Chapter 5
“Dr. Judith was such a kind soul, always speaking softly. So young, and now she’s gone… What a pity!”
“Anyone who’s been to medical school knows how grueling it is. She’d only been working for two years and collapsed! This heartless hospital clearly didn’t care about its doctors!”
“If I were her family, I’d make them pay until they’re bankrupt. The way this hospital handled things is absolutely heinous!”
Floating above, I could only shake my head in frustration.
No, that’s not the truth at all!
They didn’t know what this hospital meant to me!
If it hadn’t been for the hospital’s support, I never would have had the chance to study, to learn, or to become a doctor dedicated to saving lives!
When I was young, I was fostered with my uncle’s family. My parents rarely sent child support on time.
My uncle didn’t earn much and had his own family to provide for.
Although he was honest and never looked down on me, I had no real status in the house, and everything had to be done according to my aunt’s wishes.
So I learned early on to watch people’s expressions.
Every day before dawn, I would get up to feed the chickens and cook.
The clothes I wore were hand–me–downs from my aunt’s children, ill–fitting and uncomfortable.
I never dared to shirk any housework, and as a result, my hands developed chilblains at a young age, swelling like radishes every winter.
Even so, my aunt never showed me a kind face, often beating and scolding me, or sometimes withholding food.
When I reached school age, my uncle wanted to send me to school, but my aunt immediately said there was no money.
The child support my parents sent was used for her children’s meals at school instead.
“She’s a child nobody wants. Why should she go to school? If she goes, who’s going to do all the chores? Besides, what’s the point of a girl going. to school anyway? In a few years, we can just marry her off and get some bride price to help our son find a wife!”Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!
I was only six years old then, but I was already starting to understand a lot more.
Some people in the village said that only education could change one’s fate, so I knelt before my aunt, begging her desperately.
“Auntie, please let me go to school! When I grow up. I promise I’ll earn a lot of money and take care of you!”
But no matter how much I pleaded and cried, she refused to relent.
It was around this time that the director of the hospital, who was leading a medical team in the countryside, overheard my sobs and kindly inquired about my situation.
In front of my aunt, he lifted me up, his eyes warm and compassionate.
“Good girl, don’t cry. Uncle will make sure you go to school.”
It was the first time someone had shown me kindness, the first time someone reached out when I was drowning in despair.
The image of the director in his white coat became etched in my memory.
From that moment, I was determined to become a doctor.
I promised myself that once I had the skills, I would work at his hospital and help others who, like me, were trapped in hopelessness.
But now, watching the shameless expressions of my parents, I felt nothing but shame and fury.
How could they?
How could they abandon me for so many years. and then shamelessly lie, trying to profit off my death?
Did they really think they could extort a huge settlement from the hospital like this?
No. I would never let them succeed!