Shattered

1. The Stars Shine Bright

It was almost eight at night when Beth left her house. Grocery shopping had been pending for days now. Most of her time were spent in the operation theatres and when she did stay at her home, she tried to make up for all her lost sleep so often that her chores always got delayed.

Beth Richards was one of the most renowned cardiologist of the city. She mostly worked double time. Living single had never appealed her. She was never happy at home and most of the time she stayed at the hospital whether they needed her or not.
Funnily, they did need her most of the time.

Guiding seven residents, working on two to three surgeries almost every alternate day along with publishing researches, somewhere down the road, she had become a workaholic.

Today her boss had sent her home against her wishes. When she had came back home after a tiring day, she had fallen asleep almost instantaneously like she did always.
But when she did wake up, she realised, there was no food in her house and finally, after weeks, she went to the grocery store.

It had been a really long time since she had a chance to see the city like she did today. Most of the time, she was in such a rush, she missed out on small details of life that one should know.

Today she walked leisurely on the streets. The tree that was growing outside her house had lost its green colour. It's leaves were now wearing autumn red. Some covered the footpath, some the road.
A little distance ahead, she met her neighbours who were returning from their evening stroll in the park near by. Their son laughed while sitting in his pram when Beth tickled him. She loved kids. She talked to them for a couple of minutes before walking ahead.

She decided to sit in the park before buying the necessary items. When she sat down on the bench there, she looked up to see the sky. It was a starry night. She could make out the constellations and the patterns she had learnt in school.
Cold breeze blew through the park and she remembered how she never enjoyed stargazing, at least not alone.

She got up and had walked for a couple of blocks when something caught her attention. In the alley, she saw someone lying on the ground. She knew this part of the neighbourhood could become a little dangerous if one is not careful, so she stayed cautious but went ahead to inspect.

The man was lying in dirt with blood coming out of the nasty cut on his hand. There was more blood on the ground than there should have been from this cut. She inspected more and saw a deep cut on his abdomen.
It was clear, he had been mugged. She checked for the muggers. No one was there and they both were safe. She quickly bent down to check if he was awake.

"Sir?" She patted his cheek. His brown eyes stirred. "Sir, can you hear me?" He looked at her and then nodded a little. His hands were covering the wound on his abdomen. She quickly pulled her phone out and called for the ambulance.

"Sir please keep pressure on that." She said while her hands were inspecting the damage that had been done.

It was a stab wound. She helped him to sit and kept pressure on the wound to prevent the blood from gushing out. In less than ten minutes, the ambulance had come and they both were leaving for the hospital. The hospital where she worked was close by. When they reached there, she quickly took him in the ER and began the treatment.

She cleaned the wound and stitched the cut. After an hour, she left him to rest while she spoke with the police to complete the medicolegal formalities.

When she came back after a while to check on him, he was sleeping. He had asked for a his bodyguard before going to sleep. The hospital staff had informed him about the man's condition. He was now sitting with her patient.

She checked his vitals again and went to the night duty doctor's room.
So much for her half day.

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