the roaming world :: Jan 17 - Feb 18, 2004

Disclaimer: All character whether dead or alive is in no relation to the story.


Foreword

This is a story about a guy who fell in love with someone so near yet so far… In a hospital ward… after he was warded suffering from an injury during his daily sports…

Chapter 1 – The Accident

The accident has caused a big impact on my life… Ever since the day I stepped into the hospital ward as a patient, my life has gotten a drastic change. I came to know this young woman by the name of Joan. She is a student pursuing a Diploma in Nursing at Nanyang Polytechnic.

She is a Student Nurse doing clinical practice in the Ward I was staying. I came to know her when she administered my admission in the ward. I was happy to know such a nice nurse about my age. We were both 18 years old, as recall. We were coincidentally in the same school. However, we do not get to meet at all. I am not like my fellow guy friends who love to go around babe watching over at the Health Science School. As always, I would be sitting alone during lunchtime in the food court having lunch by myself. However, I love the idea of being alone… It helps me in thinking up good project ideas.

That was before I came to know her. Ever day, after school I would go straight home. I live in the east and would require a lot of time to be spend on traveling. During these hours, they would be spent on thinking up ideas or working on my cross-stitch pieces, while listening to the CD player. I would often invite stares from commuters who were stunned to see a guy actually doing cross stitch… However, that stare would not last long. Just a few minutes and it would be back to normal. It was a way for me to train my concentration and my patience in working on something relatively slowly since I am not that apt in doing cross-stitches.

Once I reach home, I will put down my bag; change into my running or swimming gear and get set for my sports activities, alternating between running and swimming. Cycling would go well only when I have the mood to cycle around the neighborhood.

After I am done with my sports I will be back home for dinner and then its time for revision. I would usually take about 2hours everyday for revision and preparation for tutorial classes.

I seldom skip lessons, as I doubt the need to do so since I am really leaving very far from school.

In late January while I was doing my weekly jogging, I suddenly slid and fell. Pain was hitting down hard on my lower left leg… What am I to do? I asked myself, as I could not even get up with that biting pain… At that time, there were not many joggers around. I tried after several attempts to be myself up with the use of a wooden branch I found which perhaps could support my weight. I limped all the way with some blood, bruise on both leg, and walked myself home.

Upon reaching home, I cleansed and bandaged my wound – I was a first aider back in secondary school, before seeking further medical help as I was just too tired to do so. Being complacent ended me in the hospital hours later; after I ate my dinner then I slowly stroll with the help of my mother to the nearby clinic to have a check up done by the doctor.

The doctor did some examination and I got a scolding by him for moving too much and not knowing that I have a little fracture on my left lower bone. It was not bad, just a small little crack that has caused quite a lot of pain. He got me admitted into the hospital immediately.

Chapter 2 – Love on Valentines?

I was warded on 7 February, the day I injured myself during my daily sports routine.

As I lie on the bed of the ward, I could not sleep. I miss my computer and my cross-stitches. I wish I had them with me now so that I can continue with it as a way to defocus from my lower leg that is giving me all the pain and bad feeling.

I was feeling regretful also from not getting a good warm up before I began jogging… I did not stretch my legs well. While jogging, my eyes were not fully focused while jogging as I was looking around for birds and maybe joggers like me.

Ha, after jogging into the fifth round around the 500m long track, before I fell. Thought it was not serious and it ended up the other way round. How bad can a day be? I asked myself. Think I should just try to recuperate back to normal while I spend sometime in the hospital thinking about what I need to do when I return to school. There will surely be lots of reading up to be done.

With that in mind, I decided to get my brother to bring all my notes to the hospital ward so that I could do my revision while recuperating, the following day. However, I could only use my afternoons to do revision since then morning is chaotic to me. I can see doctors and nurses busy moving from place to place surveying the patients and assisting them in getting better.

My appetite got better as I progressed each day, and soon a week was gone. It is nearing Valentines Day. How I wish I could find a girl I like. As, I was thinking about how to celebrate my valentines if I were to be staying in the hospital or at home. Then, after a few winks of the brain, I saw a young nurse – I suppose a student nurse, coming by. I came to realize it was time for medication. I took the tablets from her and smiled at her. She smiled back sweetly. Then, I was at point-blank – what has struck me? Oh no, could it not be that this nurse is the same nurse who administered me for my admission that evening? Seems like it, then I blurted out “thank you!”.

