Trials of the Heart
Chapter 25 - Secrets and Mistakes.
Ruth had never debated something so intently.
She had two options. Risk going to a pharmacy and having someone see buying what she needed to buy or Steal it from work. Potentially much more embarrassing as the person who caught her doing such a thing would almost certainly know her well and she could also get in trouble for theft.
Eventually the decision had been made. When it came to her it seemed the obvious choice. A supermarket. Much more anonymous.
That was how Ruth found herself in the middle of a large supermarket in the next town that she had never visited before and would never visit again, looking particularly shifty as she snaffled a cardboard box from the shelf and hurried to the tills to pay for her unusual and embarrassing purchase.
The typical chavvy chubby cashier looked at her with blank eyes as she slipped her the ten pound note. To her it was obviously nothing out of the ordinary to see frazzled looking young women buying these products, cheeks flushed with embarrassment as they shoved the box into the depths of their handbags but to Ruth this was a new experience and one she didn't intend to repeat again.
She wrinkled her nose at the girl as she left giving her to look she reserved for the most irritating patients. Rushing from the shop she hurried to the bus stop to catch the next bus back to Holby.
A journey had never lasted so long yet been so quick. Bus stops, houses, trees all flickered past. It reminded Ruth of a poem she had read in school as a child.
Faster than fairies.
Although a lot of her memories were tainted that odd one brought a smile to her face. School work had always been something she had enjoyed. Reading and learning had always been her escape from the reality of her home life even though it also caused as many problems as it solved.
As she stepped off the bus she looked up at the emergency department. It had never seemed so threatening and frightening not even when she first arrived or on the fateful day Jay's Nan had been rushed in after her first almost fatal heart attack.
Ruth slipped inside hoping to stay as unnoticed as possible pretending that all was normal and she was just here for her shift. But even for her being half an hour early for work was totally out of character. Precision was her trademark.
Once changed into her scrubs she hurried through the oh so familiar corridors looking around warily, hoping to not bump into any members of staff, she got her wish as she finally slipped into the toilets locking herself into a cubicle before she produced the plastic bag from its hiding place up her top.
She pulled out the little box inside.
This was not a position she had ever thought she would find herself in. She felt cheep and dirty for some reason as she opened the flimsy cardboard. It was almost ironic, the stereotypical girl off the estate that she had always tried so hard to avoid becoming seemed to be catching up with her faster than she thought possible.
Ruth had always been a stickler for rules. As she unpacked the box she flicked open the cheep well folded pamphlet and followed the instructions precisely as she did with any instructions she was ever given in the hospital or otherwise.
Five minutes later and numerous checks of her watch Ruth's stomach churned as she looked down at the piece of non descript plastic between her fingers knowing it could be about to change her entire life. Her hands shook as she examined it closely. What she saw made her heart sink… had she just made one of the worse mistakes of her life?
A/n Thanks for reading! This is part two of a three part trilogy! I shall post the third part The Broken Fairytale soon!