SDS Cut

Author’s note : A cut from Chapter 26. Mainly cause it’s a little too sadistic. So I’m putting it up here for free as a Christmas gift. Please support my stories at lulu.com and createspace.com. Have a merry, merry Christmas.

Blue meets the red, and Francis couldn't help but scream as Guy set to work on him. The strand of razor inches from his face. He thrashed wildly as the tip poked his nose.

And stopped.

Wildly, he eyed the gleaming red blade in front of his eyes. Then started yelling obscenities, all the while trying to inch his way out but with no success.

"Just kidding." Guy's hair turned into a large fist and crashed into him with the force of an incoming truck.

Francis opened his eyes slowly and gave a groan. Everything's a blur and he can't really make much sense of himself right now. And the back of his head hurts like hell. Oh yeah, that kid knocked him out with a single blow. Wonderful, the first time he tried to act like a hero, he ended up getting knocked out by the bad guy and was left in a place to rot.

He tilt his head slightly, trying to make sense of the surroundings. Some sort of room with rusty pipes and bulky machinery all around, with gas hissing and dials twiddling. There's the occasional drip drip drip of water leaking from the ceiling. Judging from the dust gathered on the surface, this place hasn't been used for some time. And why is his abdomen hurting? He tried to shift himself in a more comfortable position and get some feelings back into his arms when he felt something cutting into his abdomen.

What??? With horror thudding in his heart, he put his arms slowly on his midsection and felt the thin, smooth texture of a wire.

No, not wire. He run one of his fingers slowly on it, and to his surprise, it's hair. Yards and yards of thick hair holding him down. Strands of blue and red wound around him and no matter how much he struggled, he couldn't break free, despite it's thinness.

Oh, great. I'm tied... He gave an inward groan, slumping back against the large pipe that he was tied against. Not just tied by rope, but by hair. How embarrassing. It'll ruin my street cred for sure if anyone ever find out.

Footsteps sounded against the ground. Forcing the bubble of panic away and trying to keep his face cool, he forced himself to look up as two people entered the room. Oh no no no no. This is bad. Really, bad.

Guy's hair lengthened and morphed into blades, cutting into the bonds with ease. Francis didn't even have time to get the feeling back into his arms before he got kicked against the pipe, making him see stars in his eyes.

"I say he's already up and about, don't you think so, V.V.?" Guy said. V.V. said nothing, but just propped Francis against the wall and tearing his shirt open, exposing his bare chest ,pinning his arms on his side.

"What are you planning to do with me?" Francis asked.

Guy had been surveying him closely, like someone who is roasting turkey in an oven, or maybe as someone who is trying to carve patterns into wood as his hands turn into surgical scalpel blades.

He felt cold terror crushing him into him like a massive tsunami. Oh no, this is like those Saw movies where the chainsaw maniac cuts his victims into bloody chunks. The only thing missing is the roar of the chainsaw.

"Oh, I'm not going to kill you just yet." Guy said. "If you die too soon then it won't be that much fun."

"If you think I'm going to sell my pal Glenn out to you, then you got it all wrong." Francis said. He was about to add something when Guy made the first cut. It cut right through his skin and it's enough to make him yell in pain.  

"That was just a test." Guy said, licking the blood off his fingers as it morphed back which is streaked with crimson. "I just want you to do me a favour."

"What favour?" Francis struggled against V.V's bonds. If he wasn't weak and tired, he could've broken free and run for freedom, but she's holding him tight. And between these two whose hair could be transformed into various weapons, he don't stand a chance.

"Oh, just a little message to those two." Guy said, reaching into his pocket and withdrawing a piece of neatly folded paper.  "Read this and recite it."

The paper was unfolded for him to see. After he had read it once, twice, three times, he blinked rapidly and said, "Are you serious? You call that poetry?"

"I think it's pretty good if I say so myself, actually it's not exactly poetry. It's a song."

"A song?" Francis couldn't keep the scorn from his voice.

In response, he got another cut near the forearm. He couldn't struggle, all thanks to V.V. holding him down, but he gave another yell of pain.

"I'm going to need you to sing. If you get it wrong, then I might have to end up hurting you more. And you had better get the tune right, because I might end up doing open surgery, and we have no anaesthesia lying around, for your sake."

"Go to hell." Francis spat.

Guy's hair lashed out at him five times, each drawing vicious cuts deeper than the other. Feeling blood in his mouth, he realized that he had stopped himself from screaming by biting his tongue hard.

"Al-right..." He panted, seeing there's no way out of this. "I'll sing your twisted little song..."

"Lucky me." Guy said, blade-like hair arched back like serpents ready to strike.  "Come on then, sing."

Francis felt irrationality and fear bubbling within him. But what other choice does he have? He tried humming a tune for practice then he sung the first bar.

Bad move, he earned a vicious slash across his chest.

"How unfortunate, you got the tune wrong."

Now I know how patients feel if there's no anaesthesia when there's an operation going on. He turned to face V.V. who is still holding him down, her expression blank.

"For God's sake, V.V., what are you doing?" He demanded, struggling to break her grip.

The only response he get was a blank stare. The silence scares him more than the torture.

"Go on, keep singing." Guy said, waving an airy hand.

Francis felt sickened to the core but what could he do? He's on an enormous disadvantage. He took another chance at singing, he barely even have a chance when Guy slashed him diagonally from left to right, making him having a slight difficulty in breathing. Crimson pooled from the cuts and flowed at a steady pace. Soon a pool formed below him, soaking into clothes, sticking them to him.

"If you keep singing wrongly, you'll just end up getting cut off. And I don't want you to die just yet before delivering my song."

Half-blinded by overwhelming pain, Francis attempted another tune. Guy just leaned in and made a long cut. Not enough to kill, but enough to bleed. With V.V. holding him down, he could only thrash around like a fish out of water.

Two more wrong attempts earned him two more cuts, but it was on the next attempt that he had finally managed to get the tune right.

"Oh, well done." Guy said, clapping his hands. "You got the tune right."

"I take it you're not going to let me off on my merry way?"Francis quipped despite several bleeding cuts all over his body.

"As matter of affect, I am. V.V., let's haul him up."   

  

Although he's not bound by hair this time, Guy, despite physically being underage, drove a car that he had 'borrowed', after he had coldcocked the unfortunate owner. V.V., as stiff and silent as a mannequin, sat in the passenger seat. Francis himself was laid on the backseat, bleeding heavily. Guy had said that he's letting him go, but he hadn't said more.

Earlier on while V.V. had stayed with him to make sure he doesn't run, he had went to the local tool shop and came out with a large bag whose contents rattled like dry bones.  He didn't say, just smiled sweetly with madness underneath.

They stopped in front of a place he knew too well. 34th Street . The familiar apartments building, a dull structure of exposed bricks and whitewashed walls. The entrance stood open and welcoming. There are the familiar recycling bins that stood a little to the side. If you go in a little closely, you could see the dull silver mailboxes that are numbered to each apartments accordingly. Could it really be that simple?

"Here we are, as promised." Guy said with false cheeriness.

But it seemed so. Shaking his head slightly, Francis opened the door and stumbled out to the sidewalk, breathing in the cool air. Sweet freedom.

Guy had also came out, holding the large bag that he had bought earlier. Now, his hair became long tentacles and bind him around the waist.

"What's this?"

"I'm brought you back as promised." Guy said, smiling.

"You double-cross backstabber!" Francis yelled.

