Chapter 20 - Back In Canada

TORONTO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

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Setting foot for the first time since 6 years away made a sudden emotion come to Viona's heart. She finally returned to her home country where she was born and raised, even though there was no home nor family waiting for her to come back. It still made her small heart cry.

But this time, Viona wasn't the frightened and weak 18-year-old girl. She was now a doctor whose abilities have been recognized. She ordered a taxi to come to her foster parents' graves. She had not visited for a long time.

After she arrived at the cemetery, with slow but sure steps Viona headed for two gravestones that looked beautiful with fresh flowers. During her stay in London, she made a special arrangement with a flower shop that usually provided flowers for burial, so that both her parents' gravestones would receive fresh red roses every other day.

She could quickly recognize the tombstones of her parents from a distance. The photo of Maria looked very elegant, while the photo of George never changed. He still looked handsome. Viona's tears fell incessantly when she arrived at the tombstone of her parents.

Feelings of longing and guilt mixed to make her cry heard from outside the cemetery, which made people shocked because they thought there was a funeral happening.

After almost an hour of crying for her father and mother, Viona finally went to the city to find a place to rest. It was already dark and the night was getting cold. Her choice fell to a small 3-star hotel on the outskirts of Ottawa, which was quite affordable.

Actually, Viona could have booked for a 5-star hotel, but she did not do that. For her, all rooms in any hotel were the same as long as it was comfortable and safe. It was enough for her.

Viona activated her cellphone after she bought a new sim card at the airport to inform Jenni and Amina in London that she was well. After sending the message, she chose to take a shower to refresh herself after flying nearly 8 hours from London.

Thirty minutes later, Viona came out of the bathroom and had changed into her nightgown. Because she was hungry, Viona ordered food through room service. When the food arrived, she decided to eat while turning on the television in the room to find out what had happened in her hometown so far.

"Sir Fernando," shrieked Viona in shock when she saw the news about Fernando on TV. The man now had become the most influential businessman in the city.

"I'm so… sorry, Sir," she muttered to herself as she recalled her stupidity several years ago.

It was the guilt for Fernando that made Viona unable to open her heart to other men. She felt that she had hurt Fernando so deeply.

Viona fell asleep with tears still flowing from the corners of her eyes. Every time she remembered that man, she felt like the worst person in the world.

***

The sunlight slowly crawled in through the opening between the curtains in Viona's room. That made her awake because she felt dazzled. She rushed to the bathroom because she had an interview scheduled today at a hospital.

The reason Viona easily gave up her position at the London hospital was that she got an offer to work at the hospital in the city of Ottawa where she had wanted to go to. Finally, the opportunity came from one of her patient's family a few months ago who said that her thematic hospital needed a new surgeon in which she was a specialist.

Taking the bus, Viona finally arrived at the hospital where she was going to do a job interview. She walked gracefully to the information booth and was asked to wait in the meeting room to meet with the hospital director.

After nearly two hours of interview, Viona was finally accepted at the hospital. Shea even got an apartment provided for her by the hospital while she was working there. Actually, she also got a car but Viona refused because she was not very good at driving cars.

She walked out of the hospital and head for a restaurant near the hospital to eat. She was hungry because she hadn't eaten anything from the morning.

***