RUBY |Completed|

|Chapter Eight|

Jason Butler

     As we walked down the corridor, I stole a few glances at Michelle, she looked tired and so, as we made it to the reception to pay the hospital bill, I asked her,

"Where is the car key?"

"Here, I kept it in my purse." She replied as she pulled out the key from her black purse.

We finished up at the reception and took the exit. As we approached the car, I asked again,

"Do you want to eat out or order room service?"

"Room service, please. I am so tired." She replied and I held the door open for her while she climb in then closing her side of the car firmly, I got in through the other side and set the car in motion. We continued to drive in silence till Michelle asked,

"Honey, what are we going to do about this girl?"

"Honestly, I've got no idea. What are you thinking?" I asked glancing at her and then back at the road. She said after a few minutes,

"We should take her." I glanced at her, eyes wide,

"Michelle!"

"What? It's not like we do not have the money to train her or something. Moreover, we will just bring her up with Chloe. Please baby, you know I've not asked for something in a long while."

"Seriously? Didn't you just ask me to lend you some money this morning?"

"Come on." She said swatting my arm as I pulled into the hotel garage. "You know I love you lots." She continued as I turned to look at her fully putting on a serious face even though I was grinning inwardly,

"Twenty-one years of marriage ought to inform you that I don't buy that puppy-eyes crap."

It was her turn to say, "Seriously? Jason, stop being stubborn."

"Okay, okay, anything for my love BUT with the Lord's permission."

"Of course. Thank you." Michelle said and leaned forward to kiss me, showing me how much appreciated my agreement.

That night, we made Ruby our top priority to pray about and we slept at the wee hours of the day.

Around noon the next day, Michelle drove us to the hospital and we headed straight for the Doctor's office. I knocked on his door and with a muffled 'come in', I pushed the door open, stepping aside for my wife to go in first. The Doctor stood up immediately he saw us and said,

"Good afternoon sir, ma. Please, have your seats."

We murmured as we sat down, "Thanks."

"Okay, I am going to require you to sign a form and then my patient is good to go but there is a problem. She can't go back to her former environment so she is either handed over to social welfare or she goes with you and if she is going to go with you then you all need to sign a document to attest that she was not taken by force."

Then I said, "Umm, okay, why don't you allow us to talk to her first?  Then we will reach a conclusion."

"Okay, that's better." Doctor Stevens said and we left for Ward 17. Ruby was sitting up on her bed, legs crossed. As we went in, Michelle gave her a smile and went to sit by her bed as she asked,

"Hey dearie, how are you?"

"I am fine ma'am. Thanks for bringing me here for treatment." Ruby said as she gave my wife a small shy smile,

"Don't you dare mention dear. Honey?" Michelle turned to me. I had been observing them, I know Michelle is a great mother and that's one of the things I love about her.

"How are you feeling now, Ruby?"

"I am feeling okay sir. Thank you."

"Have you eaten today?"

"Yes sir. A nurse brought me food this morning."

"All right. So as I said yesterday, we don't live here at Nashville, and we are Pastors. We have three kids. A boy and two girls. Our boy, Michael, is in College, he stays in an apartment close to his school and comes home once in a while. Our first girl, Heather, just started College and our last child, Chloe, is still a high school student. The same age as you are. Did your Aunt enroll you in a school?"

"Yes sir.I just started senior class two."

"Oh! You have a year more, that's good. Chloe is the same level as you. Now, the million dollar question is, do you want to leave with us or should we hand you over to social welfare?"

Michelle butted in, "Dearie, we are not forcing you, okay? If you do not want to go with us, just speak up, we will take you back home or hand you to the socials and nobody will be peeved."

Ruby said, "I...I...I don't know what to say. I don't want to go back to my Aunt's place. I think I would rather go with you. I am just surprised you wish to help me."

"Don't be. We will be leaving for Washington today because we finished our conference the day before yesterday. Maybe it was because of you, the Lord delayed us till this time so, when you are ready, we are ready." I said,

She answered looking downwards, "I am ready sir. It's just... I don't have my clothes or luggage."

Michelle reassured, "Don't worry about that dearie, it will be taken care of. Just be rest assured that today marks a new chapter in your life."

"All right, let's move but we need to sign some documents at the Doctor's office to say that we didn't take you forcefully but you came willingly."

"Okay sir." Ruby said as she stood up and we went back to the Doctor's office. After signing the required documents and paying the bill,  I drove us back to the hotel where Michelle made sure Ruby ate some food before we packed and left.