"I kept my word, didn't I? Now zip that mouth of yours or I might end up cutting your tongue." He said it all in a casual tone as though it's as natural as going to the supermarket. It's enough to render him silent.

Humming between his teeth, Guy reached into the bag and brought out, of all things, two wooden stakes. But these aren't the types that Glenn normally used to stake vampires, these look as long as the length of his forearm and just as wide. 

"What are you going to do?"

In answer, part of Guy's hair turned into a large cylindrical object. A mallet.

With the wooden stakes in hand, realization dawned on him, sending fear running like electric along his spine. Oh no. No. NO!

"You can't be serious!" Francis yelled.

Guy's smile became more twisted. "Oh, but I am. Killing you would be too merciful."

"Then kill me now."

"No."

"KILL ME!!!"     

"And end your suffering?" Guy's hair slammed him onto the top of the building entrance, knocking the fight out off him. The impact also caused some of his bones to crack. "I don't think so." Using his hair, he pushed himself off the ground slowly so that he's on level ground with him. A long strand of red trailed behind him, supporting him like a giant serpent. Some of it wrapped around his arms, forcing them open so that his position resembles a crucifix. He placed one wooden stake near the centre of his palm and said, "Remember what I said about running low on anaesthesia? Sorry about that."

"YOU-"

The mallet slammed through the palm of his hand like knife through butter, sending gore and flesh spilling. Enough to start the screaming of a tortured soul.

Taking Advantage One's Kindness

And there I turned as one who may well pause -

all swagger, in his sudden panic, gone - 

to peep at what he really ought to flee,

yet, glimpsing this, does not delay his parting.

I saw there, right behind us, this black demon  

running the ridge around in our direction.

- Canto 21, Inferno, Dante Alighieri

12th December (Saturday) - Today is a special date, well, not really. Previously when I was training as a student in the post natal department, on 2012, it was a joyous day, we got 16 babies born on 12/12/2012 (Hello babies :D)
Okay, where was I when I sidetracked? Oh yes, well, today is the 12th of 12th. I'm not helping my boss today cause my other colleague - We're all close buddies, almost like family now, so I'll say friend - is on leave. Everyone knows by now, when my other two friends are around, I help my boss, when one of us is on leave, someone else will take care of him in my place. The person who is taking care of him is a girl whom I know, so I feel a little relieved. Although many complaint that she's not efficient enough, I trust her. First, she takes care of my place well. Second, she doesn't simply trash my things into the rubbish bin, and third, whenever there's any updates, she lets me know by putting notes for me so that I know beforehand.
Anyhow, today is just like any other day, you know. Dressings, sutures to off, the occasion injections, stuff like that. Today is a little silent because many of our doctors are on leave except for some. So we sat at the counter, praying hard our regulars come back for their dressings. Then this guy turned up at our counter, insisting  out of nowhere for our new registration girl's number. I had a vague feeling that I've seen him before. Sensing something amiss, I hurried to one of my friend's clinic and found out that he's the one they had been warning me about from the first day I came here. Of course. Now I remember him! He's a guy who had once tried to come to my clinic, and because I felt something shifty going on, I ran into my boss's room and sat there, in case he tried anything funny with me. True enough, when he saw my boss's face - His face is really scary, the no-nonsense type for anyone who don't know him - he immediately left.
Now where was I? Oh yes, back to present day, he's hovering near our registration girl for her number. Of course, anyone with sense enough knows to never ever give your number to strangers. So she flatly refused. This does not stop him, who he keep pushing til our cashier brother (we call him brother in our native tongue) covered her by giving a fake number. That done. He started asking her questions about her social life. Of course, our girl was innocent and still new, so she gave him some of her attention. Big mistake. After finding out she's young, single and pretty (She is, with that flawless alabaster skin and raven hair cut into a neat bob and those wide doe eyes), he started pestering her for her hand in marriage.
WAIT. WHAT?!!!!
Of course, this is utter nonsense. My friend and I immediately tried to send him on his way in a kind manner as possible. Oh no. It did not work. He ignored us and kept declaring loudly for our registration girl to marry him, much to her embarrassment since there were many patients waiting outside the clinic. So the poor girl tried to sidetrack by saying she's engaged, and his answer, "I will kill your fiancee and then marry you." Oh no no no no no. This made my friend mad enough that she put her feet down threatening to call our manager and he immediately left, but not before declaring to everyone that she's his wife. Oh God, what on earth just happened? The poor girl was so frightened by the whole ordeal that she was nearly in tears to the point where we comforted her. Turns out he's a child with special needs, but he's not exactly like those who can't think, but he can. He can speak English fluently, think for himself and is able to find a steady job for his future. Sadly, he knew he has special needs, but he took advantage of our kindness. You see, when we take pity on him and gave him our attention, he follows us to the point of stalking til you feel terrified. My friend told me previously he came to our department for two other girls, one who is already married!!! Oh, he's clever as well. When her hubby is with her, he hovered far away, but when he's out, he comes and demands her to leave him to marry him. This also makes her frightened til she ran to her boss, who was angry and chased him away. Oh my goodness, thank God it didn't happened to me, but it could've if I wasn't careful.
I'm not saying that we should be treating him unkindly, but because he takes advantage of our kindness, it's very hard for us to feel pity on him. But if this keeps carrying on, I'm afraid that our patience and tolerance might wear thin and we will report to our manager. But for now, I'm going to keep an eye out and pray that he don't come to our department and cause a lot of fuss.

NOTE: Sorry for the late post, but the past few days had been crazy til I'm tired out.  

Merry Christmas

Confessions

9th December (Wednesday) - Whenever people feel down, we tend to do something to make us feel better. I once read an article about a company CEO who confessed that whenever he's feeling low, he takes out his collection of antique wooden soldiers and played with them as though he's a kid again. I got a friend who folds a hundred stars and throw them into a jar, to be emptied later, which she says carries the bad things, hence the throwing part. I also got a friend who enjoys watching Tom and Jerry for laughs.
For me, it's reading children books. I still have my old Enid Blyton collection with me. First editions with cream paper that you can't get anymore. I had them for more than 10 years, and they're still in good condition, just old with age. My dad had once tried to donate them and I nearly blew a coronary. For one thing, it's a collection that I spent so hard to collect them all. Second, whenever I feel down, I just randomly grab any of the titles and started reading. You'll be very surprised how effective it is. The books hold many memories. It was what motivated me to start reading. J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter came second because those days, to get a Harry Potter book is too expensive. One would cost MYR 100++. Enid Blyton costs MYR 9.99, and that time, my dad wasn't keen on spending over hundred for a 200 page book. It was only when I became a total bookworm that he finally got me my first ever Harry Potter paperback, Goblet of Fire. It was the book that I brought with me everyday in my little bag, at school, in the supermarket, in the cafe, everywhere. I couldn't bear to bring my Enid Blyton because I don't want people snatching it from me when I'm reading. Those days, Harry Potter is well known, but no one was going to snatch it from me because most people said that Harry Potter was associated to sorcery and witchcraft. It was also because of these two I was inspired to write a story of my own.
Believe it or not, my first ever story was a fanfiction. No, I did not publish it on fanfiction.com, I was a technophobe at that time and had no Internet access (Unless I go to my friend's house). The fanfiction is someday what will become a story that I had finally self-published (Check out the Books Written By Me section). And the characters: A mixture of Naruto and Final Fantasy. Throughout the years, the personality of the characters had faithfully stayed the same until I finally swapped the characters with my own original characters. I still have the original story, written in pencil, single lined exercise books and those little square books that you use for Mathematics. Although the pencil had faded a little but it's still legible to be read. And there were tons of illustrations, again in pencil. God knows whether my drawing had improved or not.
I'm a chicken, in fact. I really, really dislike horror stories. Not Goosebumps, I adore Goosebumps, the horror is tame enough, but really scary ones like Saw, Scream, Child's Play, the really, really scary ones that often had people getting killed in the most gruesome way and that gives you nightmares. I still can't get over that fear. But my first ever debut was (surprise, surprise) a horror novel. Personally, I don't even think of it as a horror novel. It's basically an action, adventure comedy with demons and the supernatural thrown into the mix (Aha, I think all of you know what I'm talking about ;D) But it got stumped into horror because of the demons. Before it was self-published, I used to post it up on another blogspot as a free reading material. The story stays largely the same, with a few edits and some bad grammars. But feel free to check it out if you have the time.
In a way, looking back, it has been a long journey. I got two books in a print-on-demand sites and I got a job that I enjoy doing, even though people sometimes gives me funny looks when I mention my profession. Well, I guess it's because nursing is still not as popular as doctors, but hopefully with everything advancing forward, the profession will have a chance to shine.
With year end coming soon, there are tons of things that I still need to do on my mental checklist. But for now I'm taking things slow, baby steps, as my psychiatrist tells me. It's just a shame that I wasn't able to fulfill my third book deadline goal, but I will definitely, definitely (zettai ni) finish it when the time is right. Lloyd will never forgive me if I make his story one hell of a rollercoaster ride.
And a big Happy Birthday to my sister. May your wishes be granted.

