Love Sick – New Horizons

Chapter 5

P’Ann was thoughtful as she made her way back to Noh’s Hospital room. The calls she made were playing back in her mind, each so different, each so important.

Her first call was to her friend and co-worker P’Im. The shriek she gave when she heard the terrible news about Noh, had been ear-splitting to say the least. P’Ann managed to be heard eventually and explained she needed her to come to the Hospital as soon as she could and stay with their Noh for a few hours, whilst she went home to take a shower and rest for a while. P’Im agreed right away and assured P’Ann she would be there as soon as possible.

The second call P’Ann made was to Ohm. A very sleepy voice answered the phone. “Ohm, it’s P’Ann. I’ve some bad news I’m afraid.” The voice on the other end of the line suddenly sounded wide awake.

“Oh God, P’Ann! Has something happened to Noh? Please tell me what’s wrong!”

“Ohm, Noh collapsed late last night….” She heard a sharp intake of breath. “He was rushed to Hospital very ill and the Surgeon operated on him throughout the night. He’s made it through the operation but is still very ill.” P’Ann’s voice started to break at this point, saying the words out loud suddenly brought it home to her the seriousness of Noh’s situation.

Ohm spoke. “I’ll be there as quickly as I can P’Ann. Try not to worry too much, okay? Our Noh is a tough cookie you know, he’ll pull through, I just know it!” It was Ohm’s turn to become emotional at that point. He said his farewells and hurried to tell his mother what had happened.

The third call was by far the worst Ann had to make. It was an international call this time, to Liverpool, England, where her employers, Noh’s parents, were on a business trip. Noh’s mother quickly answered her phone, fear in her voice as she sensed something bad had happened.

“Ann, has something happened? Is it Noh? Is he alright? Please tell me Ann!”

“I’m sorry there’s no easy way to tell you, but Noh collapsed last night and had to be rushed into Hospital.” Ann heard a strangled cry over the line, then there was a rustling sound and a man’s voice came on the line.

“Ann, what’s wrong with Noh, tell me please!”

Ann had started to cry again, but managed to explain to Noh’s father what had happened. She could tell by his voice he was very upset, and was relaying the message to his wife.

“My wife will be home as soon as she can Ann, she’s first reserve for any seat that becomes vacant on any flight to Thailand, we just have to wait and pray one comes up. Oh God, what a mess!”

Ann could hear Noh’s mother crying in the background. After thanking her for letting them know, and asking her to please look after their boy, the call was ended.

When P’Ann returned to Noh’s room nurse Jen was monitoring his blood pressure. She looked around as Ann came in and smiled. “He’s just beginning to come round, come and talk to him.”

As P’Ann approached the side of Noh’s bed she could see his eyes were open. The oxygen mask was off while Jen took his temperature and she could finally see his whole face. Noh’s eyes followed P’Ann as she moved closer.

“Well, young man, you’re back with us are you?” P’Ann gently Noh’s forehead. She could see his bottom lip trembling as he looked at her. She leaned towards him and placed a kiss on his head. “Sshhh, don’t get upset Noh! Everything will be okay, you’ll see. You need to get plenty of rest and as soon as you can you need to build your strength up again. The operation went well, Dr. Apibal is happy with the result, so there’s nothing for you to worry about, okay?”

Noh managed to nod his head, still not taking his eyes off P’Ann. “I’ve spoken to your Ma and Pa, your Ma will be on the first flight she can get home, so she’ll be back soon. I’ve rung Ohm as well, he’s on his way here now.” Noh started to smile hearing his best friend’s name mentioned. “I just hope he doesn’t start making you laugh too much though, it might make your side hurt a bit!”

Noh’s smile was a welcome sight to P’Ann. Nurse Jen had finished doing the observations on her patient, and after Ann assured her she wouldn’t leave Noh’s side, Jen left to see other patients.

There was a chair next to the bed, so P’Ann moved it closer to Noh so she could see his face, now covered with the oxygen mask again. His eyes started to close, and he drifted off to sleep. Ann was so tired as well, she closed her eyes.

P’Ann felt a gentle shake on her shoulder. She looked up and saw the worried face of Ohm looking down at her. “Oh, Ohm! Sorry, I must have dozed off for a moment!” P’Ann became aware of someone else standing in the room. It was Ohm’s mother, who had brought her son to the Hospital.

