Chapter 1: A Sudden loss

She slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry at first and her head throbbed. She scanned her surroundings and realization dawned on her. She's in a hospital ward. How did she get here? She shut her eyes tight and tried recalling the previous events.

Ruth was at home preparing for her parents' return. The phone rang. Ruth knew it was bad news before she even picked it up. She could feel it in her bones. She had a nightmare about her parents and had warned them not to come home today, but her parents shrugged it off and told her to pray about it. When she heard the voice on the other end of the line, her heart sank. It was the hospital, calling to tell her that her parents had been in a car accident. She left what she was doing and quickly ran to the hospital to be met with the news of her parents death. She had run out of the hospital devastated by the news. She kept running with tears flowing from her eyes making her vision blurry. She had no idea where she was going but she didn't want to stop. Suddenly, she tripped over something and slumped to the ground. She saw a figure hover above her before she blacked out.

Ruth flung her eyes open as she remembers the recent events that landed her in the hospital. Her parent's death. She immediately stood up from the bed and headed straight for the door. She stopped mid ways when the door opened and a doctor walked in. She rushed to him and grabbed him by the collar.

"Where are my parents?" She screamed at his face, shaking him vehemently.

"Ma'am, please get a hold of yourself. They're no more" the doctor said calmly.

Ruth slowly loosen her grip on the doctor and took a few steps back. She placed a hand on her mouth trying to hold back the tears.

The doctor walked towards her "ma'am, do you have any family members we can contact?" But Ruth couldn't answer.

"I'm her family" a voice said. Ruth looked in the direction of the voice and saw her father's friend, Fred Sinclair. She stood up and rushed to him.

"He…was saying that…my…my…parents…are de…ad" Ruth said between hiccups.

Fred moved close to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Ruth hugged him crying bitterly.

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Ruth sat by the window, watching the sunset. Her parents had just been buried. They were always so happy, so full of life. She couldn't imagine a world without them. But then the phone rang, and everything changed.

Ruth didn't realize she was already in tears until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Fred handing her a handkerchief. She gently took it and wiped her tears.

Fred Sinclair was her father's friend. Her father had told her that they went to the same college and were even roommates. Ruth has always seen him visit sometimes but has never known his family or where he is from. She only knew he lived in Massachusetts.

"I'm so sorry about your loss Ruth" Fred said. Ruth replied with a nod while still sniffing. "I want you to know I'll always be here with you if you ever need any help. Your father was a very good man to me" Fred said as his voice slowly dropped. He was also trying to hide his sadness. "I'll be staying in a hotel for the meantime but I'll come check up on you everyday" Fred stood up and made for the door. He turned back and said "you'll get through this girl" with which he opened the door and left.

Ruth felt lonelier than ever. She gently sobbed while reminiscing the memories of her parents. She stood up and walked into her parents room. She laid on their bed, her gaze fixated on the ceiling. Numerous thoughts ran through her mind. How will she survive alone? She had no friends and none of their relatives were willing to help. Not like she knew most of them, just her paternal uncle who is currently in jail for embezzling money. Her boyfriend recently broke up with her. Realizing she had no one left, she thought of the best option to get out of the situation. Suicide. She stood up and went to grab a bottle of insecticide. She took some portion of it and started having difficulties breathing. Tears flowed through her eyes as her vision blurred. She heard someone scream her name before blacking out.

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Fred had forgotten his wallet in the washroom together with his phone. He had realized soon enough and came back to get it. He had seen Ruth raise a bottle to drink. He realized too late that it was poison she took. He saw her slumped to the floor and screamed. He quickly carried her to the car and rushed her to the hospital.

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Fred stood outside the operating theater praying for Ruth's surgery to be a success. The doctors had said they needed to operate on her as soon as possible before the poison started to spread to the rest of her system. Fred had agreed immediately and Ruth was taken into the operating theater.It has been 4 hours since she was taken inside and the door hasn't been opened.

Few minutes later, one of the doctors came out.

"Mr Fred, can I see you in my office?"

"Sure," Fred replied.

As they got into the office the doctor said "the operation was a success. We were able to get the poison out of her system before it spread through her system"

Fred heaved a sigh of relief.

"Can I see her now?" He asked

"Of course. She has been moved to the ward right beside the operating theater on the left side"

"Thank you so much doctor" Fred said and made to leave.

"Mr Fred, I called you in here to discuss a matter with you"

"What is it?" Fred asked.

"It's about the patient. I think she is suffering from PTSD, posttraumatic stress disorder. It's a condition that occurs after experiencing a tragic loss. The patient just lost the two people closest to her. I advise she should not be left alone at this critical time as she might want to hurt herself. She should be surrounded by family"

"Thank you doctor. I perfectly understand that. I'll make sure she's never left alone"

"You're welcome. You can go see her now" the doctor said.

"Will do that" with that Fred left the doctor's office