*As a little bonus for laughs, check out this Hunger Game spoof. It's hilarious, trust me, whenever you're feeling down, just watch it. It's guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

As you can see, my book is already old, but still in okay condition.

My Enid Blyton collection. Part of it. There are more, but they are all stacked behind.

Memory Lane

8th December (Tuesday) - I counted the days from September. It has been more than four months since I assisted Dr So-and-So. Was it that long? As I was preparing the new appointment book (finally got it for around MYR 30, so worth it), drawing lines and filling in the public holidays, it got me thinking back to the first day we met.
I had never seen him before from my first day. The only thing I knew about him was when I went to the first floor to get something after a month or so, I saw a big sign with his name that says he's shifted to the Fifth floor. I got a good look at his previous room. (I say room, because currently he's allocated in a suite) It's really small, and there's no places for nurses to sit, like one doctor whom I assisted (I had to sit by the doctor's table because there's no other places to sit). And it's really cramp because there are three people sharing, all of different specialty. I asked the girls there how do they manage it, and their answer was, "Imagine all three asking you to shift their desk, and all of them have different times and stuff that you need to arrange." Oh boy, I really can't imagine that. No wonder why he shifted upstairs. His suite is definitely a big improvement, with a proper nurse's desk and with a bigger room for doctors. Oh joy. :D
When I first came up, armed with appointment book and MC in hand, the first thing that came to my mind was he must've really liked paintings. Because everywhere I looked, it's all paintings, mainly from Thailand and his certs and qualifications. He has a lot of them, I doubled check his specialty and it says mainly he's a Spine consultant, but it also wrote Orthopaedic and Trauma. Wow, previously before I came up to him, I assisted a pure Spine surgeon together with his PA. 2 weeks after I assisted them, I was tasked to him. Thank you to the kind PA who taught me the tricks of handling a clinic.
When we first met, he seemed strict and serious-looking. The first thing he said to me was, "They gave me such a young girl? How innocent-looking you are." Yep, God knows how I look innocent.
Let's just say for a month plus I never talked to him, and vice versa. It was his regular customers, the one who had stuck by him for more than 10 years who encouraged me to talk to him. "He's a very nice man. Cute, you should try talking to him. He won't bite." It was these words that spurred me to talk to him. And she was right. Once I started opening up to him, he did the same. He really is nice, and he never raises his voice. If you do wrong, he just go hmph, but never says much. He reminds me a little of myself. Quiet, not the type to open up too much. I can see why most people are afraid to talk to him. But that's how I find myself acting as the middle person. Doctor <-> Nurse <-> Patient / Vendors
So yes, I get to know him better, and he knows all about my depression issues (The psychiatric office is just next to his) since I often have to leave the clinic for a while since the psychiatrist is only in the mornings. He was okay with it and often whenever I come back from my appointed sessions, he'll ask me whether I'm okay or whether do I need to take a break. But compared to the mess I was in last time, this is nothing.
As I prepare to go for a few days leave to relieve my stress, he wished me luck and told me to take it easy, although he made a joke, "Who's going to take care of me when you're gone?" I told him that other girls will take my place until I come back, and that he'll be fine. I settled all the appointments and OT cases and his clinic blockings, so he should be fine. The one thing that I'm not done yet is the new appointment book, which I'm only half way. Well, it could wait. ;)
  
 

Relief

Divine light pierces through the universe -

To be received, as fit, in all degrees -

in such a way that nothing can oppose.

 Canto 31, Paradiso

3rd December (Thursday) - "Girlie, you're reported to the Sister's room, now." The note says.
That's what greeted me when I first came by my department counter, scrawled in caps with blue ink.  
Oh Christ, Christ, Christ, what have I done now? What have I done? Did I do something bad??? Please don't tell me I  did something bad. I've been doing my best so far to meet up my competency but I couldn't fulfill the last two because those are only in the mornings, plus I have to run to two places, up and down. Ohhhh, what am I going to do?
With blood rushing in my ears and my heart thudding hard, I brought my competency sheets with me, swallowed the feeling of going into tears that I'm about to lose my job, I went into the Sister's room. I took a quick survey. She doesn't look mad, there's no I'm-about-to-break-you-the-bad-news kind of face, and the desk was empty. Please don't tell me I'm going to get thrown out.

 (This conversation is strictly edited for privacy and confidentiality reasons.)

Sister : How's your competency so far?
Me : (Stay calm, STAY CALM, don't show any weakness!!!!) Out of the five, I only managed to complete the ones in my current department.
Sister : What about the other two?
Me : Well, I'm often assisting Doctor So-and-So in the mornings, so I'm afraid I can't go up to find the procedures. And in the mornings, our department is full of injections, dressings, stitches to be removed and Plaster of Paris (POP) removal.
Sister : Tell me, how are you feeling now when you first started off here?
Me : (CALM, CALM, CALM!!!!) To be honest, when I first came here, I was a wreck. But now I feel that I can finally start to gain control of things.
Sister : How do you find Dr So-and-So so far?
Me : He's very kind and supportive. I like working with him very much.
Sister : I see. Well, you passed. Congratulations.
Me : Passed? (I don't remember sitting for a test.)
Sister : You are a confirmed staff.
Me : (WAIT, WHAT?!!!!!!) Confirmed? You mean permanent?
Sister : Welcome to the department. :)
Me : (The feelings that wrecked through my brain. Shock, disbelief, unbelieving, tears of joy, relief, grateful, ) W-Wow. Thank you.
Sister : Yes, it has been a hard journey for you, but you have passed through the first step, well done.

