2

"There are over five women due tomorrow and we are short of supplies, what are we going to do? We never budgeted for this much,"

Sara said as she walked into Ruby's office, Sara is the head nurse among the nurses that volunteered and joined Ruby on this mission.

"We make use of what we have Sara, we can do it, I already called the hospital and they will send supplies as soon as they can but till then we are on our own,"

Ruby replied while checking the pulse of the patient on the bed, Sara stood by watching her.

"Have you eaten today?"

She asked the patient who shook her head and said no.

"Ma'am you have to eat, for you and the baby, it not good that you starve yourself,"

She explained.

"It's not that I don't want to eat, but there are hungry children here, I can't eat while I watch children go hungry,"

She replied, she was the first patient Ruby has had since she came here that had a good command of English, her other patients mostly speak in the island language, which she didn't understand and she had to get help from an interpreter to get information from her patients not as if she got much, the people here were very secretive and barely give information away, and she also tried to learn the basic things in the language to communicate with them but still, they didn't give much away.

"But still you can't just keep starving yourself, the baby needs food to develop well,"

"I will try my best,"

replied but Ruby knew she would not, in the The patient past couple of weeks she has been here, she has come to learn a lot, first of which is that most women on the island were pregnant as if it was breeding season, even the teenagers were, secondly, the fathers were not known, she has tried to ask a few of the women to bring their husband or boyfriend along to clinic but they always turn up without them that she had given up, and thirdly, they were always a case of an abandoned child almost every week, so far there are about six abandoned babies and from what she gathered from the locals, it was a common thing, which didn't sit well with her which is why she decided to give numbers to every pregnant woman that walks into this clinic and so far she had over three hundred women.

The fact that the island population were mostly women and children and half of those women were pregnant too didn't sit well with her either, but there was nothing she could do about it as they were not even talking to her.

She had not thought hard about her decision when she decided to come here, she had been going through a lot that when the director had asked for people to volunteer she had said she will without even checking where she was coming to, not that she regretted coming here but, if she had at least done a little research before volunteering them she might not have come here.

At that time she had needed a space to escape from her reality and the pain she had been facing.

"Ma'am please take care of your health and try to eat more, meet the nurse at the entrance and she will give you your drugs, try not to overwork yourself.

She explained to the patient as she finished her check and the patient thanked her and left, she turned to Sara who had been standing there the whole time, she looked like she was going to hit something or someone.

"Sara we have to make use of what we have, I can't help this situation,"

Ruby tried to explain but the angry nurse wasn't having it.

"That will be hard, and also we are short on staff, Nathan is not recovering and we need all the help we can get,"

"Nathan is leaving with ferry tomorrow, hopefully by the next return trip the hospital would have brought supplies,"

"God, this is awful Doc, did they really send us here and abandon us? Like I don't get it, what's so hard in getting the supplies we need here with a helicopter, and a doctor is sick, he has to ride a ferry? That's not fair,"

Sara complained, she had valid reasons to be angry but there was nothing Ruby could do about it, she was tired too, of calling the hospital and them giving her the same answer over and over again.

"Sara, we are all having a hard time but the hospital didn't budget for this much, we have to understand that, I asked Nathan and he said he was okay with going back with the ferry, I will have one of the nurses go with him to be sure."

"We can't let go of another person Ruby, if Nathan leaves and takes another nurse with him, we will be two hands short and that's not good,"

"What do I do now?"

She asked, she was out of options.

"The hospital should have weighed their pros and cons before sending us here, I have done other voluntary works and this is the first time I am regretting it, we can't work without supplies, a doctor is sick, the patients are not communicating well, they are keeping lots of information to themselves, this island is not safe yet the hospital that sent us here are acting like we are in some kind of inaccessible place, why can't they do the needful or better yet and end this whole thing?"

"Even if they tell us to return, would you go back? Knowing that these women might give birth anytime and there are no health care providers here? Would you be okay with it? If yes then you can go with Nathan tomorrow, I will make use of who I have and who is ready to work with me,"

She replied her own anger increasing.