As she moves on to help other patients with the medicine dosages, I decided to probe myself into observing her even more. She spawns shoulder length straight hair, nice tint, has a very nice slim shape and a nice personality with average looks and tan. She seems to be like the kind of girl I like.

From that day I started spotting her presence, I got the feeling that I have started to fall in love in a white angel! Whoa, a white angel – I began calling her Jo-Jo. Her name is Joan Huang, a nice girl. When she is assisting me, I will have to chance to chat with her for a while and there she has to go back to her duties. And when she is working the morning shift, she will usually go over to my bed side to talk to me. From the way she treats the patients, I can sense her keenness in helping those people in need. I really love her for her personality more than anything else does.

As Valentines Day drew nearer, I decided to take up the courage to get her some roses. On the second last day to Valentines Day, I sneaked down to the floral shop at the lobby area to place an order for nine blue roses – her favorite color is blue. I was lucky not to get caught.

The day after, I was finally given the green light to move around. However, I could not be discharged, still need to stay in the ward for another week. On that day when I spotted her, I called her over to my bed and ask if she could spare me some time the following day. She surprised me with a yes. This means she is going to be on duty and that she is not attached.

Armed with a sense of accomplishment, I could not bring myself to sleep that night. The following day came; we met after her work in the ward. Decided to bring her down to the Japanese Koi pond area within the wards building. We sat by the pond with my bouquet of nine roses by the pond side. She was holding to them the moment I gave them to her when I saw her that morning. It is now in the afternoon. We talked and laugh about things that happen to us over our past 18 years. At a certain point in our conversation, I asked her:”Hey Jo! I have a crush on you, since the day we met. Hope that you love the blue roses too!”

“Uh …“blushed, she stopped with her jaws left open as she ran through her mind to think of constructive sentences to say. However, it was a love at first sight, I observed her for a long period before making the first move.

After about five minutes, she replied “Hey Jasen, erm, ok, shall we make this our first date? Since we are beginners and we kind of click why not just give it a go at the relationship?”

Feeling a little shocked by her calm replies, I thought for a while too. “Alright, it’s a good idea. I doubt there are many couples who will have first dates in the hospital”. As I said that, both of us started to laugh.

At the pond, we chatted non stop for about an hour before I feel that I may have to go back to the ward before Sister1 Carlen starts looking for me. She is a very nice and gentle Nurse; think she is quite old too.

She brought me back to the ward, and there I saw Sister sitting there at the cubicle talking with one of the patients. As we step in, she looked up and saw us holding hands. The look on her face was not pleasant. Well, what could we do? Nothing, we just did what we had to do a hug and a kiss. Then I bid her good bye before she left.

Sister came over to me and asked me what I was up to with her girls. I just told her the truth about liking her and what are my plans after I go back to school. Was deciding on spending more time with her so am considering nursing too. However, what inspired me to go into this once hated by myself course was that I like the way the nurses care for patients and it was something I came to liked during my stay. I had also done a soul searching before I came to a final decision about making this great leap.

Upon returning to a week later, we continue meeting one another in school for lunch. We stayed near one another – just a few train stations away in the east. Every day, we get to see one another home too. Upon knowing that I also do cross-stitches, she dared me to do cross-stitches during our long hour breaks. We also spend hours on it every Sunday and sometimes instead of doing cross – stitch we will go for sports like swimming and cycling. On Saturdays, we will hang out at her home doing revision. Her parents did not notice anything not right. They were usually out on Saturdays on cruise while she chose to stay home to do her revision. Therefore, I had the honor of keeping her by my side.

As the term test neared, on weekends, we will be at my place as I asked her to stay overnight at my place so that we could study until late at night. While doing that, I secretly went to ask the school for a transfer of diploma. I was told to submit an application form, which the application will be processed after the semester exams.

Therefore, with that done I was all set to study doubly hard and try to score distinctions too. Our time together did not shorten; we were even closer during the exam period. Though we had took different diplomas, we stuck together and I stayed overnight at her place during the exam period for keeping her accompanied. I kept the idea tight lip sealed from her. It was hard to keep it tight sealed as keep secrets has always not been easy for me – especially personal secrets... those decision types.

When the term test was over, we took sometime off to spend together for fun and games. We went to Sentosa for 2days overnight stay at a chalet. The expenses were bore by her parents as a way to encourage her in her studies.

After the one-week long break, we were back in school. The war to the end of the semester began; it was a tough fight for me having many assignments. She on the other hand had lots of clinical practice coming up during the long holidays, however before that; they have many personal assignments to complete. Therefore, we decided the only time too really sit down to chat would only be during the weekends.