Can you believe it? All my life I thought I was a failure. I'm slow compared to others, and I can't handle overload work before I break down, I'm not the type to get noticed, but after going through the Seven Circles of Hell, I actually managed to pull through. What a shock. I nearly burst into tears right here and then, not tears of sadness, but happiness. Really? I didn't care about the bonus that was about to arrive, I actually cared more about keeping the job. Yes, that shows how crappy I am.
Only yesterday I was moaning to my psychiatrist and boss about my life going to be in ruins, but now it's as though a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I can finally be at peace and start all over again, as a full-time staff, not on probation.  
I would like to give thanks to my department colleagues who had been through with me throughout my crazy journey, my boss (Doctor So-and-So) for his support and understanding why sometimes I have to run out to the psychiatrist next door, my psychiatrist for being understanding and always telling me to take things easy instead of forcing myself, my Sisters for not giving up on me when I was a wreck, guiding me while giving me the push I needed to get through, my wonderful (not work-related) friends, local and international for bringing me out to the shopping complexes to loosen my stress, my dog Irie for loving me no matter what, and lastly to my family. You all had been so awesome throughout these months in my life, I can't give you all much but I will continue to work hard and the least I could do is dedicate and acknowledge you in my books.

Four Months Past....

2nd December (Wedensday) - It has been four months since my last update. The haze is gone, hurrah. No more masks, no more duck beaks, no more teary eyes, no more hacking cough and difficulty in breathing. Hello, sunshine, hello clear blue sky.
Many things had happened. I'm still with that spine surgeon whom I always assisted in the morning while running things in my original department in the noon. I suffered a few mood swings up and down regarding family issues, and gotten bullied verbally by some nasty patients, to the point where I was in tears til my doctor (aka boss) told me to cheer up and that I can't please everyone. He even went and tell the patient off personally cause when he got a lot of surgery and sometimes there's last minute planning. So I immediately block his clinic to prevent a lot of headaches for the patients, registration, the nurses, boss, and me (Unless it's a small case then I won't block, hence I often double check his OT booking, or double check with the OT staff). God bless, I swore I wouldn't go into tears, but the patient really gave me one hell of a bullocking, Thank goodness for nice bosses or else I might end up worse.
I been thinking, people often say my boss is scary, but I don't think so. Sure, he seems serious and quiet, but once you get to know him, you'll find out he's a really sweet guy. I admit, when I first assisted him, I was scared of him as well. And I never talked to him, seriously. Everyday was the same, hi boss, bye boss. Yep, you'll agree with me that this is exactly... no life. It was his regular patients who encouraged me to open up to him. "Your doctor is so cute, don't you want to get to know him? He's a very nice guy, you're his nurse, you should be talking to him." After a lot of consideration, they're right. Good working relationship between nurse and doctor has to be established by getting to know each other. Sure, we do talk about work sometimes, but we get to know each other lives as well. I'm still attending ongoing sessions with my psychiatrist and he was okay with it. Well, the psychiatrist session is only in the mornings,so is his, so usually I leave him a note if I'm going anywhere. Heaven knows, one man show ain't easy. But that's why I keep tons of sticky notes on my desk. He usually asks me whether I'm okay or do I need rest, I'm totally okay, except for the occasional mood swings, but I had never falter on my job, unless someone happened to be covering me and did not pass any of the important things properly. (Sticky notes, sticky notes....)
I finally plucked up the courage to tell my doctor that I write. Who would've thought? He's pretty knowledgeable about eBooks and Youtube. Uh huh. He went, "Hello? Youtube? You can learn a lot from it." Yep, how to pick locks and wearing yukata, tying an obi belt, zumba workout and illustration sketching, you just have to use it the right way,
Whenever I go back to my original department during noon time, most of my regular patients for dressing usually asked what happened to me. Well, since I'm upstairs assisting my boss in the mornings, I can't usually run off, someone has got to man the fort, if you know what I mean.The amount of patients who walk in were unbelievable. I don't mind walk ins, but it couldn't hurt to at least give a call, since my boss is super busy, I just go with the flow.
December is finally here, which means Christmas. Yeah! I already decorated my boss's clinic with a tiny Christmas tree to get into the festive season. No point getting a big one cause our clinic is not that big, and an absolute waste of money to buy a huge one if you are going to put it out once every year. So a tiny one will do, I can even re-use it back for Chinese New Year next February. I really got to start bucking up my folding skills. 
 

Haze-y Problem

15th September (Tuesday) - Oh, I don't feel too good. I entered to work when my doctor took one look at me and went, "What happened to you?" when he saw my teary eyes, constant blowing my nose and my zombie-like face. I showed him the view outside. If you've been checking on the news, you'll see that the haze is getting worse. The outside view when I peer through from my clinic's room was so misty. Usually I'll be able to see the skyscrapers and buildings in their gleaming steel and chrome glory, but not today. Everything is obscured by the grey fog, not to mention the stinging smell of the haze. We are all forced To wear a mask whenever we go out now. No fun.
Due to several last minute changes as well, I was shunted from one clinic to another for deployment. Best part: They're all orthopaedic specialists (bones), and I had handled them many times, so I do know how to call for MRI booking and etc., thanks to the guidance of their personal assistant. But I do wish the neighbouring clinic assistant quit pestering on how I handle things. I know her intentions are good, but for goodness sake, I have my own flow and system. See, the thing is when the doctor I'm handling say he wants to take leave, I want to make sure he signs his consultant leave form first before I proceed to changing all my patients appointments, because what happened was previously my doctor said he wanted a certain date to take leave, and you know what happened? Instead of going on a whole day leave, he took half day. Oh my goodness, but thank God I shifted the morning appointments to another day cause he took morning off. This clinic assistant often comes in and interfere my system, which I sometimes get frustrated. I usually put my papers in front of me so that I don't panic on where to find them if my doctor needs it, but she goes on and on about how messy my papers are. How can they be messy when I stack them neatly on my counter top? And don't get me started on how I write my notes. I usually make important notes on my appointment book in red ink so that whoever takes over the clinic will be alert over the note I put. But do you know what happened? She straight away complained to the manager and I got in serious trouble. Since my clinic handling skills are trained from another assistant, she was pulled in for questioning for well. Oh, how could she- Fortunately, no one gotten into serious trouble since I followed her style since it was simple to handle clinics that way. And I checked with the other clinic assistants, red inks are allowed to make your own notes, but NOT for legal documents. Grrr. And it did not stop there.
There was a 2 hour drama involving a patient of mine, because of her GL (guarantee/insurance letter) not being approved due to some misunderstanding at business office side. And the terrible part was the registration girl called me and told me, "Do NOT let the patient see the doctor because her GL isn't approved." IN FRONT OF HER FACE (!!!!) Oh dear, the patient went berserk and yelled at her, and because she was already boiling, she took her anger out on me to, calling stupid, useless, no brains etc etc. Since she was furious, all I could do was keep apologizing, telling her I had no idea how did this happen, since the GL was out of my hand. The assistant next door overheard the commotion (nooooo) and she checked her records, claiming that the ward nurse got things wrong and she should go back to her doctor (NOOOOOO). Hoo-boy, did the patient let her have it. I winced and was sandwiched in between the two brawling off. You see, the patient had already told me her story: She was under that doctor in the ward, but because of her back problem, she was referred to my doctor, hence he is her primary doctor. But the assistant kept insisting it was the ward nurse who is wrong, which caused the patient to yell "SHUT UP!!! YOU JUST SHUT UP RIGHT NOW!!!" Ahhhh, I fell like hiding under my table until the whole commotion is over.
The assistant finally left, and it was down to me to pick up the mess. The patient ended up crying and I had to comfort her, offering her cups of cold water and get tissues for her. Bless her, it wasn't her fault, but something along the way gotten screwy. I literally called my doctor and have to beg him to come and see her since she insisted on seeing him, and thank God, in the end the insurance was approved, so she was all happy again. but not before grabbing the customer feedback form on the way to write about the awful service she had (Uh oh).
So yeah, it was rotten at first, but in the end all's well ends well.
And good news: The story that you all had been waiting for is finally out! Chronicles of the Blitz: Awaken is out on sale on createspace.com. Three cheers. Hurray. You can click on the link on the side of my blog for details. I hope you all will support it, and thanks so much for following me on my crazy blogging adventure :D

Deja Vu

There are people who slap their novels all over the Internet, begging other people to read them.

