An unexpected scare

It was 11pm in the night, I was having some "business" in my toilet, toying with my cellphone while I was stuck in toilet.

The cellphone blared, interrupting my cell phone games, and I know, it's my sister again. It actually sent a chill down my spine, as my sister wasn't exactly a silent type person.  And I certainly don't enjoy my sister asking me whether I am single or not. Even though I tried to hint her that I am busy, she doesn't seem to get it ( or rather ignore it), and proceeded with her 30 minutes talk...

Well, guess I'll answer the phone, I hesitated a moment and click the receive button.

What I don't expect though, is the following sentences from her...

" Mother has been in hospital " .

Huh?

You can't be kidding me!

Wait, this must be a mistake, I convinced myself to calm down, and ask my sister again, and she came with the same dreaded sentence again...

What? Is all I can say.

And the dreadful transmission started to take a toll on my phone, as my sister tried to utter some sentences I can't hear clear enough, and after few minutes, when things finally cool down, I barely understand the situation.

"Mom was taking a walk with the dog, when she saw an untied Rottweiler , she got scared and get panicked, and fall down because of that..."

Believe me, I actually breathed a sigh of relief. And I asked my sister about my mother's condition, she just replied " a not so serious eye damaged, and some bruise here and there.

And I finally able to relax, when my mother answered the phone, and said that she only suffered some minimal skin damage. And she proceeded on how my aunt able to convince ( or force, to be exact ) the dog owner to pay the bill... and she do it in her "own way", my mom said

PHEEEWWW...............

Perhaps it's a very weird response from me, but my experiences with hospital wasn't exactly a good one. When I was form 3, my mother got admitted into hospital, and get diagnosed with cancer...and I knew it because my aunt talked me through the phone.

And in these past 1 - 2 years and so, I had 1-2 experiences getting an innocent looking phone-call, but turned out to be my mom get admitted to hospital for some another unknown diseases again...I had no idea...no idea...when after 4-5 years of peaceful times, I would get another cellphone call, telling me that my mother is in hospital again...

And of course, I am very relieved when it was just some injury, which is minor compared to some unknown diseases that got my mom lying in the white bed for days......

I thought about all those tough times my mother had faced, and how she managed to overcome it, while successfully bringing her son to study in the university, I can't help but to think my emotional problems are very much petty compared to hers. For a second, I am ashamed...for me making a storm out of teacup because of some emotional problems I had faced during these years

And I think I got another reason to study, shrug, I guess.

Mom, please be ok.

Jin Khang