The first flash went off before Alecia even stepped fully into the sunlight. She didn’t flinch or look up, and just kept walking, her hoodie pulled low over her face and the oversized sunglasses covering everything else. The bandages on her wrists peeked out from under her sleeves, stark and white against the black fabric, but she didn’t adjust them. She just kept going, calm and steady, like none of it touched her.

Reporters were already screaming her name, bodies pressed against the ...