But I can't do that. I don't know why. Except...

Well, I know why : I'm afraid Tina - not to mention Michael, or J.P., or whoever, really - might not like it.

Just like every single publisher I've sent it to hasn't like it. Well, except AuthorPress. 

But they want me to pay THEM to publish it! REAL publishers are supposed to pay YOU!!

- Forever Princess by Meg Cabot, page 31, HarperTeen, An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers  

8th September (Tuesday) - I haven't been up lately, which is no surprise since I'm now back to writing my third novel and couldn't be more thrilled. My mind is bursting with ideas and whenever I'm back from work, I turn on my Microsoft Word and BANG, my fingers start flying around the keyboard in supersonic speed. Forget about dinner, I'm on a roll. And it usually takes people to call me several time before I come back to the real world. 

So yesterday I sent out an email to a publishing house recommended by a friend (No names are allowed due to confidentiality) and when I'm handling my doctor's clinic, I got this international phone call and I went, "Wait a minute, this can't be real. I just sent out the email yesterday." Seeing as this phone call was persistent, while I was free, I answered the phone call. Surprise, surprise, it was the people whom I sent the email to. After a few Q & A, they liked my story (Okay, good sign, good sign...) then to finalize getting a publishing deal, I have to pay them a publishing package for 2 books, equivalent to five grand, which means I have to slave three months to pay. 

Wait, hold on to your seahorses, this isn't right. It sounds too good to be true. I pay the full amount, I get back twenty five percent for paperbacks and fifty percent on ebooks. I'm no mathematics genius, so I called up a few friends who are good at crunching numbers, and when they made the calculations, you'll be very surprised how much I earn back. Not those four figures, but less. A friend of mine who is a property agent basically said it sounds rubbish, not a good investment at all. I recalled the above lines from Meg Cabot's best-selling Princess Diaries, and what she said is true. We writers slaved all over our manuscript, at the very least, we should get back our money's worth for goodness sake. It's a good thing I have lulu.com to market my book. 

And now back to writing. 

Funny Moments I

20th August (Thursday) - Sorry for being on a long hiatus. Currently work is a little hectic due to lack of manpower, which means all of us have to work doubly, triple hard to keep our positions. And whatever free time I had after work, I channel it into my writing and drawing.
People often laugh at me for being in the outpatient department, but you'll be surprised how many dramas I had encountered for the past few months. I'll list out whatever I could remember. (Certain conversations are edited due to privacy and confidentiality.)

1. During dressing

Patient : Nurse, could you please go slow?
Me : Okay. How slow do you want?
Patient : Pain free as possible.
Me : Sir, you do know there will be a little pain.
Patient : Ahhhh, nurse, could you do me a favour and knock me out with those sedation stuff that they use on TVs?
Me : Sir, if I do that you'll most likely end up in Operating Theatre. And we're not allowed to administer them.
Patient : Oh...
Me : Please relax. There's nothing to worry about. I'll go extra slow if that's what you want...
Patient : Okay. AHHHHH. AHHHHH. OWWWW.
Me : Sir, sir, there's nothing much I need to do. Your wound is really clean, just a little blood, but no pus and dead skin. And I'm not pressing hard like you requested. I'm just using soak gauze to absorb the blood, see?
Patient : But it's painful...
Me : Of course it's a little painful, I'm using salt water. How did you get your injury anyway? Did you get a blister?
Patient : It was an infected wart.
Me : Oh... You know, when I used to practice karate, I had a lot of blisters too.
Patient : Oh my. Really?
Me : Uh huh.
Patient : Did you go for surgery?
Me : Ehhh, no. All I had to do was poke the water out and let the blister heal.
Patient : Did it hurt?
Me : Well, if you peel the skin, then yes. But somehow I feel as though I was walking on mushrooms.
Patient : Yeah, mushrooms. :D
Me : Okay, your gauze are all fixed and I tightened the bandage a little so that you don't have to worry about it coming loose. Remember not to get it wet when you shower.
Patient : Thank you. And... mushrooms.
Me : ^^

2. During STO

Patient : Hello, leng lui. (Pretty girl in Cantonese)
Me : Um, hello.
Patient : You Vietnam?
Me : Me, no.
Patient : China?
Me : No.
Patient : Singapore? Japan? Korea? Brunei?
Me : Nooooo.
Patient : Then what are you?
Me : Malaysian.
Patient : You're joking.
Me : No, I'm not. I'm a pure Malaysian.
Patient : You don't look Malaysian, girl.
Me : I get that a lot. (You will be surprised how many times I get asked this question over and over again)
Patient : So what are you going to do for me, leng lui?
Me : Remove your stitches, of course.
Patient : Can't I keep the stitches on?
Me : Sir, there's a risk of infection if you keep them on too long, and it's non-absorbable.
Patient : Please don't let it be painful.
Me : Don't worry sir, it'll be quick.

*Doctor came in, checked his post-stitches wound, and left*

Patient : That's it?
Me : Uh huh. That's it.
Patient : Are you married?
Me : Nooooo.
Patient : Boyfriend?
Me : Still single.
Patient : A pretty girl like you should get a doctor. They just come and go and money goes into their pocket, just like that.
Me : Sir, all the doctors here are old, and taken.
Patient : Can't be, girl. I met some young ones when I was in the ward. I'll pray that you find a nice doctor who'll appreciate you.
Me ; Uh, sir, I don't think I'll end up with a doctor.
Patient : Want me to find one handsome young one for you?
Me : Ummm, no thanks.

3. Taking care of a clinic

Patient came in late, doctor was not in his clinic.

Me : May I help you?
Patient : Yes, I got an appointment with Dr So-and-So.
Me : You do realize that you're an hour and forty five minutes late right?
Patient : No, I don't know.
Colleague : Had you done your blood test?
Patient : What blood test?
Colleague : The blood test that you need to do before seeing Dr So-and-So.
Patient : Don't know.
Colleague : *shoots me a look to stay quiet* When you discharge from the ward, did they give you a form for blood test on arrival?
Patient : Don't know.
Me : Which ward were you in, miss?
Patient : Don't know.
Colleague : *veins tightening* Okay, well, here's the form, now go and do the blood test at the lab. Hurry.
Patient : Okay.

After she had left and came back from the lab...

Colleague : Kiddo, call Dr So-and-So.
Me : Oh man, oh man, he's going to shoot us.
Colleague : You have to call him, otherwise he'll run off to Hospital A and then he'll go ballistic. Besides, it's the patient who came late.
Me : Ahhhhh.
Colleague : Come on, kiddo. Call him.
Me ; Okay, what's his phone number?
Colleague : Just call the operator and they'll connect you to his phone. Don't worry. Just listen to what I say. Hello, Dr, sorry to disturb you. Calling from your clinic, the patient just came and done her blood test. I'll let you know once the results are ready. Got it?
Me : Okay. Here goes. *After muttering our prayers, I dial the operator and got connected*

Me : H-Hello? Dr So-and-So?
Doctor : Yes? Yes? What is it?!
Me : Sorry to disturb you. Calling from your clinic, you got one more patient. Miss So-and-So, just came and just done her blood test-
Doctor : WHAT THE HELL?!!!!! WHY DID SHE COME SO LATE?!!! (At this point, I flinched away from the phone to let him yell out his anger. Once he had cooled down, I put the phone back to my ear) Alright, alright, I'll see her.
Me : I'll let you know once the results are ready.
Doctor : Fine! Fine! Goodbye!
Me : Thank you, doctor, goodbye.
Colleague : What did he say?
Me : What the hell...
Colleague : It could've been worst.
Me ; At least he isn't really shouting at me.
Colleague : True...

