In Continuum.

The Virus Magnet

That's me,the virus magnet.Maybe not so much right now but,i remember when i was back in BMTC and the life in Taiwan,i was a weak kid.I was sick all the time,and i remember my mother had to rush me to the hospital four times a week during a period of time.That was how unhealthy i was,the asthma getting to my lungs every alternate days of the week.It was scary,to think that four times a week,a parent has to worry that he or she might not see their son again.To imagine what my mother went through,for me,it still gets to me,and goes to show what a wonderful woman she is.

I am sick again today,and i dont know why.It was yesterday night when it struck,and i was so sick and giddy i couldnt get off my bed and walk to the kitchen.Which was why i stayed in yesterday,visited the clinic first thing in the morning and almost died there because the queue was so bloody long,and everybody was taking their own sweet time.My head was against a storeroom door,spinning off my throat while the lady at the counter slowly and carefully explained the usage of the medicines to the patients.Seriously,i wanted to burst into the doctor's office and tell him i am having a heart attack,when in actual fact it was merely a sudden surge of heart rate due to the stupidity of the clinic assistants.

Anyway,i managed to get a two day MC,which is great because i really get a good rest at home.My head feels ten times heavier and there is an ache in my neck.I feel my nose is about to pop off and the mucus inside wouldnt stop flowing.I am dying,but even so i am feeling better as we speak.Still,i have a love/hate relationship with being sick nowadays,especially when the army is taken into consideration.After all,just look at the weather today.It is optimal for home life!

But then again,sitting at home,watching as the world turns grey and then seeing the rain fall down in sheets with a heavier head and a running nose is not exactly the most beautiful picture in the world on a rainy day like that.Let's admit it,the best thing being sick brings you is the time spent at home,and not really the feeling of drowsiness.I felt,and feel like shit.But what can i do?The price of my absence from hel...i mean,camp.

I remember the tales my mother told me about my childhood days,or rather the lack thereof.I didnt have much of a childhood in Taiwan,never hung around with kids from the neighbourhood or had a lot of fun in the sun kicking soccer.I stayed at home most of the time,admiring the world mostly through the dust covered windows in the living room.I remember the fits of course,the feeling of being utterly out of breath.My mother used to tell me just how scary it was,to hear the air inside my lungs coming out in soft weak jets,when i collapsed on the bed gasping for breath.I was a sick kid ever since i was young,plagued by asthma since the day i was born.I was so serious that my mother had to bring me to the hospital all the way in Taipei four times a week in a period of time.She told me also,that there was this once when we arrived,i vomited all over her shirt and everybody stared at her in the hospital's waiting room,wondering just what the hell happened to this woman,and if she was having some kind of a bad hangover.

I owe it to my mother,i admit.But it is not like i volunteered to have asthma.Of course,the condition got better after i moved to Singapore.But my mother also told me once about how my left ear almost went deaf.Im not too sure what happened,but because they spilled big bucks on my left ear,and for some reason the walls inside it is still somewhat more sensitive than the right.It is the aftermath i guess,a reminder to me just how wonderful my parents are,really.

And because i was sick all the time when i was a kid,i had mucus in my nose all the time,and found it hard to breathe through my mouth.Because i was still young and didnt know how to blow my nose,i was having difficulty breathing.Im not sure if the following story is true,and if you readers out there can stomach it,but my mother told me that there was this once when my Dad sucked the mucus out with his mouth.I dont have any recollection of that ever happening,but i guess i just have to accept it as a fact.My dad is the kind of person who goes the distance to achieve his goals.Besides,he didnt and doesnt have an image to protect anyway(Sorry Dad,Haha).

In BMTC,for some reason,i was plagued by fever for the full three months.Almost,anyway.I remember it was Chinese New Year Eve,and i was back home with a 41 degrees hot head.My mother was so shocked that she was like some soap opera actress,stumbling back a step or two with the thermometer in her hands and a hand on her chest.Because really,i was burning up and i was so sure that i was going to spontaneously combust.

It was strange how it came in waves ever since.I would have a dinner in the later afternoon everyday,hitting an average of 39,and then after two or three Panadols it'd be fine for the night.Then the next day at around the same time it will happen again.I remember the heat sucking all the energy out of me,and was evaculated home once from the island,taking the last boat at 1130pm out and getting home at 1am.But i never took MC before,and this is probably the first time.It does feel good,i admit,to stay away from the army with a valid reason,without actually the need to sacrifise a day off or a day of leave.It feels good,to be where i am now.