe this was what people meant by contractions. Jian Cheng had no time to think. She clutched his hand and cried out in pain.

Then a baby’s cry pierced the Philadelphia night.

“Hey,” he said softly, as if afraid of frightening the little one in his arms. “It’s a girl.”

He held the baby in both arms, frozen in place, then looked at Jian Cheng.

“It’s all over now.”

Jian Cheng’s long hair was plastered messily to her face. She was sweaty and surrounded by the smell of blood, so exhausted she was barely conscious. In a daze, she felt someone gently place the baby in her arms, against the bloodstained hem of her dress. “I’ll be right back...”

Jian Cheng moved her fingers. The baby’s soft little cheek rested against her palm.

Don’t go…

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