enjoy!
posted by revoo.. at 3:36 AM
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Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
a humane touch
The unfeeling, cold hard cement floor sent shudders down my spine once again. The moonlight rays from the full moon gave little illumination to the dark cell that imprisoned me. I have only thoughts of those I have left behind: my ailing parents, my young siblings and a wonderful fiancée. I pondered over my actions that led me to my present situation. The consequences were dire and cruel, but I had no regrets. My days as a doctor were over, and the remaining days of my life were numbered. This was not the desired end to my life, but I lived with that. After all, I did the right thing. I laid my back on the cold, hard cement floor once again, closed my eyes and recounted the good old days. A weak smile formed on my face…
I was at my peak, one of the most distinguished doctors in the doctor fraternity. I was widely recognized in the other in the same profession. I had a terrific record of only one casualty, and that was during my first operation, about five years ago. Since then, I had progressed, surpassing all my senior colleagues, and earned the respect of the director of the hospital. I have enjoyed lots of success in my job and my personal life. However, the real enlightenment only came when I really needed it. That day finally came, on a fine Monday morning…
“Get out of the way! Get out of the way! This is an emergency!”
That got my attention. I voluntarily took my stethoscope and approached the unfortunate victim who was on a stretcher pushed along by a team of nurses to the nearest available emergency room. He looked to be in a terrible state, heavily wrinkled face with a deep scar across his cheek; short stubble formed on his unshaven face and clothed only in a set of ragged pyjamas. On first opinion, he looked as though was from the streets, but the great emerald ring on his right hand gave him away.
“What’s the statistics?” I asked.
“His blood pressure is 75 and decreasing. His heart rate is low too. He suffered from a relapse of a stroke… “
I did not digest the rest of the report as I felt a sudden grasp on my left hand. The old man’s right hand had unconsciously grabbed hold of my left hand, in search of much needed reassurance, warmth. My colleague had taken over, and the stretcher was being pushed into the emergency room where necessary life-saving procedures were to be made. I looked at his face again, and stopped in my tracks; his right hand wrenched away from mine. The old man had some sort of an affinity with me, and deep within me, I knew I had to help him. His right hand lay sprawled open beside him, nothing to grasp on except for thin air…
The old man was not sent to the hospital by his family members, instead by a rather old, loyal manservant in his house. I sat down with the old manservant, and realised that they were of the same age group. However, the old manservant hid his wrinkles with a cheerful expression, except with an occasional worried frown when we touched upon the old man’s condition. By the end of the conversation, I was almost in tears. I never knew such sad stories happened in real life. Indeed he was of a rich background, however, ever since his retirement, his family had mistreated him, shunned his presence. They stripped him of all his wealth, except for the great emerald ring- the only source of memory of the happy times he had years ago. His wife’s early death left him to cope with the remaining years alone, and the emerald ring was the only thing she left which signified their love for each other since the day they exchanged vows. He protected it with his life. As I walked back to my office, I glanced through the old man’s ward. Strung together by a series of tubes probing into his veins and flesh which kept him barely alive, I could see no expression on the old man’s face. He was neither relaxed nor tensed, neither happy nor sad; he was void of all humane feelings. My colleague had narrated the whole situation in the emergency room to me, and I knew the operation was a failure. They succeeded in keeping him alive, but failed to prevent him from being totally paralysed. I walked past and towards my office.
I slumped onto my chair, and let out a loud sigh, which startled my other colleagues. It was only after I assured them that there was nothing wrong before they went back to doing their own businesses. I went back into deep thought. I was stranger to the old man, yet I could not help myself from sympathising his predicament. I could almost feel the pain he endured when his life story was narrated for me. Ever since his arrival to the hospital, there were no visitors for him. Neither was there anyone willing to step up to pay the hospital fees. I could not get my mind off the topic, thus I decided to pay him a visit.
The door creaked as I slowly pushed it open, and gave a slight clatter as the door swung close. However, the old man seemed oblivious to these happenings around him. His eyes were open, but they were not moving. Only the ‘tick’ sound emitted from the machine indicated that there was still some life in the old man. There was only blankness in the old man’s eyes, and I could not contain it anymore. On an impulse, I removed his oxygen mask. I could hear his breathing, it was slow and deep, and each breath seemed like a struggle. I could not bear it any longer. I took his pillow from under his head, and put it over his nasal system. There was no struggle. The line on the machine went stopped bobbing up and down to form a long straight line that filled the screen. Slowly I took the pillow away from his face. His eyes were finally closed, and his face relaxed, revealing all the wrinkles formed over the years. In his finger still wore the emerald ring, I stared at it and imagined how life would be for him up there; his pain gone… I did not notice a nurse walk past and watch the whole incident unfold…
Footsteps approached. I opened my eyes and found myself back in the dark cell. The relatives of the old man had brought the case onto court and I landed up in here. I laughed to myself at the irony of the situation.