4. During registration...

Me : Good morning, sir. Which doctor are you looking for?
Patient : No idea. I just came for a scope
Me : Oh, you're under Doctor So-and-So. He's currently on leave.
Patient : I know.
Me : Did he refer you to any doctor?
Patient : No idea.
Me : Doctor A?
Patient : No idea.
Me : Doctor B?
Patient : No idea.
Me : Doctor C?
Patient : No idea.
Me ; *sighs* I'll go and check with the PAs. Have a seat, sir. I'll be back to attend to you shortly.

After running one round throughout the entire clinic...

Me : Sir, I can give you Doctor A, he can do the scope for you. Is it okay?
Patient : Sure.

After register...

Patient : Miss, I got this letter with me in my pocket. Do you want it?
Me : .......... (You made me run one big circle and all this time you have the referral letter in your POCKET???) Sure. *opens the letter and feel like slamming my head on the table, Doctor A name is written in bold on the top* (FOR GOD'S SAKE) Oh, good thing I registered you under Doctor A cause your doctor gave you his name.
Patient : Oh...
Me : *sighs* Okay, take this to the clinic and you're all set. Thank you.

After he had left...

Colleague : Kiddo, that guy is really blur.
Me : Uh huh. Can't believe I ran one big round and all this time he got the letter with him.
Colleague :*jokingly* Next time, ask him if he remember to wear his pants.
Me : Huh? Why?
Colleague : If he can't remember anything, then he wouldn't remember to wear his pants.
Me : Oh. OH....
Colleague : You get my joke?
Me : Yep, yep. I get it. *mutters* Pants...

That's all for now.

August A-Coming

1st August (Saturday) - Well you look at that. In just a blink of an eye and we're already in August. It has nearly been a month that I'm posted in ground floor and I've grown so much since then. True my aesthetic training doesn't help out much with dressings and sutures, but when it comes to scars, and the patient couldn't clear it with the scar cream, then all that is left is me suggesting to them to go to the plastic surgeon.
Of course with Bon Odori coming next month, I am now trying to go on a diet to reduce my waist line. I'm telling you, no matter what I do, hula hoops, push ups, sit ups, using the gym balls for stretching, zumba, abdomen crunches, going on a carb-free diet, none is helping. Urgh, waist line toning is the toughest. Many of my male friends got their abs through protein shakes, lean meats and such. I don't eat beef, venison, lamb and such, so I have to resort to oats, high fibre and protein diet, which includes replacing my meals with oats, chlorophyll and lemon water. Uh-huh, no joke. Ever since I joined the aesthetic girls, they taught me that besides exercising, diet is also very important. And I'm determined to control my stubborn waistline.
A doctor shared with me that when he was a kid, he had never wanted to sleep, preferring to stay up late at night. Confession : I used to too, especially reading. I'm a bookworm, through and through. Give me a book and I'll be a happy person. Most of my salary are spent on books. But now that I'm a full-fledged working adult, I now realize the importance of sleep. No sleep = no fuel = no mood = unable to work happy. I guess my friend was right, about how when we were once young we tend to do silly things.
With the senior staffs busy dealing with their errands, I now have to shoulder the office tasks, such as registering patients, filing in folders, faxing prescriptions, fixing the photocopier if it jams, topping up our sticker labels etc etc. I'm a little on the slow side, but I was able to do it after a week worth of practice.
And as for my story, it's still going on, full speed ahead. Stay tuned for more posts or updates from me. And as I finished writing this post, it's already past midnight. Hence it's officially 2nd August. Happy birthday to me, going a year older and hopefully a year wiser.

Clean, Flush, Cut and Poke

17th July (Friday) - When you're at the ground floor like me, you'll be given almost the same routine again and again. Most of the patients came in with heavy wounds and it's up to us to clean it. But wait, it's not simple dressing. Yes, the foundation for a simple dressing is definitely there, but the wound is not. It's always the same thing, y'know. Patients come in, you greet them, then you ask where their wounds are. For the first few times I do just that, but after seeing the same regular faces again and again, you know where the wound is, but the cleaning depends on how well the wound is after several weeks of healing.
Flushing comes when you use your forcep and then you see what we call a hole or a pocket. Something hollow. And flushing isn't fun, let me tell you. Of course, last time when we do it in our students' time, it was fun, but in real life, it ain't easy. I got my first hand experience and I had to position my syringe tip properly otherwise I'll end up with an out of control water gun and things will get really messy.
The cutting part is one of the job that is difficult. Difficult meaning that you have to be really, really patient. With only a forcep and your scissors in hand,  you're going to have to cut and cut and cut at dead skin, dry skin, slough, fats and other stuff that you can never imagine in a normal wound. Seriously, you have to be really patient and cut all the unnecessary parts to make sure the wound can grow healthily and back into new beautiful tissues. And it doesn't matter if it takes you an hour or more, it's our job to do it, unless for emergency cases, we really have no choice but to postpone on other days. Because cutting wrong and too fast can result in major bleeding, and we do not want that to happen after all of our hard work.
Poking is a nightmare. Poking is one of the toughest part where you really have to poke gently at the wound to get all the slough out. And yes, it's as frustrating as cutting, because slough are so thin that you can't see them properly. Poking wrong will results in your patients screaming in agony. Imagine someone taking something and poking your raw wound. Super painful, and you're doing dressing, which means no painkillers, not even local anaesthesia, so you have to do it at a snail's pace.
Okay, back to writing.

Out of the Box

12th July (Sunday) - Sorry I haven't been up for so long. My internet connection was down and I recently only fixed it. So many things had happened in between my last post, and I don't know where to start. Let me start with my recent re-assignment. Apparently, I knew all along I couldn't stay in aesthetic, mainly because two people are considered a lot, even though my colleagues had tried to get me to stay by saying in case two doctors or three cases comes in, all three of us can use all three rooms and handle each cases. But no one is budging, and they finally deployed me to the second floor clinic, handling kids and pregnant mommies. After a week of being there, they moved me to the ground floor clinic. At first I was a little worried. because one week, how can I even catch up with the clinic flows? I feel like I'm a soccer ball, being kicked around, but til now I'm at the ground floor clinic, and I love it, more than the second floor.
Kids and pregnant mommies are not really my thing. I used to love it, I even wanted to be a midwife once, cause of all the dramas, and I love seeing births, new life coming into the world, and the funny fathers-to-be crying tears of joy and waving their Ipads and smart phones to take photos of their wee ones. Unfortunately, many hospitals that I apply to refused to give me Labour Rooms, saying that I need to be a qualified midwife first. But at some hospitals you can be a normal staff nurse at the Labour Room for a minimum of two years, but then you are expected to take your midwifery course because Labour Room needs midwives, not nurses. Being a normal staff nurse is the equivalent of a clerk and they don't want that.
One thing that I truly loved when I was working in my previous hospital was dressings. I don't know why, but I used to be squeamish when I see blood, but after being exposed to seeing tons of bloody stuff (plus doing tons of research for writing) , I actually loved it. When I moved to my new work environment, I loved doing dressings, but I can't touch them, only doctors are allowed to do the dressings. I assist, and in a way, it's frustrating. I want to hands on, not stay on the sidelines. Well, ground floor clinic is where I can do things my way and at my own pace. And the surgeons here are okay, and so are the patients, because they often come back for daily dressing. And so you'll often see them again and again til their wound are fully healed. Best part of all. the dressings are done by us. See why I like the place.
It has already been nearly two week I'm there and I still have a lot of things to catch up on. I'll update whenever I can in between writing and work. That's all for now. ^^