We ended up using the weekends for chatting instead of revision – with daily revision and assignments to keep us busy there is no other reason to say that we are not to do other things apart from studies.

Chapter 3 – New Life

Everything was going fine right up to the semester exams. During the exam week, we did not have time to meet or even camp at one another’s home. We were too busy to do so.

With that, we got through our semester exam. After the exams, the results were released 3 weeks later. Both of us scored distinctions and we were very happy. We celebrated the occasion with dinner at Snoopy Place in Plaza Singapura.

With her vacation hospital attachment, I kept myself busy with training and picking her up after work to go shopping and dinner. This went on for 2 months, one month for her attachment, the other we did sports together.

Finally, a week before the new semester is about to begin… I received the letter of enrolment. I showed her the letter. She was shocked at first. However, she decided to scold me for keeping her in the dark. However, she was in joy that I wanted to join nursing. Moreover, she was keen on knowing what had got me so interested in this course? I gave her the same reasons I have told Sister before. She understood what I said and I gave my apology for keeping her in the dark. While telling her, I wanted to give her a surprise as a birthday gift.

With just one more week to go before the commencement of school, we decided to use this time to better prepare ourselves with our knowledge of what is to come in the new semester. So she suggested that she will tutor me on what she was taught in the previous semester. While I will teach her some IT skills just in case she may need them for her projects.

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School reopened, in July. We were back in school. This time I started as a Year 1 Nursing student while she is a Year 2 Nursing student. We got closer together and were like magnets. However we know our limits, and never gone too far off.

Life was a brisk, with time spend on revision and sports everyday. We were literally living together – I would usually camp over night at her place like before.

We will do our revision together and during my vacation hospital attachment, I got to work together with her throughout my year 1 attachment during the vacation. However, as we were both devoted to rendering care to the patients, we seldom talk during attachment hours.

We enjoyed one another’s company and had a great time. Life was not lasting though…

Chapter 4 – Reflection

At the end of her Year 2 and my Year1, she told me a sad piece of news. Her parents have decided that they would like her to go aboard to continue her studies half way off from her current diploma. They felt that a foreign environment will aid her in completing her degree faster. And less stressful for her. She had no choice but to agree to their plans. In addition, she decided that we should maybe just keep in touch. Our love may have been long – about 1 and a half years, was a very meaningful one to both of us. It has left a deep impact on us, until then it was the last time I met her. I have decided not to contact her after that. I told her that maybe we could just end our relationship here, she will continue with her studies there while I complete mine here.

To help in not breaking our hearts further, I made a painful decision not to send her off. When my parents asked me why Joan is no longer coming over to our house on alternate weekends, I broke the news that we are no longer together. She has left for Australia and that I have no regrets knowing her at all. I love her deep in my heart, but was willing to let her go. I believe that we have gone thus far and if we are fated to meet, again we shall and will.

Life continued as usual during my 2-month long vacation – with 1 month of attachment and my constant training in sports.

1-month later…

Do I miss her? I asked myself while I was jogging along the same path that I fell down 2 over years ago… Though I used to frequent the tracks, I hardly bother with my memories. My steps slowed down…

Jogged on for a bit more and decided to rest against a rain tree nearby. There I began to really have flash backs of my past, from the day I know her to the day she left me. I have many fond memories I treasured during the times we were together. They were unforgettable. As I have been holding on to her and treating her nice, I feel that letting go was as easy as ever… having been loved and given the loved, it is always nice to let it go when it has to go…

I closed my eyes and began to sink in deeper into my thoughts. Suddenly, I can feel someone patting on my shoulders. “Who was that?” I asked.

“who else?” came this familiar voice. As I looked up, I saw her… What was she doing here, I asked myself… Am I dreaming or am I seeing her standing in front of me in real life?

Things were unclear… Suddenly I fainted…

Thoughts

Hey!

Thanks for your interest in reading this slightly lengthy story, spanning six chapters, about 8 pages long, one of my longest I think. Hopes it is not too crappy, love this story very much as I wrote it. Along the way, I have to try to think of the plots, relevance and the events taking place with the time settings. It is not always easy writing stories; it is the fun that counts. To those out there who would like to do story writing, read novels. Get inspirations and start writing your own world.

That is about all I would say, hope that you enjoy... Till the next story!


Jasen
Written: 17 Jan 04 – 18 Feb 04

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1 Sister – Staff nurse of the ward.