The door of the cell creaked open, much louder than those in the hospital. Two guards lifted me to my feet and led me to the white chamber. It was a five minutes walk. The last five minutes of my life. I lay on bed provided as the prison doctor injected me with antihistamine. I closed my eyes once more, for the last time…
Soon, I thought to myself, all would be fine.
I was at my peak, one of the most distinguished doctors in the doctor fraternity. I was widely recognized in the other in the same profession. I had a terrific record of only one casualty, and that was during my first operation, about five years ago. Since then, I had progressed, surpassing all my senior colleagues, and earned the respect of the director of the hospital. I have enjoyed lots of success in my job and my personal life. However, the real enlightenment only came when I really needed it. That day finally came, on a fine Monday morning…
“Get out of the way! Get out of the way! This is an emergency!”
That got my attention. I voluntarily took my stethoscope and approached the unfortunate victim who was on a stretcher pushed along by a team of nurses to the nearest available emergency room. He looked to be in a terrible state, heavily wrinkled face with a deep scar across his cheek; short stubble formed on his unshaven face and clothed only in a set of ragged pyjamas. On first opinion, he looked as though was from the streets, but the great emerald ring on his right hand gave him away.
“What’s the statistics?” I asked.
“His blood pressure is 75 and decreasing. His heart rate is low too. He suffered from a relapse of a stroke… “
I did not digest the rest of the report as I felt a sudden grasp on my left hand. The old man’s right hand had unconsciously grabbed hold of my left hand, in search of much needed reassurance, warmth. My colleague had taken over, and the stretcher was being pushed into the emergency room where necessary life-saving procedures were to be made. I looked at his face again, and stopped in my tracks; his right hand wrenched away from mine. The old man had some sort of an affinity with me, and deep within me, I knew I had to help him. His right hand lay sprawled open beside him, nothing to grasp on except for thin air…
The old man was not sent to the hospital by his family members, instead by a rather old, loyal manservant in his house. I sat down with the old manservant, and realised that they were of the same age group. However, the old manservant hid his wrinkles with a cheerful expression, except with an occasional worried frown when we touched upon the old man’s condition. By the end of the conversation, I was almost in tears. I never knew such sad stories happened in real life. Indeed he was of a rich background, however, ever since his retirement, his family had mistreated him, shunned his presence. They stripped him of all his wealth, except for the great emerald ring- the only source of memory of the happy times he had years ago. His wife’s early death left him to cope with the remaining years alone, and the emerald ring was the only thing she left which signified their love for each other since the day they exchanged vows. He protected it with his life. As I walked back to my office, I glanced through the old man’s ward. Strung together by a series of tubes probing into his veins and flesh which kept him barely alive, I could see no expression on the old man’s face. He was neither relaxed nor tensed, neither happy nor sad; he was void of all humane feelings. My colleague had narrated the whole situation in the emergency room to me, and I knew the operation was a failure. They succeeded in keeping him alive, but failed to prevent him from being totally paralysed. I walked past and towards my office.
I slumped onto my chair, and let out a loud sigh, which startled my other colleagues. It was only after I assured them that there was nothing wrong before they went back to doing their own businesses. I went back into deep thought. I was stranger to the old man, yet I could not help myself from sympathising his predicament. I could almost feel the pain he endured when his life story was narrated for me. Ever since his arrival to the hospital, there were no visitors for him. Neither was there anyone willing to step up to pay the hospital fees. I could not get my mind off the topic, thus I decided to pay him a visit.
The door creaked as I slowly pushed it open, and gave a slight clatter as the door swung close. However, the old man seemed oblivious to these happenings around him. His eyes were open, but they were not moving. Only the ‘tick’ sound emitted from the machine indicated that there was still some life in the old man. There was only blankness in the old man’s eyes, and I could not contain it anymore. On an impulse, I removed his oxygen mask. I could hear his breathing, it was slow and deep, and each breath seemed like a struggle. I could not bear it any longer. I took his pillow from under his head, and put it over his nasal system. There was no struggle. The line on the machine went stopped bobbing up and down to form a long straight line that filled the screen. Slowly I took the pillow away from his face. His eyes were finally closed, and his face relaxed, revealing all the wrinkles formed over the years. In his finger still wore the emerald ring, I stared at it and imagined how life would be for him up there; his pain gone… I did not notice a nurse walk past and watch the whole incident unfold…
Footsteps approached. I opened my eyes and found myself back in the dark cell. The relatives of the old man had brought the case onto court and I landed up in here. I laughed to myself at the irony of the situation.
The door of the cell creaked open, much louder than those in the hospital. Two guards lifted me to my feet and led me to the white chamber. It was a five minutes walk. The last five minutes of my life. I lay on bed provided as the prison doctor injected me with antihistamine. I closed my eyes once more, for the last time…
Soon, I thought to myself, all would be fine.
posted by revoo.. at 6:08 AM
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