On and Off

18th June (Thursday) - I'm not up to date with my blog lately, and with good reason. In between my appointments with the psychologist, the craziness of the customers who regularly comes in for aesthetic and laser treatments, I'm now planning on focusing my writing. I've been on hiatus for a month now and I think it's about time I get back to writing.
Business has been really slow due to poor economy and such, so in between my free time, I've been doing on and off research while scribbling my ideas on scraps of papers. This is pretty much the disadvantage when you're working. Back in my school days, I used to write down my stories in old exercise books and staple them together. How easy it was back then.
Blitz's first part of the story has been done, but now my cover artist is really busy with his company project, but as mentioned before I had already submitted most of the designs and all he had to do now is digitalize it. I know many of you had been waiting for it, so am I, but I can't rush him, so in short, I apologize for the delay. But once he submit the covers, I'll be able to put it up on lulu.com pronto.
On the bright side, I'm now halfway done on Lloyd's story, and best of all, the covers are all ready and they look awesome, and I really can't wait to share it with you guys. But it also depends on how fast I can write after working hours.
I'll still be active on blogspot, and post up whenever I can, but for now, I'm going to be focusing on finishing the sequel to Supernatural Demon Slayers. You can support me by buying my book by clicking on the link right at the side of my post. The list will be updated from time to time if I can get my works published, so check back once in a while.

My original works in exercise books. Look how worn out they are. 

 

Solo Show

11th June (Thursday) - After a month or two at the aesthetic side, my colleagues finally allowed me to spread my wings. As in, I can now go independently with minimal supervision. I used to moan about not being able to see IPL Hair Removal and tattoo removal. Guess what, be careful what you wish for. Cause now all the cases are coming in. Ranging from people removing tattoo, face tightening, removing pigmentations, birthmarks and hairs at all sorts places. Recently I read in the magazine about a lady who refuses to smile so that she doesn't get any lines and wrinkles on her face. O: Oh, the length that people will go to just for the sake of beauty.
I know beauty is skin deep, as the term goes. And yes, appearance is always the first thing that people always see, but according to my colleagues. The best way to maintain your beauty is diet, lifestyle, sunblock and sleep. If you got these fours in your hands, you can age gracefully. Yep, you don't have to resort to needles and knives.
Being in a summer all year round country, people often laugh at the use of moisturiser and sunblock. That's why you see many of them having pigmentations, spots, or some having skin that looses elasticity due to the intense heat. Another problem is most patients query, then they turn their nose down when we offer our price, because it's expensive. Aw, come on,you know all beauty products are super expensive, Try Shiseido, it cost more than 300 a bottle, The problem is people aren't willing to fork out money, but they expect high quality services. It's an outrage. You can't go to some cheap food court and expect them to offer you five star quality food. Of course if we go to those fancy restaurants with prices ranging at 30 dollars and above, then yes, we do expect tip top service. Why prices are so expensive are because of maintenance of the building, rental costs, facilities, equipments, products and so on.
Solo show is basically working on the front lines instead of hanging at the back, It means I get bombarded by doctors requests, and I can't say no. Customers who are concerned about beauty will tend to bombard us with tons of really weird questions and I can't exactly shy away. Uhhhh, my head is spinning from all the requests spilling in. And to top it off, I entered a social game which I have no idea to play, yet the tournament is tomorrow. HELP.  

Heatstroke

1st June (Monday) - These few days, we are having major ultraviolet, in other words, sunburns.  I've been shivering on and off, hot and cold, sometimes breaking into chilly sweats for no reason as though I'm having hypoglcemia (low blood sugar). Apparently I've been suffering heatstrokes. So not good. Not good.
These days I felt really weak and fatigue. Not during worktimes, but when I go out, especially to crowded areas. Sigh, not all the Vitamin C and E can help me out in this. Not even the air conditioning unit can save from the heat. To maintain my weight, I went on a vigorous diet that involves warm lemon water, soya based milk, Vitamin C and E, chlorophyll, Not to mention the exercises I'm taking up.Anything I take nowadays goes into my waistline. ==
Most of my patients were ignorant about sunblock. Clearly, they haven't seen Hugh Jackman's lecture on the importance of sunblock. Seriously, the many cases of fractional laser ablation we had done... Most of them were like, "Oh, I can go back to my usual activity.without much worry." Uh, no, you can't. After any aesthetic treatment, your skin will be sensitive. Do not take things like sunblock too lightly. If you don't apply sunblock on your sensitive skin, dark pigmentations will re-emerge. Then you'll end up spending more on second treatment. And no cheap sunblocks allowed. According to my doctor, the best will be SPF 50. And if you are going out, please make sure to get a wide brim hat and umbrella to shield your face from the ultraviolet lights. And shocking news, apparently, the indoor lights of your office also has ultraviolet. Oh my goodness. Shocking, but true. Not it's not dangerous, but long term exposure to the lights like computers can cause uneven skin tone. Hoo boy. No wonder why sunblocks are selling like hotcakes. And that is why I'm also now putting moisturiser plus sunblock, it's a 2 in 1 so I actually saved up a little on the sunblock cost.
Regarding about cases, there's not much to say, most of it were the same, but I finally get to see hair removal. Here's the thing: Permanent Hair Removal is not permanent. Many of my patients complained that they went to do permanent hair removal but they kept getting some hair back. So far, hair removal is not permanent. What we offer is hair growth reduction, which means we can use laser to laser off most of your hair, but there will be a few strands sprouting out, and it's not hundred percent guarantee, depending on the severity of your hair growth. There are some people who come back and tell me it's not effective, but there are some who said it was effective and they only got a few strands poking out. If you are going for armpit hair removal, I won't recommend it. With the blistering heat, hair are your best friend for filtering the sweat.
Tome for me to go to bed, it's going to be very busy tomorrow.

Struggling Hands On

23rd May (Saturday) - It's already nearly going to be the end of May, hence my 3rd month. In other words, nearly end of my probation, hence I'm now doing all I can to prove to the higher ups that I'm committed to the job. And since this department it's so much better than my last one, with supportive colleagues and allowing me to read cosmetic magazines to keep up to date to the latest treatments, so it isn't all work and no play.

Besides finding my newfound love for chess, I'm now allowed to do things hands on, under supervision of course, but I'm allowed to do things on my own now, but under assessment. I don't mind, as long I'm able to pass probation.

I gotten a list of what I needed to do, so I just followed exactly on the list, but doing proper hands on it's really a struggle. Don't think giving facials is something like a walk in the park, once you hands on, you'll know how tough it is to clean the sticky clay mask that is stuck on. Not to mention the bursting acnes, I tell you, moments later my gauze were soaked with blood. Ah, I thought I gave the blood up when I left the ward, but I guess when you're in my line of work, you can never escape from the crimson fluid that smells of meat and copper.

