Mrs Tan had been feeling uncomfortable for the past few days. The poor woman had contracted a urinary tract infection and was, understandably, rather miserable. She went to see a doctor at the government clinic where she waited to see the doctor and then again to collect her medicine at the pharmacy. It was a long wait both times and the children were restless. Well, Ah Boy, anyway.
Ah Girl was a good girl. She sat staring mindlessly at the television in the waiting room, and later on in the pharmacy, watching cartoons and talk shows and documentaries and soap operas. Ah Boy, however, lost interest after the cartoons. Strangely enough, he was not excited by riveting action such as Brooke finally getting it on with the mailman AND the milkman... He tried disturbing Ah Girl, but she just ignored him. Then he walked round and round, getting in everyone’s way and making a right nuisance of himself. Worst of all, he tried to run around with a stray wheelchair and nearly got smacked by a staff nurse for it. After that, he finally sat down, only to whine that he was hungry.
Mrs Tan was feeling utterly sorry for herself and was not able to cope with Ah Boy’s behaviour. Mr Tan was feeling horribly cross and had gone off to buy himself a newspaper. Fortunately when he came back, Mrs Tan’s number had already been called. Mr Tan strode up to the counter, working his way through the phenomenal crowd of patients, just as the dispenser finished explaining to Mrs Tan how to take her medicine.
“Why does it take so long, har?” he spluttered with rage, spit going all over the glass screen. “I have been here for four hours!” he said in an unnecessarily loud voice with his arms flying everywhere, nearly knocking over a little old lady at the next counter. The hapless girl behind the counter put on a large fake smile and just stared at him, or rather, through him, for her eyes had glazed over at the beginning of his tirade. Mr Tan snarled and snatched the bag of medicine away, muttering “I don’t know why we put up with this!”
“Because it’s free?” suggested Mrs Tan meekly, as she trotted beside him, gesturing to the children to follow. There were times when Mrs Tan could be so much more sensible than her husband.
But then again, Mrs Tan was not all that sensible. On the advice of her regular chicken seller, she did not take the antibiotics that the doctor had prescribed for her. Instead, she went in search of a second opinion. She talked to her neighbour and learnt that what she really ought to do was to see a gynaecologist – a certain Dr Valerie Gina (or as it said on her name plate, Dr V Gina) that her neighbour claimed was without a doubt the best in the country. This neighbour also advised her to get the doctor from the nearby private clinic to write her a referral letter to Dr Gina.
So for the second time, Mrs Tan found herself waiting to see a doctor. Thankfully though, she was alone this time. After waiting for half an hour, she began to get restless. She paced up and down the room, only stopping to complain to the nurses about how the other patient was taking so long and how she had waited for half an hour. The nurses smiled apologetically at her and went into the doctor’s room to convey her message to him. After another ten minutes, it was Mrs Tan’s turn. She settled down in the chair, with an air of one who meant to make herself comfortable for half an hour.
“Doctor, can write letter for me to see specialist, ah?” she began. A look of exasperation crossed the doctor’s face. He knew this kind of person, she didn’t actually want his opinion; she just wanted a despatch clerk. He thought he should make an effort anyhow, and asked her what the problem was. Mrs Tan was very obliging, and told him the whole story from beginning to end. It took her half an hour. The doctor tried his best to convince her that the problem was quite simple really and she didn’t have to see a specialist just yet, but to no avail. In the end, he said, “Look, if you really want to see the specialist, why don’t you just go straight there and see him? You don’t have to get a letter from me.”
“Aiya, why you don’t say so earlier! Okay, okay, thank you very much ya, doctor!” said Mrs Tan as she got up to go. “Oh ya! Eh, can ask you something ah? My husband’s uncle’s friend hor, he got a lump on his hand. Serious ah?”
The doctor sighed inwardly. Here was another patient who spent half an hour in the consultation room, didn’t listen to his advice, and then wanted free consultation for somebody else. Being a kind and caring doctor though, he talked to her for another ten minutes about this. Luckily, Mrs Tan couldn’t think of anymore questions to ask him and he quickly showed her out the door.
To tell the truth, Mrs Tan had gotten herself well and truly confused. She called her friend, as she always did in such times, and told her everything. Her friend listened quietly until Mrs Tan had finished. Then she advised Mrs Tan to trust the doctor. He surely had her best interests at heart. She also advised her to take the medicine that she had been given at the government clinic before making any further decisions.
Mrs Tan hung on to her every word. She followed her friend’s advice and took the medicine. Not surprisingly, she was better quite soon. And so, Mrs Tan recovered from her brief episode of illness, having learnt only one thing: trust your friends – they know best.
