Her Secret
A big thank you to all who have read this so far :)
Chapter 10
How could so much of her past come back to get her at once? All she had wanted was, well she didn't exactly know that but she knew that it wasn't this.
Ruth had taken up her new favourite spot on the floor next to her sofa. She preferred to sit on the floor because when Jay had fallen asleep on her sofa she would get out her text books and sit on the floor to study so she wouldn't wake him and it had just stuck with her. At that moment Ruth's thoughts were interrupted by her pager going off, that thing never gave her peace. She knew she had to call in to find out what the problem was.
'Hi Noel, its Dr Winters. I was just paged, what am I needed for?' She didn't really want to go in but if it was an emergency she would.
'Hold on I'll put Adam on the phone' That's great, a receptionist who could not pass on a message, what next a doctor who cannot treat patients Ruth thought bitterly, she hated being kept waiting.
'Ruth, we need you to come in right away, its urgent. When you get here come and find me right away OK?' Although it was phrased like a question, Ruth knew not to argue
'OK I'm leaving now, I'll be about 10 minutes.'
'OK bye' It must be a major accident she thought to herself otherwise he would have provided her with some explanation on the phone
What kind of emergency could they really not deal with without her? It had better be something important though, she was having a bad enough day as it was. Only a few hours ago had she found out that the rest of her family had met her son, who she hadn't seen in 12 years, the last thing she had really wanted to do was be dragged to work over something trivial.
Ruth shook herself, now was not the time for this. She needed to be focused on work. God knows what kind of situation she was walking into.
As she approached the ED there was not masses of ambulances as she had expected and the reception resembled that of any other day. What was the big emergency? At that moment she found Noel standing in front of her.
'What are you doing? Let me past please' She told Noel, who looked slightly terrified
'Adam told me that I was to send you straight to the staff room and that I was to go and get him'
'Are you joking? I was paged in on my day off to sit in the staff room until Adam had time to speak to me! I am not going anywhere until someone tells me what is going on!' Ruth found her voice slightly raised for no reason but she wasn't about to just stand here, she didn't want to be here in the first place.
'I'll get Adam' Noel stuttered and scurried away
'Ruth, my office now' Adam called from the doors of Resus
'But...'
'Don't argue just go there now! I'll be up in a minute'
All that Ruth could think was what had she done? She had been called in on her day off to be shouted at, that was the last thing she needed. She felt like she was about to burst into tears again but she knew she had to hold it together and find out what he wanted.
'Ruth, before you say anything listen to what I have to say. OK?'
'Fine, but will you hurry up and tell me what this is about!' She responded sharply, hating being left in the dark
'A woman was admitted earlier, Ellen Winters, she says she is your aunt and that we were to call you immediately. She is in a bad way and we are doing our best but it is not looking good. She was picking up her son from school and she was hit by a car' Tears started to stream down Ruth's face 'the paramedics did all they could at the scene and brought her here. We have made her comfortable and dealt with her injuries. However that is not the main concern at the moment. We have discovered she has terminal cancer. I am so sorry Ruth'
'I don't understand, I seen her today and she was fine. She would have told me if she had cancer. How long has she got? How's Liam, her son? Is he OK?'
'She was not aware of the condition until today and she does not have long, a few days at most. It has spread from her lungs into her kidneys and then into her bones. We have suggested that she gets her affairs in order and that is when she told us to call you. She asked that I told you all of this and then took you to see her. Liam is OK, he was unharmed physically but was a bit shook up. I will take you to see her now' Ruth began to shake her head
'No... No... I... I... can't' She was sobbing now and shaking uncontrollably
'Ruth you have to be strong for her. She wants to see you therefore I will not allow you to sit here until you do so' Adam's authoritarian approach surprised Ruth, he was usually so nice. She complied with his demands and followed him down to Resus.
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