The day was scorching, and Ayanna raised a hand to shield her eyes from the relentless rays of the sun. Even though she had only been out for an hour, her clothes already felt leaden with sweat, sticking to her back and arms uncomfortably. It didn't help that the only clothes she had received here were of a dark, coarse material, which did nothing to help against the heat. 
  
"Hot day." The worker next to her said, stretching and wiping his glistening forehead.  
  
Ayanna turned to grin at him. "The hottest." 
  
"Get back to work!" A guard's voice thundered from across them. Ayanna rolled her eyes, but she grabbed her discarded shovel and shoved it into the dry, cracked ground.  
  
She couldn't remember how long it had been since she had been captured and put in this work camp. It had been difficult at first, when she could no longer recognize a way home. However, she had managed to find comfort in some small things. 
  
Ayanna broke out of her thoughts when she heard a woman's cry. She twirled around, just in time to see her collapse.  
  
She immediately rushed over, bringing the woman's head onto her lap."What happened?" she demanded to the surrounding crowd of bystanders. 
  
"I-I don't know!" a man to her right stammered. "She's been sluggish all day, and th-then she just collapsed!" 
  
The woman groaned. When Ayanna placed a hand on her sweat-slicked forehead, she winced at how warm it was. Carding her fingers through the woman's mess of knots and curls, she looked up, scanning for a guard. Fortunately, one was standing a few feet away.  
  
"Guard," she cried out, "she needs help!" 
  
The guard ignored her. Ayanna passed off the woman to another worker nearby and ran to the guard. She grabbed his arm, pleading, and the guard's eyes narrowed. He shoved her back, hard, and Ayanna fell to the ground. She hissed at the feel of her skin scraping and splitting open with cuts, but she rose again once more.  
  
"Watch your next words carefully, prisoner." the guard warned. Ayanna shut her eyes, taking a deep breath. 
  
"That woman is sick," she stated. "She's clearly been overworked, and she's running high on a fever." 
  
The guard shrugged nonchalantly. "So?" 
  
Ayanna struggled to swallow back the hard ball of anger that had risen up in her throat. "What would it take to get some medicine for this woman?" she said, words soft but firm. 
  
The guard scowled, but Ayanna glowered right back at him, unwavering. After a breath, he gave a gruff laugh. "What do you have to bargain for medicine, lady?" 
  
She glanced down at her clothes, which were peppered with rips and tatters. Clearly, she had nothing to offer that hadn't been given to her by the guards in front of her. She raised her eyes helplessly to the guard. 
  
"Nothing to trade, nothing to give." the guard grinned. "No medicine for the little lady." 
  
Ayanna heard the woman moan and heart sped up. She rummaged through the pockets of her pants, knowing her fingers would only poke through a moth-eaten hole. When she looked up, the guard was smirking. 
  
"Please," she cried out desperately. "I-I can work extra shifts. I'll take on the woman's workload as well! Please, just give me some medicine." 
  
The guard's gaze flickered to her left hand and eyed it curiously. "What is that?" 
  
The world funneled, and Ayanna unconsciously drew her left hand close to her chest. "No," she said, voice barely above a whisper, "Anything but that." 
  
She had spent countless nights, twisting the golden ring on her finger. She could barely remember the face of the one who had given it to her, but it served as a comfort - that someone out there had once loved her, thought of her as the right choice, might even have been thinking about her at that moment. 
  
"Not giving it up?" the guard smiled, wicked sharp. "That's fine by me. Not sure about your little friend, though." 
  
 Ayanna glanced back and found that the woman's face had tightened, brows furrowed in pain. Ayanna's heart thumped painfully against her ribcage. She knew the right choice.  
  
"Wait!" she cried out to the guard's retreating figure.  
  
Ayanna pulled the ring off her finger and held it up for the guard to see. The guard's eyes glinted, and he reached for it hungrily, but Ayanna quickly hid it behind her back. 
  
"The medicine," she demanded. 
  
The guard's eyes darkened, and Ayanna braced herself for another shove. Instead, the guard just snorted. "It'll be delivered to your cell later." 
  
He held out an open palm. 
  
Ayanna drew out her ring, holding it between her index finger and thumb, and then hesitated. She blinked back burning tears and tried to force herself to drop the ring into the guard's hand, to let it go. Instead, her grip only tightened. 
  
"I'm waiting." The guard said, and Ayanna heard the woman cough wetly behind her.  
  
She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed a kiss to the skin-warmed band, ran a finger over the little notches and scratches that had covered its surface in the last months, before depositing it into the guard's open palm. She watched as the gold caught the sun's rays one last time, watched as the shine disappeared behind a curled fist, and felt the beginnings of despair as the guard laughed. 
  
--- 
  
The woman woke up later and found Ayanna hovering over her, spooning something bitter into her mouth. 
  
"Wh-" she started, but Ayanna held a finger against her lips. 
  
"Shh." she soothed, "It's alright. I got you something to feel better." 
  
"I'm so sorry," the woman croaked. She looked helplessly at Ayanna as she fed her another spoonful. "What did you do to get this?" 
  
Ayanna's hand trembled, but she took a deep breath and smiled. "Don't worry about it," she reassured the woman, wiping the corners of her mouth with the edge of her shirt. "Consider it a gift."