When The Tides Turn

“Congratulations, Ruby. Now that you're awake, I have good news and bad news for you. Which one should I spill first? " Dr. Harris said as soon as Ruby opened her eyes after passing out in the labor room the previous night she was laboring. The ICU keeps beeping by her side. “Doctor Harris, where's my baby?” Ruby throbbed, adjusting the hospital gown. It was then she realized the bloodstained gown she had worn to the labor room had been changed. “We have beautiful twins,” the doctor said, as he gestured towards an infant laid inside the trolley. “But…we lost the boy.” Ruby coughed out a handful of breaths she wasn't aware she'd been holding, “ what? I gave birth to a twin?” “ Yes, you gave birth to a twin. The boy was revived dead from your womb shortly after you collapsed.” The doctor said, adjusting his scrub,“ I'm going to leave you to relax, the nurses will be attending to you in a while.” Doctor Harris said as he walked out. ‘Thank you, Doctor.’ That is what Ruby wanted to say, but she couldn't find the right word as her throat felt a stucked from the realization that she had failed, remembering how miserable she had been since she got married. To her husband and his family, the only reason she was still allowed to stay with them was to give birth to an heir. After having two miscarriages, she finally carried one successfully and, luckily, there were twins, but she lost the boy and the girl survived. She shut her eyes tight and tilted her face, fighting to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall on her adorable cheek. ‘How bad can this get? God knows I tried everything I could to give you an heir.’ Ruby pressed her lips, soliloquizing. She looked around the room with the thick smell of antiseptic. Apart from being in the center of the city, Gerand Medical Hospital is on the third floor of one of the most luxurious buildings in Chicago. Everything there speaks of riches, from the Italian tiled floor, to the floor to ceiling windows. She pulled the bedspread away, putting her naked foot on the Italian tiled floor, her eyes fixated on the infant lying gently on her bed. Her faint snoring and folded little fingers are attractive. As she carried the baby in her arms, touching her cheek carefully, the hospital door slammed open abruptly. “Here you are bitch.” A female voice cut through her serenade, two women walked in fiercely, both carrying the same hair, one in her fifties while the other looked to be in her late twenties, just like Ruby herself. “I've always known you're not the right woman for my son. Here you are, dancing with your little bastard…I shouldn't have expected anything good from you.” Maria grinned, her head high and her eyes set on the baby in Ruby's hand. “Promiscuous woman!” Leah snorted, adding fuel to the fire her mother had set, as they seemed ready to roast Ruby alive. Ruby and Leah are around the same age, but they were two different people from a different world entirely. “Don't you ever say that to me again. My child belongs to Eitan and I have never seen another man since I met him.” Ruby tried to defend herself, even though her heart was breaking into shells. She already knows how feisty these two were. She had never won against them since she joined the Koe family. “Shut that stinky mouth and listen to me, you're not eligible to return to the Koe family.” She said as she slapped a set of papers on her face, “make sure you sign this and give it back…your load will be outside the villa waiting for you.” “And is this?” Ruby asked. “Divorce agreement.” Maria said indifferently. “Wait, Maria. You can't just throw me out like that. Where's Eitan? Is my husband aware of this?” Ruby protested, holding the infant to her chest, as if she was hiding her away from the dead looks of her in-laws. Maria scoffed, “huh, who are you to question my authority? My son belongs to me, and you're just a nobody. When you leave here, come and pack your trash, or I'll personally help you trash it. That's all I have to say to you.” “You look pitiful, Ruby. When you leave here, just look for your secret lover and take this bastard with you.” Leah said, sticking her tongue out and rolling her eyes in reverse as she followed her mother out. Their heels are cranking a disturbing sound on the tiles as they walk away. “You two should go to hell.” Ruby spat, putting the baby back in her bed. She rummaged around her body as if she was searching for something. It dawned on her, she had a change of cloth when she had collapsed. “Ehm, nurse…” she tried to call out, but her voice seemed to be failing her. Holding her chest tight, she grabbed one side of the bed as her eyes were rolling, trying not to fall. The door opened immediately, a nurse hurried in holding her handset to her, “You must be looking for this.” She said, but as she noticed Ruby was grabbing her own head with her other hand on the side of the bed, she rushed to her. “Hey, are you okay?” She said, as she helped her back onto the bird. “I'm fine, thanks. It's just…” she snapped the phone into the nurse's hand as soon as she noticed it, not minding how crazy she was now looking at her. She opened the screen and pressed some digits, holding the phone to her ears. After two rings, the call was answered. “Eitan, I'm just waking up, where are you?” That's what she wanted to say, but an arrogant deep voice cut her off. “Don't bother to come back, we're done.” Ruby's head spun abruptly at what she had just heard, a pang of cough escaping her mouth. Looking confused, she wanted to say something, but she couldn't find any words, just trying to make sense of what she heard. “And, you can call Mark to demand whatever you want, you can take any amount you want from him, just don't let me see your face again.” “No, Eitan. I'm not leaving you, all I want is you right now. What will happen to our child if you chase me out? Please don't do this to me.” She pleaded, but she flinched at the next word the man on the phone said. “Just shut up and get lost.” [The call ends.] She blinked her almond-shaped eyes at the vivid button on the screen. Ruby froze with her eyes closed, hot tears streaming down her cheek. Then, her baby started crying. The nurse who was standing before her was confused about what to do, either to pet the baby or console the mother. . She stood frozen, her eyes darting to and from as the whimpering sound erupted the room.