Chapter 1

Cherry had been forced to find work after her husband abandoned her and their daughter Jane 10 years previously because he accused her of not being able to give him a son. The reason for that was that when Jane was born the birth was very difficult, and the doctor warned Cherry that another birth would probably kill her, so she agreed to have her tubes tied, but her husband did not know this. She knew that he would not have believed the doctor, but after years of trying to make her pregnant again, he gave up and left to find a woman who could provide him with a son. As there is no divorce in Philippines, Cherry could not demand maintenance from him, even if she knew where he was. However, for the last 10 years, Cherry had managed to support herself and Jane, including paying for Jane’s University education.

Now, Cherry was 46, and Jane was 23 and about to graduate from University with a degree in nursing, and had begun working as a trainee nurse at the local hospital in Manila for the practical requirement of her degree. And that’s when Cherry’s secret of how she had managed to support them both for 10 years was finally revealed. And the lives of mother and daughter would never be the same again.

Jane was not supposed to be on duty that Saturday night, but the hospital was short-staffed, and they had called her earlier in the evening and asked if she could help out. Jane was bored and alone – there was only so much TikTok she could watch before it became boring; her mother had gone to work as she always did on a Friday and Saturday evening; and her boyfriend, Gary, was away visiting his mother in the province where he had been born because she was ill, and she needed someone to look after her. Gary had two sisters, but they were married and lived in Manila with young children to take care of, and Gary had just graduated and not yet found a job. So, Jane readily agreed to cover a night shift, especially as she could spend Sunday sleeping.

At the hospital, they assigned her to help in the Emergency Room (ER) where anyone suffering from sudden illness or accident injuries would walk in and receive treatment free of charge. The worst injuries usually arrived at about midnight when young guys who had had too much to drink started fighting and managed to hurt each other or when the users of shabu became paranoid and attacked other drug users who they believed were ghosts or the police or a million other drug-driven hallucinatory ideas.

Jane had never worked a night shift before, so it was a new experience for her to assist in treating the typical injuries that had been caused by alcohol or drug induced violence. When she asked if the patients ever became violent towards the staff, she was told that it happened sometimes, but there were security guards whose job was to make sure that the medical staff were secure and the violent patients were restrained.

Nothing upsetting happened to Jane that night, and by 2 a.m. the stream of injured or ill patients had slowed to a trickle.

Jane was able to relax and take a break at that time. She was feeling a bit sleepy, so she headed to the break room, which was situated just across from the main reception desk of the ER, in search of a cup of coffee to wake her up. In the room she found two older nurses also drinking coffee and chatting.

Having found a paper cup, Jane made herself a cup of coffee that she sipped slowly. The two older nurses welcomed her and suggested that she should sit down.

“Always take the opportunity to sit when you can,” one said. “You never know how long you might have to be on your feet, and it’s not good for your circulation to stand for a really long time.”

So, Jane sat and began chatting to the two older women. They were curious about her college degree because when they had trained as nurses, it was more practical than theoretical, so although they probably knew more about nursing than Jane, she probably had a broader knowledge of medicine than they did.

However, one thing they definitely knew more about was what it was like to work on a night shift in a busy ER. And that is what Jane wanted to know more about.

“Are most of the patients injured because of fighting?” she asked.

“Well, we sometimes have car or motorbike crash injuries to deal with,” one replied. “Then there are domestic violence cases. Those can be really sad because even though the woman has been attacked by her partner, she usually refuses to file a case against him with the police, and after we have patched her up, she returns to her abuser.”

“And of course, we have to deal with the putas who get beaten up by their pimps for not earning enough,” said the other nurse.

“Anyway, you’ll soon see the violence against women cases. They usually arrive at around 3 a.m. for some reason.” And with that, the two older nurses, threw their empty paper coffee cups into the garbage, and rose to their feet to return to their duty.

Jane was about to follow them, but as she opened the door to the break room, she stood for a moment to smooth and straighten her uniform.