SIX

I don't know how but mum convinced Betty to eat vegetables and chicken. She led the children to the kitchen while Ana lingered behind with me.

"All those times I begged Richard to tell me what happened between you guys but he refused and then threatened to divorce me if I ever brought it up again. "

She said sadly.

"Well "I sighed "All that is in the past. What matters now I s the present and the future. What did you say again was your specialty? "

"I studied criminal law in the University but I've never put it into practice. I've never worked with it and I don't know if I even know what to do " she lamented bitterly.

"Do you want another chance at your job?" I asked her. She looked at me with tears in her eyes. "Yes... Yes, I would love that. "

"Well, don't worry, I'll talk to my fiancee and see what he can do. He's also a lawyer " I said with pride, even though I actually didn't mean to brag.

She smiled gratefully at me.

I spoke to Jerry and he offered her a job, although not on the same place as he. She was really grateful to me and Jerry. Well, I was glad that Richard and his family and my mum and me are now in good terms. It's only my brother Williams and my sister that I'm looking forward to reconciling with . In actual fact, I was in good speaking terms with her daughter Emma, thanks to facebook. We do chat most of the times

****

/GRRNG / The shrill sound of the telephone woke me up from sleep. I raided my head up from my desk to find out that I slept for almost 25 minutes. I groaned in fatigue. I just finished a very difficult surgery and I had not eaten anything since the previous day. I didn't even go back home last night . After I dropped Ana and her kids back at their home ,I was called back at work and I had to rush quickly because the medical staff were short of hands. I had to stay overnight at the hospital and I...

/GRRNG / The telephone buzzed again . I pressed the answer button and said.

"This is Doctor Roseline Harrison, All Saints hospital. Who is...?"

"Cut the bullshit Rosie. Where are you? "

I laughed when I heard Julia's voice. "I'm at work, why do you ask ? "

"I need to see you Rosie. I'm in room 3"

I was shocked. "Where? "I asked her.

"Where else? All Saints hospital " She said and ended the call.

I ran immediately to room 3 and was surprised to find my usually energetic best friend lying feebly on the bed wearing hospital clothes. I rushed over and held her hands. "Hey sweetie. What's wrong? " I asked her.

I could see tears rolling from her eyes.

"I'm pregnant "

I wasn't expecting that because after our college graduation, Julia immersed herself in her career. She was working part-time in a high tech company owned by one of the richest families in New York. She had no time for even our usual girls night out. I can't remember when I last saw Julia with a boy.

"What? How? When? Who is the father? "

"I met this guy five months back... " I could see that she was deeply in love with this guy whoever he is. "And I love him but he's with the marines and has been deployed to Iraq for a six months " I held her hands softly.

"Do you guys still communicate and keep in touch? " I asked her.

"Yeah although not all the time . And no I'm not telling him yet. But the truth is that he's on a war mission and I don't know if he'll make it back alive " Julia said sadly.

"Hey Jules. Listen to me, your faith and that of this little baby is going to bring him back safely. Have you told your parents and siblings? "

"You're the first person I've told. I'm going to let them know about it when I get out of this godforsaken smelly building. Gosh !! How do you cope with the putrid smell of drugs and injections and blood? " She said laughing out loud as she wiped away tears from her eyes.

"Well, I'm used to it already and Jules ..." I looked at her brushing away her short black hair from her forehead "If there's any problem or anything you need , I'm always here, okay? "

She looked at me.

"Including home services? "

"Any type of service " I replied as we both laughed.

****

Jerry and I fixed a date for the wedding when he drive me over to my place after work. We made plans and deliberations on how to go about it. I told him that I didn't need an event planner as I'd like to be the one to organize my wedding. Well, that won't he possible considering the fact that I have a best friend like Julia and a woman like Lisa Harrison as my mother . They'd both want to take over everything. Well I don't care about anything as long as it means I'm going to be surrounded by the people I love.

"Babe can you just escort me over to my mum's place. Let me say hi to her before leaving " Jerry asked.

"Alright love " I grabbed my coat and stood up. As I was trying to zip up my coat ,the zip hot hooked in my stomach. I felt a sharp pain at that impact and I had a premonition like something bad was about to happen. I walked with him to his mums place. We stayed with her for a few minutes before he drove off. It was getting late but I decided to stroll over to Bree's beach. I had almost reached the bridge when I heard a loud bang behind me. The cars were moving fast so I couldn't see what happened. I had to walk through the walkway to see what was going on.

It was an accident.

A small crowd of people had already gathered at the scene. I quickly brought out my phone and called an ambulance. I quickly helped to bring out some of the injured passengers who were still in the bus . A woman came in screaming. She was trying to unhook her daughter from a seatbelt and the bus was almost in flames. I rushed and unhooked it quickly. The ambulance came and I put an oxygen mask on the girl since she was unconscious. We were all conveyed alongside the injured passengers to All Saints hospital.

"This little girl needs surgery "My colleague, Gideon said to me, pointing at the 6-year old girl. I looked at her pale skin.

"Can you do it. I'll get Ella to help you get the theatre prepped for the operation. " I told him. I wasn't supposed to be on duty that night and I'm sure that my mum would be worried sick about me.

"Alright Doctor Harrison. Please attend to the mother. She also sustained a few bruises and cuts." Gideon said to me.

"Alright then. Good luck "

Instead of going to the mother's room, I gave obstruction to the other doctors and nurses and I headed for my office.

I had barely sat down when Gideon's voice rang through the telephone "Roseline. Betty has lost a lot of blood and the blood bank is empty. Her mum is also very sick and the girl Betty needs transfusion. "

I ran out of my office instantly to the girl's room. I opted for a transfusion and when Gideon screened my blood and was surprised to find out that we were of the same blood type. He did the transfusion quickly and when the little girl was stable we went to her mother's room .

I stopped dead in my tracks when I found my sister, Ellie, lying still on the hospital bed. The doctor in charge wasn't making any move to treat her.

"Her family has refused to reach out. We called her husband but the number was switched off and we can't do anything until we... "

"For Christ's sake, will you start the treatment now " I half-spoke, half-shouted to the doctor.

"Ma'am we can't " The young doctor protested.

"I said start it now " This time around I shouted very loudly.

I left the room and went to check on other patients, rendering assistance where I could. By the time I went back to my office, it was 1am.I wondered why I was helping the same people that refused to help me. I called the doctor treating my sister. "Please when she's conscious and stable, let me know "

"Alright doctor. One more thing, her husband has arrived and he's in the waiting room. He says he wants to speak to someone in charge. "

"Okay, send them to my office. "

I quickly cleaned up the table and arranged the chairs neatly and then Ellie's husband came in, accompanied by their daughters Emma and Riley and their son, Eric .

"Auntie Rose" Emma screamed as soon as she saw me. She threw her arms around my neck and hugged me. She was a real grown up adult now. Her sister was a teenager too.

"Roseline " their dad said after he'd recovered from his shock. "What the hell are you doing here? "

I brought out my ID card.

"So good to see you too Henry. I work here and I didn't even know you guys had another daughter"

His mouth fell open in a big white O shape. How the hell did he manage to be a father if he doesn't know what's going on in his family. I wondered how many lies Ellie had told to him.

This was really bad. Really really bad