suffer the joy

i have always taken pride in being a rather healthy person. i haven't had a real fever in years, bouts of flu would go away in 2 days. my immune system is strong, i thought.

but there's something magical about that island, probably because it wants me to die early. i have been coughing for 3 weeks now and still showing no signs of recovering. other illnesses inflicted upon me include flu, diarrhea, back pain, knee pain, foot pain, sore eyes... the list is amazing, really.

on thursday morning i went to report sick for diarrhea and sore eyes. i thought this would be enough for me to get 'attend c' status and ensure an early book out. i even rubbed my eyes to make them redder.

unfortunately the medical officer was more interested in my slightly red eyes than my 3-day-old diarrhea problem, and decided to send me to sick bay. fine enough, i thought. at the very least i'll have a few more hours of sleep.

the sick bay looks something like a hospital ward. i was assigned my bed and spoke to an indian beside me who also had sore eyes. he told me he had been there for 3 days, and in the 3 days, he haven't had a shower, brushed his teeth, or made a phone call, because he didn't have his belongings with him and they wouldn't allow him to get them.

the sad indian looked like a caveman and i thought just what the fuck have i gotten myself into. so i sat on my bed, reading old newspapers and time magazines from november 2006. the aircon got so cold that i couldn't even put my hands out of the blanket to flip the pages so i went to sleep, and spent the next 18 hours sleeping, only waking up for dinner and in the middle of the night because i was freezing.

there were some even more unfortunate souls in there, dressed in their grubby uniforms, camo paint still on their faces, with IV drips attached. they probably got sent there days ago, and like the indian, remained unwashed throughout their stay. i can't imagine how absolutely terrible they must feel.

fortunately i was discharged the following morning and so ended my short adventure in that place known as the SICKbay, where they aim to make life as miserable as possible so that people wouldn't want to go back at all costs.