I'm now on strict assessment which means I'm doing hands on from A to Z, and assisting the doctors with the laser machines. Last time I'm doing on and off helping, so now it's time to prove my worth. I'm not really that good with machines, but it's okay to take baby steps, but I have to pick up fast. Most of the procedures are more or less the same, but with few twists depending on the doctors and procedure. But I'm slowly getting the hang of it. A very nice change I must say.

There's really not much to say at this point, except can I just say, the amount of money people throw just to maintain their beauty is really ridiculous, but as the doctors told me, you have to start maintaining your beauty at a young age if you want to age beautifully. 

Kickout

7th May (Thursday) - It wasn't a very hectic day, compared to last week where there were many ladies anxious to get their treatment done. After settling my last patient with a chemical peel and giving her strict instructions (SUNBLOCK), I went to attend a self-defense workshop. I have a black belt 1st dan in karate, but deep down, I know it isn't going to help out in the real world, where criminal starts attacking you in a ruthless manner. There are many people who actually are expert in martial arts like kickboxing, taekwando, karate, jujitsu and such, but when someone comes at you with a knife, you tend to freeze.
Well, I signed up for this 2 hour and a half workshop and let me tell you, this organization is good. Seriously. I know we tend to get down fighting back like you usually see in movies, but in real life, you'll end up getting hurt and that's not worth it. The guy who conducted the workshop showed us real life scenes where people fought back to stop the thief from grabbing at their belongings. That's the WORST mistake ever. You end up getting seriously hurt, and all for the sake of trying to keep your belongings. I can see why people often say when someone demands you to hand over all your belongings, you just do it without a second thought. Except nowadays there are types who attempt to take your lives.
One thing that you have to take note is not that all self-defense techniques are foolproof. Self-defense is about keeping yourself aware and on guard. People always jump into the assumption of, "You carry Louis Vuitton, Guccis and Pradas, of course you'll get robbed.", "You are wearing so sexy, of course you'll get targeted." Uh uh. Wrong. So wrong. The organization had actually interviewed former criminals and they all said the exact same thing, they only attack when you least expect it. And worse part, it only takes 3 seconds. We actually counted as we watched real life scenarios. 1,2,3. Poof. Window smashed, items snatched, mission accomplished. Scary.
How to make protect yourself? The only way is by reducing the risks. Most of it is common sense, like don't stay out too late, don't make your daily routines a habit, don't go around bad parts of the town... But in worse case scenario, say you are really cornered, you use your body mechanisms to breakaway and escape. Yes, that's right. No need for fancy martial arts techniques. Just break out and run. Your life is worth it, hold on to it.
We were even tested out one on one, where the speaker assault us like how a real criminal would, grab, choke, corner, all those. Me? I got several chokes, and after the session, my throat hurts and it's sore. The silver lining, we got a real life experience of how it feels so that we will be much more prepared in future, and we got free tea and chocolates. So yeah. The workshop was really worth it.    

Irie

4th May (Monday) - It's already May. Where has the time gone? Hard to believe that we're nearly half a year now. And so many things had happened in between the days when I haven't been posting things up.
I took my psychologist's advice on getting a pet as a therapy. After my sister's Shih Tzu, I also managed to get a pet of my own as well. She's like my baby, and she's a poodle so I don't have to worry about any furry allergies. I used to have allergies with Shih Tzu but not anymore, but I'm still not willing to take the risk. Having bought her from a breeder, she's in a really poor condition. She's severely malnourished to the point where she's so weak that she couldn't even move. The breeder was a cheater, telling us that she's in good health, and that she's three months old. B.S. Sorry to say. My sister's Shih Tzu is three months old, already had her first jab, and she can run, jump, stand and eat. I was so worried that I rushed her to the vet and do you know what they said. She's severely malnourished that she's nothing but skin and bone. She has no vaccination yet, her teeth aren't fully grown, she can barely move, and worst of all, she has TICKS. Fat ones too. The cheat. He was going on and on that he has more than 7 dogs and that none of them are in poor condition. But honestly speaking, if you have more than 7 dogs, food are limited and of course, you will tend to feed in minimal amount so that you don't keep running out for dog food every few weeks. The vet told me to put her on supplements and to force her to eat small frequent meals. Plus exercising her.
I did what the vet said, and after several prayers to Buddha during Wesak, my prayers came true. She's getting a little better, but she still tends to slip and fall, like a baby taking her first few steps. The vet estimated her to be around one to two months, but certainly not three months. That, I can accept why she's having a difficult time in walking.
Giving her a name was little tough. Originally my first choice was Phoebe, so that it sounded a little like Fifi, then Elmo, because she has reddish brown fur. But she's a girl, and calling Elmo will be really awkward. Then to Kimiko (Definition :upright, righteous), somehow it didn't seem right. As I was pondering with preparing her new home, this name seemed to kept coming to me. Irie (入江). It means alright in Jamaican Patois, powerful, excellent and great. But my main reason for choosing the name is because it's a Japanese name, which means bay. And she loves it.
Being in the aesthetic side really helped me out a lot. Dogs are like human beings, they need proper grooming and exercise besides the daily need like food and water. Even dental hygeine is important. I found toothbrushes for dog use but since she's still a baby so there;s no need for it yet, but she's going to need it, one day. I got her a dingling toy and a warm blanket for her in case she's cold. So in a way, now my hands are full taking care of her. Once I gotten the hang of her, I'll update more often.
And a happy birthday to my beloved friend, who is like a twin sister to me.

One Week Past

23rd April (Thursday) - One week, that's how much the time has flew. I picked up on so much things since then but I'm still learning. I'm taking things slow, like how the doctor and psychologists advised me. Baby steps. I'm not ready to rush into things yet, and everyone were right. By focusing on my daily routine assignment, I'm able to make small, but slow steady progress. I managed to remember all the products prices, as evidenced by some of the comments I received from the other girls. Well, I had good mentors who are guiding me and answering all of my endless questions.
Today was a little scary cause you see, I'm only okay, about so-so in chemical peeling, but for biopsies and lasers, well, I'm not confident enough yet, but no one is pushing me on the choo choo express. It's just that today is rather rushed. With 5 cases and only 3 of us on duty, we had to run around, and all of them are different varieties. For some reason, the whole hospital is full that they ended up shoving to our side as well. Despite I haven't assisted much in cases, just merely an observant, I'm also shoved to the front lines as per doctor's request. I can't do anything, patients were waiting, and my mentors are busy. One handling paperworks, one handling another doctor. So just left me. Armed with my wits, I tried to keep an open mind, and it paid off. By listening to the doctor's orders and keeping all of my senses open, I'm able to handle her smoothly instead of shaking like a leaf.  In a way, I felt good, cause at last, I'm able to be useful, despite trying to market products and such. I could probably list out all the things that I had learnt so far but I don't want to bore people to tears with facts. But let's just say I picked up a lot of really awesome tips from colleagues and doctors alike. Maybe, just maybe I found a place where I can truly belong.
This is not like back in my previous experience where things can be shared easily. Where I am currently at is rather slow paced, but it's also a rather fun place because it's relaxing, and while you can pick up things slow, you need to put in a 120% effort to remember all the things you had done and be on constant alert, kinda like a bodyguard. Crime had been increasing rapidly at my workplace area to the point where it is labeled a black spot, which means constant awareness. I would love to share the many things I had learnt but right now, I'm really beat. Exhausted but satisfied. And now I would just like to say, See you again, and expect more updates whenever I'm free to pour out my feelings... (I love that song...)