Chapter 12
Sunset at JaoprayaNot long after, Kimhan came back with a Japanese doctor and walk up the stair of Aom’s house. Kimhan sit down next to the thin old lady and explain to the doctor with a short chubby figure, the doctor with thick glasses nodded his head while listening.
“Miyaku wo misade kudasai” Kimhan said while extended one’s hand out, and turn to look at the unwilling translator that is sitting close by.
Aom has to translate it to her grandma softly, “Grandma, the doctor wants to check your pulse”
The old lady extended her arm out for the doctor without complain. So, the doctor listen to her heart beat, her chest and her back thoroughly. Plus, he uses hand language pointing at his head.
“Oh…my head, yeah I do have a headache sometime, feel dizzy”
The language of nodding and shaking one’s head make the doctor and the patient understand each other without the translator’s help.
Kimhan asks the petite girl, “Can you go heat up some hot water, the doctor will need it when he inject the needle”
Aom has to do as Kimhan’s told without objection.
It is pretty dark in the kitchen, but due to Aom being familiar with where everything is, she was able to get the fire wood into the kiln easily. But as she reaches for the next log of wood she feels a pain at the tip of her finger.
“Ouch!”
The pain makes her arm went numb, make her drop the wood and make a loud sound.
“What is going on Honey?” Mrs.Orn asks in concern
Aom clutches her fist tightly, bite her lip and answer back, “Nothing Mom, I’m ok”
Mrs.Orn was about to get up, when Kimhan signal her to sit down and pointed to the doctor and the patient. Kimhan then get up and walk to the kitchen, where Aom is.
Kimhan stops at the door of the kitchen as good manner. Due to the room being dark, Kimhan can only see the fire and the black shadow of the petite girl sitting on the floor grabbing one wood log at a time with her left hand and put it into the kiln.
“What’s wrong?”
The petite girl turn to Kimhan and answer back shortly in English, “Nothing”
“But…it seems like there is something wrong with you”
“A scorpion sting me” Aom answers back weakly
The tall figure that standing at the door quickly step in
“Masi wo kudasai”
“Matches? They are right here”
Aom finds the matches and handed to Kimhan that extended one’s hand to grab it, thus making their hands touch accidently.
“I need candle too”
Kimhan quickly light up the candle and sit down next to the petite girl
“Let me see”
Aom shake her head and bite her lip. Kimhan quickly grab her hand to look at the wound closely
“It sting you right here, it will hurt if you don’t hold it over fire”
“WHAT?” Aom said out in panic and try to pull her hand back, but fail to do so because Kimhan already put her hand over the fire of the candle.
When Aom feels the heat of the fire she jerk her hand back
Aom said the next sentence in Thai because she’s mad, “Ouch, you crazy person, it hurt! You…”
Aom can feel the pain from the sting fading, the tall figure’s face smile at her with a playful eyes
“See I told you it you would feel better, in the old days Japanese people used to do this. Tonight you’ll still feel the pain but not as much as leaving it without doing anything”
Kimhan turns and put the fire wood into the kiln, grab the kettle and check that there’s enough water in it, put the kettle on the kiln and fan the fire like an expert that’s use to this type of work. This make the petite girl’s face become friendlier.
After the doctor inject the needle, he turns to Aom and explain what she should do for the patient but it’s so fast that she doesn’t understand everything. So Aom answers back in Japanese mixed with English,
“I’m sorry but I don’t understand Japanese much…oniko kayokuwakarimasenno dez sunnasdez”
The doctor looks at her like he doesn’t believe it
She keeps on explaining herself, “I can speak Japanese a little bit…nihon ko wo honno zkohi hanahi maz”
Both the speaker and the listene
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