It’s a lonely, lonely world.
There comes a time when the people we expect to be there, family and close friends, are nowhere to be found. In these moments, strangers become unexpected confidants, stepping in to fill the void.
In The Samaritan’s Patient by Chevron Ross, Paige Abernathy, the protagonist, is left battered after a brutal attack. Stripped of her identity and abandoned by those who should have protected her, she is forced to navigate a world where she is completely alone. No family or friends come to her aid but compassionate strangers. Some offer kindness out of obligation, others out of genuine care, but each interaction helps her heal.
Paige’s story challenges traditional notions of family and belonging, showing how support often comes from unexpected places in times of crisis.
Crisis Breaks Walls, but It Also Builds Bridges
In The Samaritan’s Patient, it’s not blood ties that determine who shows up. A businessman, a complete stranger, finds Paige unconscious and badly beaten on the Bustamante Bridge. Instead of walking away like others before him, he takes her to the hospital and even covers part of her medical expenses despite having no personal connection to her. His actions show that empathy is not always driven by obligation but by human decency.
Trauma can be a strange unifier, revealing raw emotions that create an immediate, unfiltered connection. In a world where loneliness is epidemic, the kindness of strangers becomes a lifeline.
After losing her memory, Paige finds herself in a shelter surrounded by people who, like her, have been discarded or forgotten by society. Despite their hardships, the shelter’s residents form a makeshift family, supporting one another through shared struggles.
Perhaps this is why support groups and communities become safe havens; they are built on mutual understanding.
What Makes a Family?
If family is defined by love, loyalty, and care rather than genetics, then every human has the potential to be family to someone else. These bonds are not dictated by birth but by the choice to show up when someone needs us most.
Read how Paige Abernathy found her unexpected family in The Samaritan’s Patient, now on Amazon.
