She was shedding genuine tears, it had only been thoughts of her mother that made her cry. The times she cried were when she missed her mother, saw other people with their mothers, Gabriella asked if their mother or when she recalled she couldn't even save her mother's life but now, she was crying because of a man.
Not because he hit her, it was because he saved her. She could have never felt more grateful.
"It's alright, don't cry" he told her as he helped her wipe her tears.
"Thank you so much. Had it not been for you, I would have probably been dead" she told him as tears streamed down her cheeks even more.
"It's alright!" he told her as he pulled her in for an embrace, slowly rubbing her back as he soothed her.
She hugged him too, she couldn't explain but she knew she was feeling so relieved.
Mrs Norman fell to the ground in tears as she saw cracks from the building, the wood falling apart and her son, nowhere to be found.