The next couple of days whizzed by in a blurry daze. Anna soon became accustomed to the punishable routine, often using the bitter sorrow to numb her fatigue. By 6:30 a.m., she would have already collected the piping hot porridge Wei Yee’s mother had generously prepared. Anna wanted her mother to have at least one proper meal a day. She tasted the soupy macaroni served once at the ward and likened it to eating rubber pellets soaked in diluted bleach. After breakfast, she would read her mother the daily news hoping to take both their minds off the horrible fate that has befallen them. Her mother would then take a nap or watch chinese soaps on the fuzzy tv while Anna used the time to search for potential curing methods for her mother’s illness on the web. She soon became very familiar with the medical jargons and was comfortably applying them when speaking to the doctors. By 5:15 p.m. Anna would rush home for a quick shower before heading to the nearby coffee shop to buy her mother’s dinner. She would have Aunty Ho, the noodle seller to specially cook her mother’s noodles without oil or too much salt, usually just a dash of pepper in the aromatic chicken broth and sprinkled with some finely chopped spring onions. Fifteen years of patronage granted Anna this exceptional treatment from Aunty Ho. On the rare occasions that Claire is blessed with a better appetite, Anna would take away instead steamed rice topped with stir fried bitter gourd with chicken and black beans. It is her mother’s favourite but it pained Anna to see Claire being able to finish no more than half of what is served. By the time Anna reaches home at night, it is usually close to 11:30 p.m. and she goes to bed with an aching back from sitting too much on the unforgiving plastic chair beside her mother’s bed. She’s thankful that her exhaustion serves also as her nightly lullaby.
There wasn’t a day where Claire didn’t have any visitors. They comprised of distant relatives (some Anna had never met in her entire life), close friends (they are only a handful), neighbours (less than a handful) and Claire’s colleagues (Anna lost count but suspected they came as only an excuse to get away from work). By the fourth day she was warded in, Claire already had 3 standing bouquet of flowers by the corner of her room, all well wishes of a speedy recovery punctuated in bold. Anna hated the aroma of the daisies and gerberas because it reminded her of the same smell emanated in the funeral parlour when her grandad passed away. She beared with it since the colours added a certain vibrancy to the otherwise dull and depressing room.
Wei Yee and her mom came as often as they could for which Anna is grateful. Sometimes, Mrs. Chan brought along double boiled herbal soup which is supposedly good for revitalisation of the mind and body. Mrs. Chan being Mrs. Chan wouldn’t leave until Claire swallowed the very last drop.
To take care of her mother, Anna had missed the first three days of the college’s second semester. Although she was sure she’s falling way behind in class, it couldn’t be helped. No one needed her more than her mother now. Uncle Leon is trying his best to source for a part time maid to relieve Anna of some of her duties so she could attend classes but his limited income is making his search especially tough. Wei Yee would make copies of her notes and pass them to Anna by the end of each day but they weren’t sharing all the same classes. As far as Anna’s friends from the other classes are concerned, she wasn’t ready to share her recent family tragedy with them yet.
One day, Anna was washing up the dishes in the ward’s bathroom and she heard a male voice speaking to her mother outside. She assumed him to be one of her mom’s colleagues and didn’t give it a second thought as she began skinning an apple. When she was done, she walked out of the bathroom and was utterly stunned to see Gabriel sitting on her plastic chair, chatting animatedly with Claire. ‘What is he doing here!’ her thoughts screamed. They both looked at Anna’s bewildered expression and smiled. A few seconds passed before Gabriel spoke up ‘So … you’re just going to stand there all night?’ Anna blushed and quickly came over to the bed and said ‘What are you doing here? And how did you know?’ ‘Well, I didn’t see you in class and you’re not answering my calls. So I asked around and everyone’s as clueless as I am. So left with no other choices, I cornered Wei Yee and my boys threatened to scar her pretty face unless she spilled the truth,’ he joked. ‘You did what!’ exclaimed Anna. ‘Woah, I was just joking, silly. I simply asked her very nicely and she told me what happened. Besides I figured you needed the notes from all the classes you’ve been missing,’ he replied. He then looked over to Anna’s mother and said ‘Aunty, I asked the shop keeper and he said all you have to do is to boil it for three hours with the rest of the herbs and it’s ready’. Anna realised then that Gabriel was referring to the very big box of American ginseng he had bought for her mother. ‘Aiyo, I can’t possibly accept something so expensive from you. Please take it back,’ Claire said embarrassingly. ‘Don’t worry Aunty, that shop keeper is a family friend and I got a very good discount. So it’s actually not very expensive,’ Gabriel graciously countered. Anna wanted to say something but the door opened and Mrs. Chan walked in. The inquisitive lady immediately said loudly ‘Waaa Nana, who’s this hemsem young man? Your boyfriend ar?’ ‘Aiyo Aunty! No la! He’s just a friend and he’s here to pass me some notes,’ she replied very quickly as blood rushed to her cheeks. ‘I didn’t know they thought you all how to make ginseng in college. Waa! And look at the size of it, surely not cheap eh,’ Mrs. Chan replied as she playfully nudged Gabriel. ‘Eh Claire ar, looks like your future son-in-law is treating you very well hor,’ she continued teasing. ‘Who are we to control these young people nowadays,’ Claire said with a smile. Gabriel looked at Anna and a mocking grin was plastered on his face. ‘Nana?’ he silently mouthed.
Just then Wei Yee walked in and said ‘Ma, I parked the car on the street opposite the main entrance. The hospital’s car park is full already. Oh, you told Anna yet?’ ‘Tell me what?’ Anna responded. ‘Oh, nothing la. Just that from tomorrow onwards, I’ll be your mother’s full time caretaker. I’ve already arranged everything with Uncle Chan. So you can go back to college okay,’ she said seriously. ‘I can’t trouble all of you this way Aunty. You’ve already done too much for us as it is,’ Anna replied. ‘Don’t talk nonsense la. It has been decided. Next week onwards, your mother will be undergoing chemotherapy. She will need banyak (a lot of) nourishments to pull through. My cooking will do a lot more help than the ones you bungkus (take away) from the coffee shop. Also, you can’t miss anymore classes or you’ll flunk out of college. You want to give your mother heart attack some more ar,’ Mrs. Chan said wisely. ‘Besides, it’ll give us old ladies more time to gossip,’ she added less sagely as she launched into her trademark hyena cackle. Before Anna could respond, her tearing mother was already thanking her friend profusely.
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