One minute Rielle was digging around in her bag, kindly (?) ignoring the stranger that seemed to be trying to bond with her over the slowness of the train. The next minute, she was on the ground. She hadn't even seen her attacker. It could have been anyone, honestly, though signs definitely pointed to that bum who'd been standing near her. Still, someone could have rushed off and back on the train. Was it likely? Probably not. It was most definitely that bum.
She couldn't really focus on remembering his face, though. Her head was pounding and her nose was bleeding all over her (expensive) shirt. Wait. Bleeding? She was bleeding?! Rielle held a hand to her nose for a moment, then looked down. Okay, so it was definitely her nose that was gushing the red liquid. But then why did her eye hurt? She held her clean hand to the side of her face. Her cheek, right under her left eye was starting to swell.
Mother fucker. What a disaster. This was why she didn't ride the subway. It might not have been as dirty, or homeless filled as she predicted, but apparently it had more crime than she'd originally accounted for. She reached for her purse to call for a ride, but it wasn't there.
She'd been mugged. Great. Tears sprung to her eyes before she realized what was happening. She quickly made a small effort to wipe off as much blood as possible before heading for the stairs.