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.

•

Alec was in his office when his mind drifted to the thoughts of his wife. It felt almost as if he could hear her voice in his mind. He could see her sitting in his room. She used to always smile when she would enter the office and would say, "Hello. I thought I could interest Mr CEO with his wife's company. The wife he rarely sees."

It was true, he used to always be so busy with his work, he never spent enough time with her when he had his chance.
Now, she never came to his office anymore.
She didn't stay with him anymore.

She had died in a car crash. In three months time, it will be two whole years since he lost her.

It had been a long time since her death, but not long enough for his heart to heal.

He worked, ate and slept like every other person but inside he broke apart everyday. He wasn't healing, he was only breaking.

When the memories of his wife would get too much for his mind to bear, he would go out to have a drink. So that is what he decided to do. He left early from office and went to the bars.

After a couple of glasses, he asked his bodyguard, Roger, to leave him alone for a while.

He walked alone on the city streets. He sat in a park, saw the stars that shined brightly in the sky and heard his wife's voice. "The stars shine so bright. Something good will come our way!"
His drunk eyes hallucinated her sitting next to him, her hand entwined with his. He smiled and she kissed his cheek.

She used to love starry nights, always thinking they were lucky. He always used to called her out on her superstitions but she defended them saying they were positive thoughts, something he needs more in his life.

He could remember her fights and her smiles. It was all too much today. How could he live on when she wasn't there to show him the positive side of life.

He dismissed those thoughts and started to walk again. He looked around and realized he didn't know where he was or he was going.

He had just crossed a dark alley when he heard someone coming behind him. A second later he was pulled back in that alley. A group of young boys were shouting at him.

"Give it.... Give us everything you have! Hand everything over!" One of them said as he pulled out a knife.

He quickly gave his wallet and phone. They checked his wallet and found enough cash. But they weren't satisfied. Their eyes were set on his watch. His wrist watch. It was a Rolex that his late had gifted him on their last anniversary. He had never taken it off since her death.

"Give us the Rolex!"

"I won't." He said. He knew the answer wasn't in his favour. They were five, plus one had a knife. He didn't know how to fight, so he stood no chance, but that fact didn't stop him to try and protect what he treasured.

"Give us the damn watch!" They shouted again.

"No! You have the money, now get out of here!"

"What did you say?"

"You got the money, now go."

"We are taking that watch." The one with the knife said. Then, his hand reached out to snatch it. Alec tried to twist his hand but the others started punching him.

"You wanna fight huh?" One of them said and they all started beating him. He could feel the blood coming out from his forehead.

"Give us the watch!" They pulled him to his feet. He didn't. They asked again, he refused. The third time the knife cut him deep.

"What did you do?" One of them shouted. The mugging had gone too far and they knew it. They stood there petrified for a moment or two before running away. The one with the knife still tried to snatch his watch but others pulled him away.

He laid on the ground and felt himself bleed. He tried it glance at the sky again. Maybe this was the day he would see his wife again. Maybe it really will be a good day.

As he bled there on the ground, a woman came towards him.
She looked in her early thirties. Dark hair and tall. She was speaking to him, probably with an English accent, but he could barely answer. The pain was too much. She asked him to apply pressure on it and called on the phone, probably for the ambulance.

Later reaching the hospital, he realised she was a doctor there. She had carefully cleaned his wounds and treated them. He was asked to stay in till the morning. He asked for Roger and then fell asleep. Next morning, he paid the bill and left before his doctor could attend him.

So much for 'something good' coming his way.

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Hi everyone,
A new chapter! Yay!
I finally figured out how to write it and so here you all go.
Now there might some mistakes, grammatical errors. I didn't read the chapter because o was really tired, so if you find any do let me know, but I will be correcting them later in the evening.

If you enjoyed reading, please vote, comment and share. I love to hear from you all. PM me or leave a message on my profile.

If you want to read more of my stories, do see my completed works.

Until next time, cheerio! :*

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