That morning they had six patients waiting for them. That was beyond Ah Seng’s expectation. He thought it would be a walk in the park but this time it will really test how good his command of English was. Starting from the first patient, he stuttered all the way. Though he understood what the patient wanted, he could not bring across to relay it properly for the good doctor. He was at a loss for words. Dr J frowned at him several times. He did not trust what Ah Seng told him. He had to rely on his vast experience to predict the patients’ needs. And he had to dispense the medication himself. He feared possible fatality from wrong medication. Although he was mad about it, he thought of playing a game with him. He would continue to show his displeasure and a kind of cold treatment. It scared Ah Seng out of his wits that he began to worry about his job, their jobs rather and the dire consequences of wrong diagnosis. The latter would be worst. It would be classified under murder and subject to capital punishment, death.
J was amused that his plan worked out nicely. He had never thought that silent intimidation could create such impact. When they broke for lunch, Ah Seng headed straight to his room hoping to find solace in the arms of his wife. When he entered the room, Se Yi was not there. She must have risen to prepare lunch for them. Ah Seng dared not see the doctor again, he might get a tongue lashing from him judging from his sour face. He hoped Se Yi’s lunch would pacify the doctor and alleviate his predicament.
Se Yi had awakened about an hour ago. She initially wanted to help out Ah Seng but she decided to clean the doctor’s room first especially that pillow which was almost covered with their love juices had to be washed. Normally, Ah Seng would do the laundry and she was glad that she did it this time. He might suspect them from the evidences of toughened stains on the pillow case and bed sheet. When the room was made up and the laundry was cleaned, it was time for the lunch break. She prepared them a quick lunch. Her feelings were in a mess. The guilt and shame seemed to have a heavier effect on her.
They had a quiet lunch together, just the two of them. Ah Seng did not join them. She wondered what happened when she was not around and she felt uneasy at Dr J’s cold face. Most of the time, she was ashamed to face him. While J enjoyed his lunch, he continued to put on a poker face. The atmosphere was quite tensed. And he did not talk to her throughout the whole afternoon and there was no patient too. He did not attempt to talk to her nor touch her in any way. He just read a couple of files and made notes into his organizer. The only words he spoke afterwards were that he would not join them for dinner. Tonight he would treat himself to a sumptuous dinner at the village’s best restaurant.
When Ah Seng told his wife what he did that morning, she almost fainted. How could he not measure up when both of them studied in the same university and been in the same class? They graduated, not with flying colours but they made it. Then she remembered helping him with the English paper, his weakest subject, and he was more interested in her than English. She weighed the possible consequences and they were not in their favour. And the doctor would not help them judging from his face. She prayed that they could still keep their jobs. Good salary with accommodation provided and the best of all they could be together. Now the future looked bleak for them. She began to hope that the doctor’s interest would not wane and that might be a way out for them. But she was still too ashamed to approach him and thus she had to let fate decide.
The restaurant was on the first floor. Its decoration was typically Chinese with red lanterns and some colourful statues. The only two things that impressed him were the whole restaurant was air-conditioned and the waitresses were young and quite pretty. They were all in red Cheong-Sam that was short-sleeved, one-piece reaching the knees, hugging tightly to the upper body and a high slit that opened at the sides and almost hiked to the hips. He could not help staring at those long and lean fair legs. One of the taller waitresses attended him. She introduced herself as Chui though she wore a nametag but it was written in Chinese only. She was quite fair and about twenty-five to twenty-six. Judging from what he saw, her body had proper nourishment for it had blossomed to generous proportions. When she was close, she looked even prettier. Compared to what he had so far, she was the best. And he was glad that she spoke comprehensible English. And she addressed him as doctor. He guessed it did not take much intelligent to figure out who he was, the only doctor and Indian there.
When she had taken his order, she asked whether she could join him for a while. J invited her to sit, happy that he had someone as good looking as her to talk to. She sat down in front and asked how did he like their village and other trivial matters. Chui liked to talk to the good doctor for he was such an amicable and knowledgeable guy. She also had a chance to polish her English that was neglected for about two years since she left school. She learnt a few things from the small talk. For instance, appendicitis was not what she believed or the whole village’s belief. The scientific facts expressed in layman terms enlightened her. For that matter, most of her medical knowledge was probably folklore or grandmother story. She wanted to stay longer but the dishes had started to arrive. It would be impolite to talk to customers when they eat, it was a standard company policy. She excused herself and thought about how to phrase the one most personal question she had for him.