"Is that how it going to be? I can't even talk to you again without you taking my words out of context? I am just stating our problems, you think I can sit back and watch these women go through pain? I have been here for weeks working my ass off every day, and you feel I don't care just because I am saying the hospital should have done better, then, alright I will leave,"

Sara burst out in anger, Ruby knew she shouldn't have said what she said, they were all on the edge and have all passed their limits.

"I am sorry Sara I didn't mean to say that, I just don't know what to do,"

She apologized taking off her glasses.

"I know, I am not even angry at you,

I am just tired and scared too that we might have casualties,"

"I know, please tell everyone we will have a meeting by four pm, let's talk about this together."

"Okay, doc,"

She said and left, Ruby racked her hand through her hair breathing in and out to calm her nerves, there were fifteen people sent by the hospital and if Nathan returns tomorrow then it would be fourteen and she will be the only Surgeon on the ground, like Sara fear, they might be casualties, one of the women already looks like she can't push, she just couldn't understand why there were no nurse or doctor in the island, the clinic had standard equipment but no health care workers to use them, in fact until they arrived here, the clinic had been locked, if only Nathan didn't fall sick then it would have been easier but he did, he wasn't used to living in places like this so she couldn't blame him.

Ruby spent the rest of the afternoon putting things in place, trying to make sure the few medical supplies they still had weren't misused, she hoped the hospital will get them what they need soon, she couldn't even think of leaving the Island to go to the hospital herself, she has to wait for the ferry and then get on a plane, and the ferry will not be back until three days times which means she would spend over four days trying to get there and back, and the nurses can't work without her.

"It's four pm, Ruby,"

Sara announced breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, right, I am coming,"

she said and picked up her notepad before walking out to where everyone was gathered at reception, Nathan looked paler than ever.

"Nathan, how do you feel?"

She asked checking his temperature.

"I am fine, don't worry about me, I am sorry I can't do my work,"

"No, it's okay,"

She turned to the others and addressed them.

"As we all know, Nathan has to leave tomorrow to go get better treatment, and I will be the only Surgeon on the ground, which means I need help from the nurse, and also Pharm, you can help too."

"Of course,"

The pharmacist Reuben agreed, then she continued.

"So from now on, we need to work together more, I appreciate everything you guys have been doing since we got here, we can do it, I believe in us, and Nathan, don't feel bad about falling sick, you did your best too, you guys are amazing and you are helping these people and giving them hope, just know that for every minute you spend working you are saving a life, and let's all pray the hospital answers us on time too, for now, we welcome any suggestions on how we can do better, the floor is open,"

She said and took a seat.

"I was talking with one of the women and she seems to know little about our work, I was thinking since we are short on hands, we can look for people here that have basic knowledge of what we do and teach them, they don't have to do anything big just the basics if you understand what I mean,"

The scientist, Lewis said, Ruby liked the ideal and looked at the others and they all seemed to like it too.

"That's good Lewis, we will do that, any other suggestions?"

She asked. everyone had something to say and by the end of the meeting she was glad she called for them, they didn't find a definite solution yet, but still, it would help.

"Thank you, everyone, I am so glad you guys are on the same team as me, we will work it out together."

They all clapped and went back to their respective office.

"We should have asked earlier,"

Ruby said to Sara.

"Yeah, I agree, but everyone has been busy since we got here,"

"True"

She agreed.

"I still have to talk to some of the patients still here,"

Sara announced walking off.

Entering her office, Ruby sat down and rested and her head on the table.

Her shoulders still hurt from where she bumped into the lad from the previous night who stole the other guy's phone, he was lucky though, if the lad had not bumped into her he might not have gotten the phone again, he must be new for him not to know that it is dangerous to walk around holding a mobile phone as a torch, she hoped he has learned his lesson.

"None, of your business Ruby,"

She scolded, she was freaking tired but she still had a lot to do, she has not gone to the apartment that was given to her when she got here for almost a week now, the others took turns to go but she couldn't because she was the only doctor here, the only time she left was when she went to see the only old woman on the island, who was ill and couldn't leave her house. which was when she bumped into the stranger and the lad.

She needed to get a change of clothes, so she had to go there today, she picked up her bag and headed out.

"I am going over to the apartment, Emily, in case they ask of me, I will be back shortly,"

She said to the nurse at the reception on her way out, not waiting for her reply...