Inside the ambulance, the wail of the sirens blends with the relentless beeping of the medical equipment. Catarina’s body lies motionless on the stretcher, pale, her dress torn and stained with blood. Two paramedics work frantically while the driver speeds through the streets toward the nearest hospital.

“Her blood pressure is dropping!” one of the doctors shouts, staring at the monitor. “It’s eighty over fifty!”

“Hang in there, sweetheart. Stay with me,” the other says, adjusting the oxygen ma