The hospital room is small but very clean. There is one hospital bed in that room, other small doctor’s equipment and medicine cabinets. As the doctor’s assistant saw Kimhan walking in, he quickly salutes to the head engineer. Ta Pol went and hide behind Ta Bua and Aom. Kimhan talks fast in Japanese to the assistant, explaining the patient condition, so fast that Aom couldn’t really understand it. 

“Bua, what the hell are they gonna do to me?”

“How would I know” Ta Bua answer, annoy by his buddy question and try to push Ta Pol forward.

“You’re the patient go stand in front”

“Bua, you coward, you’re not my true friend!”

“Hey if you die, at least I can do your funeral”

“Liar! Where the hell are you gonna get the money to do that?”

“Don’t fight! Come here!” Kimhan’s voice startle the two old man.

“Pol, go! Don’t hide behind me”

“We have to go together! Look we are tied to each other!”

Ta Bua mumble but still walk to Kimhan with his buddy. Kimhan untie both of them and point to the bed.

“Go to the bed!” Ta Pol push his buddy forward, “Not him! YOU!”

“Me?” Ta Pol tries to play innocent

“Yes, the needle still stuck in your arm, we have to incise it out”

“Incise? Wow…don’t you think that’s a bit much, can’t we just try to squeeze it out?”

“No or else it will get infected, you shouldn’t jerk your hand back like that”

“It’s Bua’s fault, he just freaking scream so it scare me”

“Just go on the bed”

Kimhan said like an adult dealing with little kid. All these time, the petite girl stand looking quietly with an emotionless face, but her eyes sparkle with laughter. The doctor’s assistant look at the wound and whisper to Kimhan. The tall figure just nodded her head and thinking to herself before turning to Aom with suspicious look, so Aom walks closer to Kimhan.

“He said we have to incise it out, we can’t just pull it out”

“That should be fine”

“There is one little problem…we don’t have any anesthetic. We have to save those for major surgery”

“You mean…”

“For us, we never use any anesthetic for these little wound” Kimhan said with a worry voice.

Aom look over at the old man that is laying in the bed looking very uncomfortable,

“I don’t know if he could take it”

“It won’t hurt that much, we not going to slice it in that deep”

“I know your soldiers can take it, but for us…”

“But I’m telling we do not have any anesthetic in hand. We have to travel to the other side of the river into the city to get it. And even if we do that, I’m not sure they’re going to give to us. The wound would get infected and be in a much worst condition by then”

“How would we tell him? He went all crazy when we just draw his blood out but this is a much bigger thing”

“Then we don’t tell him, I’m gonna tie him to the bed and we just do it” Kimhan keeps a calm voice, like it’s nothing important, “You take the other guy out and wait outside, but you have to not let him in here no matter what happen”

“I don’t know if I can hold him off”

“I’ll get another soldier to help you”

“You promise he would be ok right?”

“I promise, I’ll let the assistant check his blood while we’re at it. So we can also take care of the malaria too”

“Then it’s up to you”

Aom calls Ta Bua to go wait outside with her, “Come on Ta Bua, let’s go wait outside so the doctor can do his job”

“We can’t stay and watch?”

“No”

“Bua, where are you going?” ask the patient, that now have a very pale face

“Aom said the doctor ask us to go wait outside”

“Don’t abandon me ok?”

“No I’m not, just waiting outside”

Kimhan walks out behind them to the other room and come back with another soldier.

“Why don’t you guys sit and wait on this bench” KImhan said before walking back in to the hospital room.

“Aom, what are they going to do to Pol?”

“They’re taking out the needle, you shouldn’t scream before, so we don’t have to go through this trouble”

“I did that because I was scare for Pol’s life, it was like a liter of blood” the old man give her a fading smile

“Not even close, it didn’t even fill half of the syringe. The doctor wants it so we can check about the malaria”

“How can malaria be in the blood? That bull…”

“You’re not the doctor, we do as the doctor said”

“Pol was shaking a lot, I think he might be possess more than have a disease. Why don’t we just go to the temple and put him in holy water, maybe he’ll be better that way”

“He has a high fever and you want to put him in holy water, he would die for sure that way”

“I saw the doctor putting in metal things in hot water, maybe he’s using the way I’m talking about as of now”

“He’s just cleaning his surgery equipment”

”Surgery! Are they cutting off his arm!?!” Ta Bua said after he heard screaming sound coming from inside.

“Aom, what are they doing!?!” Ta Bua ask with a shaking voice, picturing Ta Pol getting his arm cut off in his head.

“It’s noting Ta Bua, they should be done soon”

Ta Bua still not convince, he’s walking around, standing and sitting.

“I can’t take this anymore, I have to go in and see. If they’re doing anything to Pol, I’ll beat them up”

Ta Bua tries to walk in gangster style but have to pause because of the soldier that is guarding the door, so he walks back and sit quietly next to Aom.

“Aom, you can go in and see. They probably cut his arm out already”

“Why don’t you go?”

“That soldier is in the way” Ta Bua stand up again, scare more than ever because there’s no screaming voice anymore, “Aom, Pol is probably dead…”

“We’ll know soon, you just sit down”

A loud banging sound coming from inside the room because of cloth that tie on his mouth came loose.

“BUA! HELP ME! THEY’RE CUTTING OFF MY ARMS AND LEGS”

“Aom! Did you hear that? That person is probably want to get revenge from what we did and now cutting off Pol’s arms and legs. Let’s go!

“Where are you going?”

“We should escape while we have the chance or he will do it to us too!”

“Just wait a second, come and sit down”

“Wait? Hell no, if you’re not going, I’m gonna go by myself”

Ta Bua tries to run, but the soldier that stand guard know that reaction and stop him before he can go anywhere.

“Please…please don’t do anything to me, I have nothing to do with it, it’s all Pol’s idea. Don’t cut off my hands and legs…”

After the guard soldier saw that reaction, he looks over at Aom with a confusing look. B