Chapter 3 A turn around

The doctor yelled for a nurse before rushing back to attend to my mother, who had collapsed on the floor.

"Mum! Wake up," Samantha yells. I just stand there, paralyzed by panic. I begin to wonder if I'm cursed or something-if I'm going to be an orphan within a couple of hours. I don't even have the strength to say anything as I fall to my knees and begin to sob. Two nurses emerge with a stretcher and place her on it before wheeling her into one of the wards.

"You two shouldn't panic. We're going to do the best that we can," the doctor says before running in the direction of the nurses.

Samantha kneels beside me and holds me tight as we both begin to sob.

"Will we ever recover from this? Will everything ever be okay?" Samantha says as tears stream down her face. I have no words of reassurance to answer her questions-I truly have no answer.

We sit in the waiting area for at least an hour before the same doctor returns to address us.

"Everything is okay, miss. It seems your mother collapsed out of shock, but she's fine now. You can come to see her. I would advise that you make no mention of what just happened to your father, as she's still trying to recover from that news. I'd also recommend that you keep her here for a few days so we can monitor her condition and make sure she's okay. A nurse will come to take you to her shortly. Please, just try to remain calm," the doctor reassures us. We nod at everything he says before he walks away.

In less than ten minutes, a nurse walks out of the ward area toward us.

"Are you two the daughters of Mrs. Miller?" the nurse asks.

"Yes, we are," I respond.

"You can come see your mother now. Just follow me, please," the nurse says. She doesn't wait for a response before she starts walking toward the ward area. Samantha and I quickly rise to our feet and follow her. The nurse stops at a room and leads us in. We see our mother sitting up-she looks as though she's aged twenty years in just a few minutes.

My mother smiles weakly as she sees us walk in.

"I'll leave you all alone. If you need anything, I'm at the desk area to attend to your needs," the nurse says as she walks out and closes the door behind her.

The atmosphere is tense, with so many unspoken words hanging in the air. I try to speak first to break the silence, but Mum beats me to it.

"I'm sorry I worried you two. Nothing is going to happen to us. We'll be fine. We'll get through this as a family," Mum says, trying to reassure us-and surprisingly, it works.

I feel at peace with her words as Samantha and I rush to her side and hug her. I want to believe everything will be okay. I'm sure it will be, as long as we have each other.

Mum is discharged after a couple of days. The doctors explain that she seems to be doing just fine physically, but they advised that she see a therapist to ensure she's also receiving mental health support.

Within those few days, I called both Café Oasis and The Tipsy Tavern to inform them that I'd be taking at least two weeks off due to everything that's happened. Donald seemed unhappy about my leave, but he approved it, regardless of how displeased he sounded. Gabriel, on the other hand, seemed genuinely sad about what happened. He offered his condolences and even offered to financially support the funeral. He somehow knew we were struggling financially and was happy to help. I tried to turn him down, but he was persistent, so I accepted.

I feel bad receiving help from him, considering we used to date, but even after we split, Gabriel has been nothing but kind to me-and I truly appreciate it.

The funeral is held a week after Mum is discharged from the hospital. Some of Dad's family were in attendance. Gabriel and Sandra came around earlier to help with the organization and planning.

I resumed work a few days later, and right now I'm at The Tipsy Tavern, serving drinks to customers.

"Hey! I ordered vodka like ten minutes ago, and I still haven't gotten my order. Are you folks boiling my drink or something?" a customer yells, and everyone laughs.

"Here's your order, sir," I say with a smile. The customer grabs his drink and downs it in less than ten seconds before yelling for another glass.

My shift ends quickly. As I walk toward the changing area, Sandra calls me back.

"Hey April, how are you holding up?" Sandra asks, concern written all over her face.

"I'm doing alright. Just been having trouble sleeping due to a couple of nightmares, but it's nothing sleep meds can't handle," I respond with a smile.

"You can always call me whenever you have trouble sleeping. I barely sleep at night anyway," Sandra says. She's always been a bit of an insomniac.

"It's fine, Sandra. I'll be okay," I reply calmly.

"Besides that, I saw a job ad for the position of executive assistant at Vaughn Industries. I remembered you majored in Business Administration, so I thought you'd be interested," Sandra says.

"Wow, a chance to work with my degree? Definitely!" I reply with excitement.

I apply for the job with high hopes before leaving the tavern. A week after my application, I get a call from an unknown number.

"Hello, who is this please?" I ask politely.

"This is Ruth Osborne from the HR department at Vaughn Industries. You applied for the position of executive assistant last week. I'm pleased to inform you that you've been selected as one of the candidates. There will be a screening process held at our head office in Manhattan tomorrow, so please do your best to be available. Thank you," Ruth says.

"Thank you so much," I say, tears in my eyes, as Ruth hangs up.

I punch the air in excitement as I look forward to the next day.