On last Friday midnight, after hubby fetched me from Sabak Bernam, we dropped by a famous Bistro: Sate Hut on the way back to our hometown as his friend said it serves the most scrumptious satay in the town, being a food lover we are, we could not resist his suggestion. It was crammed of people that we had to wait for a long queue. It is said that the business began from a small hut to a bigger bistro; I can see the business grows well. As always, Ayla was totally well-behaved all along the journey, she used to be in the car for hours since she was born, like her granny said, “Ayla membesar dalam kereta saje”. While having a dinner, no, it’s around 12.00 pm, so it supposed to be a supper but we had a big meal , nasi goreng pattaya and twenty sticks of fresh chicken satay together with warm orange and lime juice (since my hubby prone to asthma if it’s too cold). Ayla was sitting in between us as snug as a bug in a rug, busy self-playing and babbling with strangers, we ignored her to scoff our food; her mummy and daddy were extremely starving.
On Saturday morning, I felt like Ayla’s skin was not as warm as usual, it was scorching hot nevertheless she looked all right so we thought she would get better soon. However, she slowly turned into a passive tot hence uninterested of the surroundings. She got strained eyes, her lips a bit pale and blue. Yet her huge appetite of breastfeeding was still good. At night, the temperature seemed not to go down thus I put my my little bean thermometer by my side in order to check her temperature, kept an eye on her, I woke up every hour to test out her temperature and at about 4 a.m, it was more than 40 celcius. I nudged my hubby only to tell him we’ve got to do something as the temperature was quite high. We spent hours of putting damp wet cloth on her head and body, doing it again and again until I was taken aback by a sudden shudder from her body, she trilled every time she quavered, it was obvious and strong that she could not control it. I bawled,
‘Eh Ayla, kenape ni, sayang? Sayang Okay. Abang, abang cuba tengok Ayla! “.
An interval of a couple of minutes, her body would shake terribly and then she trilled. Afraid that it might be seizure, I phoned my big brother, fortunately, he picked up the phone,
“Abang, anak ani, dia macam terperanjat-terperanjat, kejap-kejap die jadi, pastu macam menjerit, dia sawan ke? Macam mane nak tahu sawan?” I started to snivel.
“Okay, dia sedar tak or mata die ke atas?”
“Tak, dia macam sedar, mm”
“Mulut buih-buih?”
“Takde”
“Itu maksudnye die memang tak boleh control sebab menggeletar sangat, tu bukan sawan “
His answer failed to satisfy me, being so emotional and irrational at that time, I was at my wit’s end. My hubby was holding her tightly and reciting some zikr, acutely, we were like losing our bearings, my legs were both frozen, tongue-tied. Fahmi let Ayla cling to her chest, after about an hour, finally she stopped quivering. Her temperature reduced slowly but still around 38 C, she seemed so worn out, passive and stiff. She has never been like this before.
*****
On Sunday morning, I did not go for Solat sunat Raya in order to look after her, and forced my hubby not to go as well because I needed extra care. We stayed at home; ketupat daun palas were tasteless on that Raya morning. We dashed off to the nearby Chinese clinic which was the only one open during public holiday, and the doctor said her fever was so high. The doctor gave only a typical fever remedies. While waiting for paying the bills, a nurse came to shove some thick syrup into Ayla’s mouth that she screamed out loud, I swear everybody were staring at us, being a center of attraction in the public for a few minutes was so distracting. Ayla struggled herself in that lady’s arm. I could not bear look at this heart-rending scene, I requested,
“Dia mungkin tengah takut orang sebab dia dah kenal orang biar saya pegang” .
The lady passed Ayla to my hand. Ayla became a bit calm for a while but still reluctant to sip the syrup. The process was a real struggling! After a long struggle, Ayla then fell asleep right away; she might be dead tired of screaming and struggling. At home, I kept sponging water on her to ensure the temperature will not go above 40 C again.
On Monday, she got a bit better so we shoved off to Malacca since my hubby’s birthday would be celebrated there, we had promised to join the BBQ. We lost our way as we reached Port Dickson that has a short-cut to Kg Sungai Baru. My hubby sped the car on the first lane that we did not realize there was a car who wanted us to give it a way until we were stuck at the Linggi toll gate. A tall dark man who looked like a nigger from the hind seat of the car ( It’s weird to see a nigger in Malacca that I guess it’s an Indian man that looks like a nigger ) jumped out and yelled at us, I could see a few others of his gang were in the car. I said Immediately;
“ Abang, jangan buat apa-apa, abang ada anak bini dalam kereta, bahaya, kunci pintu”
I thanked God he listened to my advice, he locked the door. We kept quite. I was so afraid that I wanted my hubby to make a U-turn, anxious that they might wait in front to get ready to attack us. With an innocent sick baby in my arms, I prayed to God to protect us. A night travel to Malacca was not a good idea, so scary; we saw nothing but only a huge jungle without street lights. We arrived at the junction where we almost crashed into a car.
In the wooden village house in Malacca, I went to war against huge mosquitoes flitting over my baby. The night went a nightmare; she kept vomiting the whole night. Next morning, we took her to a nearby clinic located in Masjid Tanah, the doctor said she might get food poisoning because her temperature was normal 37 C in contrast to my Brother’s prediction,
“ I think it's an infection, if fever does not go away within three days, that is not normal”.
The clinic made a report to send Ayla to the hospital. We went to Kem Terendak Hospital. Doctor took a sample of her blood for a blood test, it’s clear that she was okay and no symptoms of hydration, ended up to drip some of Oral rehydration salt to give her some energy as well as to replace the loss of body fluids due to vomiting and diarrhea. Two times the huge needle stick to both of her hands and feet, eight times in total
! FAILED. I felt like scolding the staff for hurting her. I almost black out to see my sunshine cried bloody murder, I left her to her daddy.
*****
Ayla still refused to take any of meds that she puked every time we shoved it into her mouth.
On Tuesday, I detected some red patches appeared all over her face and on her trunk. My parent said those looked like chicken pox. The doctor said it might be a food allergy, my hubby in doubt it’s a sign of dengue. I said it might the reaction of taking Paracetamol. Whatever. I just want my Ayla back.
At last, I stopped giving any except breastfeeding. Now, she shows a lot of improvements, smiles, sits down and starts to move around though not that full of beans. I was grateful this never happens when I am alone with my sunshine in Sabak Bernam. Seriously. I just can't imagine it.
Please pray that she will get well soon. Oh Please.
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