He Was Removed From The Building And That Was The Last They Ever Heard Of Him

It was chaos. In a plotline right out of a B movie, everyone was panic. I was totally freaked out and was tempted to scribble off a note to my mother, "OMG! I am gonna die!”. (Though much later I admitted that such overdramatic behavior was uncalled for).

It happened totally unexpected. Two confirmed cases and another ten people diagnosed positive with TB (Tubercle bacillus or Tuberculosis). The whole floor had to be closed down. Everyone must undergo thorough check up that morning.

My office had come to a grinding halt.

Doctors who braved the elements to visit us had only three instructions:

1. To turn off all the air-conditioning units at the infected floors so that the air will turn unbearably hot and damp and fetid, like unexplored sections of of my room, so that the gems will be "baked out” and die. ( I am no doctor but this is what they said)

2. Everyone must take three tests; X-tray, blood and phlegm. No exception, even if you’re busting with health. The most important thing for the doctor to know is what color your phlegm is. Unless it is an offbeat shade, like magenta , this should tip him off. If it is swamp green, don’t bother to show him. There’s no point in upsetting him.

3. Wear mask at all time. Well, unless you are in the middle of ‘’sampling’’ your phlegm test, in which case, do NOT.

Many people are more afraid of the doctors than they are of sickness. They would rather quietly pack it in until they get obvious trouble signs – such as failing out of chair and die.

My tests hasn’t come out yet but I really hope it won’t start with, ‘You’d better sit down for this one’ or ‘I saw your X-trays. Looks like a goddamed junkyard in there’.

I guess for now, I shouldn’t be upset when my friends fail to throw their arms around me. Either way, I think I am gonna have a panic attack.