“Don’t worry Ann, you must be exhausted! How’s Noh doing now?” Ohm’s mother had known Noh for so long, she regarded him as one of her family, and to see him laying there in the bed, white faced, was shocking to her. She leaned forward and kissed his forehead, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall.

Ohm came and stood next to his mum, placing his arm around her shoulder. Looking down at his friend, he shook his head in dismay. “How can this have happened so quickly? We were only out last evening with Tam and his family, I admit Noh was very quiet and ate hardly anything, which I suppose was a big clue as to how he was feeling, Noh is usually always eating.”

P’Ann spoke. “Dr. Apibal, the surgeon who operated on him, said he doesn’t know how he lasted as long as he did. He must have been in so much pain, poor Noh.”

Ohm’s mother put her arm around Ann’s shoulder. “He’s in the best place here Ann. They’ll take good care of him.” Ann nodded, tears again threatening.

Just then the door to Noh’s room opened again, and a very dishevelled P’Im entered the room. She hurried toward P’Ann, glancing at Ohm and his mother. Ann stood and the two young women embraced each other.

“Ann, I was so scared when you rang, how is Noh after his operation? Is he going to be alright? What about his Ma and Pa? Do they know yet?” P’Im paused for breath for a moment, and went to the side of Noh’s bed, and gently held the hand of the sleeping boy. “He looks so pale doesn’t he, this is so unfair. All you two tried to do was help someone and look at the pair of you! Ohm, you look a mess as well, are you going to be okay?”

Ohm smiled and touched P’Im’s shoulder. “I’ll be okay, you don’t need to worry about me. It’s Noh we have to look out for now, he’s going to need us all to keep praying for a full recovery. His Ma should be back soon, and Phun will be home on Friday, that will help a lot I know.”

Ann explained to Im that she had rung Noh’s parents and his Ma was waiting for a flight home. Im could see how tired Ann was so she suggested she went home to rest and she would stay with Noh. Ohm’s mother offered Ann a lift home, which she gratefully accepted. Ohm asked his Ma if he could stay a bit longer with Noh, and then he would get to school by bus, which she readily agreed to.

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The minibus taking the students on their field trip began a slow, very bumpy descent down the side of a steep hill. The passengers could see laid out below them a vast forest, that seemed to stretch for miles and miles. Phun was looking out of the window as well, but found his mind wandering, still perturbed by not having a response to his texts from Noh.

Tong was sitting next to Phun, aware of how quiet his new friend was. “Are you alright Phun? You aren’t saying much!” Phun was startled for a moment and looked round. “Sorry Tong, I was miles away!” He tried to smile, but his companion wasn’t fooled. “Are you still worrying about your boyfriend?”

Phun nodded dejectedly. “The trouble is Phun, there’s nothing you can do about it just at this moment, we’ve no phones, or even access to any form of communication have we? So worrying won’t get you anywhere I’m afraid. You’ll be back at Uni tomorrow afternoon and you’ll be able to get right on your phone then and find out what’s going on, but in the meantime why don’t you try and think about what’s up ahead for us, that forest certainly looks enormous. The staff are going to keep us busy for the next few hours aren’t they!” Phun realised Tong was trying to chivvy him up, and smiled at him.

“I know you’re right, sorry for being like this.” Phun looked down the side of the hill. “That’s some forest there! What do you suppose they’ll have us doing? It’ll be interesting to find out!” Tong smiled back. “We won’t be sitting around, that’s for sure!”

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Ohm and P’Ann were talking quietly as they sat next to Noh’s Hospital bed. Nurse Jen came in and out, checking up on her patient, taking her observations. As she took Noh’s blood pressure the movement of applying the device to his arm disturbed him and his eyes shot open.

Jen spoke quietly. “I’m sorry Noh, I’m just taking your blood pressure. You’ve got some visitors here, why don’t you say hello?” Ohm quickly stood up and walked to Noh’s side. Noh slowly turned his head to the left and saw the smiling face of his best friend.

