The Return Of Ruby

ELEVEN.

Jasmine.
I push the door open and step in. The room is silent except for the beeping of the machine beside the bed.

"Oh,good morning. Hope I'm not interrupting anything?" I ask the nurse. He nods at me before walking out without a word. Weird. I place the shopping bag on the table and walk to Evie's bed. She should be up anytime now,the doctor had said,much to my relief. A knock sounds just as I pull the chair and sit beside the bed.

"Miss Morgan. Morning. I'll just check her vitals," the nurse smiles. What?

"Er...I think someone else just did that."

"No. I'm specifically assigned to Evie here. It won't take long." Who was that then?  Someone was here disguised as a nurse,and I... fuck! I run out of the room and along the hallways,looking around desperately but it's all clear. He could not have gone far,he has to be somewhere here. I walk to the elevator and urgently press the button. I have to call Nicole.

"Jasmine? When did you get here? We just went to grab a drink," Curly smiles as she and Jon step out of the elevator.

"Someone was in her room,Curly. Did you meet anyone on your way here? He was dressed as a nurse."

"Jas,this is a hospital; of course I met a number of nurses on my way up. I wouldn't tell who's fake and who's not." She's right. I sigh exasperatedly. " How about you check the CCTV footage?" She pulls me back into the room. I nod.

"Have you had anything to eat?" I ask Jon.

"Yeah,but I'm hungry again," he says with a frown.

"Look,here's a box of cereal. And milk too. Curly will make you some,I just need to make a call okay?" He nods. 

I pick my phone from the table and step out of the room.
Nicole answers her phone on the third ring. I was half expecting her to throw a fuss about coming over,but she didn't. I sit talking to Curly about moving to the new apartment as we wait for her.

I had been moving all my life;always running away from something or someone. The first time was when Ruby and I had to find a way out of the hospital. We were escaping the possible wrath of the group of child traffickers that had abducted us. I was eleven when we first met.

Ruby had run away from her foster family  when she was kidnapped. I, on the other hand,had woken up to find myself with a group of girls in the back of a truck. Most of them were slightly older than me. I would cry all the time,calling for my mum.

Ruby was the only one who really put up with my constant whining. On the night that we were to be transported to our new home,the truck got into an accident involving several cars,among them a truck transporting petroleum. Most of the girls lost their lives,others were forever physically scarred by the explosion.

I must have had my head hit when the explosion happened, she'd said,because when I woke up in the hospital I couldn't remember a thing. Since Ruby was determined on not ending up in another foster home and she, I quote,  'couldn't just leave me alone', she decided to take me with her. Wherever she was,there I'd be also.

We survived life in the streets for a few days before calling it quits and having ourselves taken into a children's home. That way we'd have food and a place to sleep.

You had to leave when you turned eighteen though,and again, she took me with her since she was a year older than me. She managed to land a job at a diner in town. The crib we moved into was not in the best part of the city,but we made do with it.

She was the only family I knew. The only person I trusted with my life.

We were not connected by blood or anything. Heck,we didn't even know each other before we found ourselves in those trafficker's hands,but she still showed me that you can have family that ain't blood. And I think we all deserve someone like that in our lives. Someone who's willing to stand by you as you weather the storms life throws at you... a partner to stand by you as you battle your demons and strive through life.