...Under a Cloud
Well, it was not literally under the cloud but it was a way of depicting how this reunion of mad redo1 and his ex-Semesdian friends happened. It was a Facebook message from Engku Azmi informing us of the condition of our former schoolmate Ridzuan Safuan or Doer who had to go under the knife in order to take out the tumor attaching itself to his brain.
After a few days the news came back from his family that the operation was largely a successful one but a minor setback for Doer was him losing his sight.
Thus Mohamad Hilmi took the initiative of arranging a visiting party to see Doer and his family at the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) in Kubang Kerian. So on the set day Hilmi and his wife, Masrina, Nizam, Abu Hasmadi and mad redo1 together with Suhainita sat our butts in Hilmi's Toyota Innova and set the GPS for HUSM.
The journey started a bit late. During this 3 hour drive everybody cast their memory back to events happening more than twenty years ago when we were less a person than ourselves today (body mass that is).
With a few unexpected departures already, with the latest being Irfan due to chronic diabetes we wondered whether the list will increase anytime soon. Of course we prayed it would not, at least not in the immediate future.
When we reached HUSM, Suhainita has been renamed Eskay for reasons known to many ex-Semesdians, a gentler version of her nickname from our schooldays. It was also past visiting hours.
We managed to meet Doer's wife who was returning to kL to commence her work after taking so many leaves in order to tend her beloved Doer. It was good to see her maintaining high spirits during this trying times.
Then we proceeded to the Intensive Care Unit where Doer was being observed after the operation. His mother was the one left taking care of him for a while. Fortunately we were given the permission to see Doer.
I never like hospitals and prefer not to set foot in one especially under circumstances such as this. However it is not what we like or do not like when it comes to this kind of situation. So mad redo1 entered the room with Nizam and Doer was in his bed with an oxygen mask was put over his mouth and nose.
It was difficult to express one's feeling when facing such situations. We tried to communicate by talking softly but Doer was still under sedation and despite responding to some of our communication his attempt to talk ended in gibberish.
We departed for home shortly after leaving Doer with our prayers for his recovery.
On the way we made a stop at Kuala Besut for dinner and this time another reunion of sorts happened when another schoolmate of ours, Suharto popped up. He was still his usual self. Now a General Manager at Demong Beach Resort he offered a discounted rate should anyone of us decided to take some time off.
The conversation went on for quite some time and by the time mad redo1 reached home, it was already one in the morning.
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