A smile slowly appeared on Noh’s face. When he spoke his voice was quiet and hoarse. “Hi Ohm. Why aren’t you at school?” Ohm couldn’t help laughing out loud.

“Why am I not in school? What about you? You’re playing truant as well, laying there pretending you’re not well! I’m here because I didn’t want you to have all the fun of missing school!” Ohm was rewarded with an even bigger smile from Noh, and Nurse Jen was also smiling at their banter, glad to see her patient enjoying the encounter.

“To be honest though, I have to get back to school soon, with exams coming up I really need to get some studying done, I’m hopeless when you aren’t there to beat me into submission and work hard!”

Noh chuckled at his friend, so glad to see him. “Have you heard from Phun at all Ohm? I’m not even sure what day it is. He was going on a field trip with one of the Unis and was going to be away for a while but I can’t remember anything else. Will he know I’m in Hospital do you think?” The smile faded from Noh’s face as he spoke of the love of his life.

Ohm was quick to reassure his friend. “It’s Wednesday today Noh, and I promise you as soon as I leave here I’ll contact Phun myself and let him know what’s happened, okay? You mustn’t worry about it at all, you just concentrate on getting well, get plenty of rest and eat as soon as you can.”

Noh nodded. “You work hard at school as well. Will you let the teachers know where I am?” Ohm leaned forward and gently kissed the top of Noh’s head. Normally he would have been rewarded with a smack on the head, but today Noh was happy to receive the gesture of friendship from his best friend.

“Don’t worry about a thing, I’m going to sort everything for you. Get some rest Noh, and I’ll come back this evening to see you, okay?” Noh smiled and nodded his head. “Thanks for being here for me Ohm.”

Ohm said his goodbyes to P’Ann and as he turned at the door to wave, he was suddenly struck by how thin and frail Noh looked and felt the tears prick his eyes again.

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As the minibus reached the bottom of the hill the students looked around, wondering where they would be going next. The bus pulled into a small clearing and stopped. Mr. Leekpai, the teacher, stood at the front near the driver.

“Right everyone, this is as far as the bus can take us, we’ll have to walk the rest of the way.” The moans coming from the students at the prospect of a long walk made him smile. “Don’t worry, it’s only a four hour trek………….” The grew louder making Mr. Leekpai laugh. “Don’t panic, I’m just kidding!” Relieved sighs could then be heard. “It’s about a 30 to 40 minute walk through the forest to the camp, the terrain can be a bit heavy going at times but I’m sure you’ll all be fine. Now, don’t forget any of your belongings, the bus will leave as soon as we’re off, so there’ll be no chance of retrieving anything!”

The students all started gathering their things together and alighted from the minibus. The driver wished them all good luck and promised to be waiting for them at 4 pm the next day.

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Ohm left the Hospital, deep in thought. He was more shocked than he cared to admit by the way Noh had looked. The seriousness of his injuries had obviously been well camouflaged by Noh’s strong desire not to make a fuss. Why hadn’t Ohm noticed the pain he was in?

There was a wooden bench on a grassed area just outside the Hospital and Ohm sat down. He took out his phone and dialled Phun’s number. The automated voice kicked in. “The mobile phone you have called is switched off. Please try later.” Ohm thought that was strange and dialled again just in case he had inadvertently rung a wrong number, but the same message was repeated.

Ohm was worried now. He really needed to get a message to Phun. Who else could he ring? Perhaps it would be best to ring Phun’s mother? That would be a good idea, except he didn’t know her number! Ohm racked his brain, trying to think who might know it. Phun’s best friend at school was Fi, he’d probably know it! As luck would have it Ohm had Fi’s number.

He quickly rang and was so relieved when Fi answered. After listening quietly to Ohm and expressing his shock at the news, Fi was able to tell Ohm that he had a text from Phun late on Tuesday night saying that the students would be unable to use their phones for 2 days because there was no Internet cover where they would be going for their field trip. Fi suggested he gave Ohm Phun’s mother’s phone number anyway, just in case he needed it.

After thanking Fi for his help Ohm ended the call. Well, no wonder Phun wasn’t answering his phone! The only thing he could do in the meantime was send a text to Phun’s phone, knowing he would see it as soon as he returned to the Uni. Realising there was nothing he could do at present, he made his way towards school.

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