Thursday 7.21am, on the way to work
"Are you sure you dowan to take the day off?" The boyfriend looked over, his face a creased sheet of concern and worry.
"I'll be fine," I managed to mutter as I lowered the passenger seat into a horizontal position. "Just need to lie down and drink some warm water."
9.50am, SMS at work
Him: Dee howz ur stomach? Stil pain?
Me: Uh huh.. took gastric pills d but still hurts.
Him: U should go see doc le. No panel clinic nearby?
10.30am, lying down at the doctor's office
"Oh my, your tummy's quite bloated ya," the doctor, a slight Punjabi lady with a long ponytail, commented as she felt around my exposed midriff.
As I pulled down my dress and struggled to make my way out of the bed without agitating the drumming pain on my abdomen, she began scribbling onto my card as she explained, "I'm giving you heavier dosages to take care of your gastritis. The Maalox you're taking is obviously not effective anymore."
"Alright," I tried not to wince. "So I'll feel better right after taking the medicine?"
She smiled kindly. "Yes, you'll be better soon."
12.55pm, crouching in one of the bathroom cubicles
I'm not getting better, I prayed desperately to God. What should I do? Please take away the pain.
Another wave of unbearable pain swept through my abdomen, and I could feel the back of my eyes burning up with hot tears from the stabbing pain. Oh God...
The phone vibrated - it was a text from the boyfriend. "Dee, just go to the doc again and take the day off. I'll come get you home. Ok?"
I swallowed down the tears and took a deep breath before heading out to the elevators. Screw
1.20pm, in a different doc's office
"You're having a fever, my dear," the motherly Malay lady doctor exclaimed as she examined me before motioning me to lie down on the bed.
After some prodding and questions, she concluded that it's very possible that I have acute appendicitis, and insisted that I get to the emergency room soon. "I dowan to run the risk of it getting ruptured, coz that would be an even bigger problem." She took a look at my grimaced face, and said meaningfully, "Even more painful."
I quickly whipped out my phone and texted the boyfriend. "Drea, doc says I need to get hospitalized. Can come get me now?"
3.30pm, squirming inside the car stuck in classic KL traffic
The boyfriend dabbed my tear-streaked face with some tissue paper, his forehead deeply creased, visibly frustrated at the unmoving traffic.
"I'm sorry," I sobbed. "Should've listened to you." He pursed his lips slightly, but spared me the I-told-you-so reprimanding.
"Don't worry ok," He said after taking hold of his emotions, sweeping my hair away from my sweaty cheeks. "You'll be fine soon."
5.20pm, after an ultrasound, blood & urine test at the Emergency Unit
As the nurse inserted a needle into my clenched fist, she casually mentioned, "So kita kena admit you into hospital la. Nanti doctor akan jumpa you dekat ward."
With a growimg lump appearing at the base of the needle, which I presumed was blood stuck at the veins, the only thing that I could think of was, if I'd known that I was gonna show more than five people my bare midriff today, I'd have put on a more decent pair of panties this morning.
