It was one fine Thursday night when I got a phone call from home...
Mom was crying on the other end...
"Randy, your dad is in the ambulance now heading to KL. He is bleeding in the head.."
Imagine the shock I had....it's not everyday you get a phone call telling you that your father had a brain hemorrhage. Listened to my mother's almost incomprehensible(due to crying) explanation of the situation....then I had to end put the phone down and allow a few moments to pass before finally registering the fact in my head.
I knew at once that I had to go back....yeah, who wouldn't, right? My brother had work and couldn't just leave so that leaves my mother alone. And my mother isn't exactly a calm lady when it comes to situation such as this. I had to go back for both my parents sake...
I wanted to go back that very weekend itself, but I'm tied by responsibilities in University. You see, I had to hand in a report and give a presentation as finals in a course I was taking. Fail that and I had to repeat the year. And then there was paperwork involving my furthering studies.
This was also the time where everyone start doing their research vigorously as we had to hand in our work at the end of September, but luckily I was consistent until now and already had enough material. And also lucky that my lecturer allowed me ample time in Malaysia.
Anyway, after the phone call I got, I weighted my options and opted for a Wednesday flight the following week.
A friend of mine was kind enough to offer his frequent flier points to get tickets for me to go back. Although his was United Airlines and it only had direct to Singapore, he was a much appreciated help. And since I'm reaching Singapore midnight and had to spend the night there, a friend studying there was kind enough to offer me his place to spend the night.
Things like this makes you remember these people forever...
Day comes and I find myself strapped in my seat, staring at the "put your seat belt on before take off" light above me. Flight captain announced that we had good weather and was expecting a quick arrival....GOOD...
Then, I realized that I had been staring at the "seat belt light" for an awful long time and was wondering what went wrong. And then it came...
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are experiencing some mechanical problem. The ground crew is inspecting it and the flight will be delayed for an hour"
Of all timings, now? When I'm anxious to go back? But I thought that one hour delay couldn't hurt...what can be worse?
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm sorry to announce that this flight will be canceled. Another flight will be arranged tomorrow at noon"
Great...now I will miss my connecting flight from Singapore to KL. And considering the fact that my dad wanted to see me badly, this will be a big blow to his already depressed and negative mental state. BUT, I suppose that this is much better than having an airplane crash...
Reached Singapore and had to fork out 80 SGD to get the earliest flight out...
Once again, customs officers staring at my passport, walking down the long walkway to my gate, strap myself into the seat...
"Ladies and Gentlemen, there will be a short delay...."
Oh, come on!! Again?!! A lot of things had caused some sort of delay and struggle, not just the cancelled flight but other unmentioned things as well...
Sigh...can't help but be reminded by what my dad said all the time, "When you are in a rush, all the traffic lights will be red"
This time, no cancellation following the delay so...it's all good for me. Reached KL a little after midnight. Was picked up by an uncle of mine. I wanted to go directly to the hospital but my uncle was very very tired and I had to stay very very patient and keep from pestering him to take me to the hospital.
Finally got to see my dad the next day...arriving 2 days later than expected, I could see that the anxiety had taken a toll on my dad.
Got the gist from the doctor saying that my dad had had bleeding inside the skull due to his drug side effect(he's taking some kind of medicine to regulate his blood density to his pacemaker). The bleeding had formed a clot and they are keeping him under observation and will only decide what to do after a week.
Anyway, although everybody's been telling me that this isn't that serious a condition, my dad's been sick for decades and this present scare had affected his mental state a lot...and me arriving 2 days late? Well, let's just say that he suffered quite a bit in that 2 days...
When he finally got to see me, he cheered up immediately and things got a lot better from then on. He started eating again(haven't been eating properly), started moving about(had been bed ridden all the time)....although he still suffers head pains(means no peaceful sleep), things had suddenly gotten much more bearable and he is able to sleep through the night....
He told me a lot of things that he had not before...well, things that I'm not too comfortable sharing here, but important things concerning his past life that I had not known. Told me how much he appreciated the family more than ever before...
This sort of danger had put a new found appreciation of life within both my dad and me...
Truly, there are no appreciation without threat...
Things look okay at the moment, and I hope that with my love and support, things will be okay all the way...
