Page 77 of You Had Me At Annyeong!
‘Now, now, c’mon! Help me up, uri Honey-ya? Let’s get out of here!’
‘The doctors advised you to stay here overnight, just to be safe.’ Mr Choi finally finds his words.
‘Must I?’ Timira groans and pouts a little.
‘Only a few more hours, Timira-ssi. Sleep peacefully. You’ll be discharged first thing in the morning!’
‘Oh, well. If it can’t be helped, I suppose I better not complain. But they’ll let me leave in the morning, right? I can still head back to Seoul with you guys, right?’
‘You sure can!’ an unknown voice chimed in. It belonged to a doctor.
‘Ms Timira Marak, right? You’re Indian? You don’t look it at all!’
Yeah, okay. Are you upset I am not brown and hairy? Racist!
‘Hehehe,’ Timira manages a feeble laugh.
‘Well, we ran a few tests to see what had made you pass out. It was obviously the sleeping pill you had. Did you eat anything before?’
‘Er, no. I was in a bit of an, um, accident earlier in the day—’
‘Yes, we are aware. The gentleman who brought you here shared a very detailed lowdown of your activities. He seems to have kept a close eye on you!’
Timira’s heart sinks a little while Mr Choi shifts a little uncomfortably.
‘So you didn’t eat anything all day. Right. How do you feel now? Think you’d like a bite to eat?’
Even thinking of food was making Timira gag.
‘Doctor, I feel rather nauseous at the very mention of food.’
‘But you need to eat, Miss. You cannot be skipping meals.’
Hanee speaks suddenly on remembering something.
‘Milk, she had milk. I warmed some milk for her in the afternoon along with the sleep medicine.’
The doctor ponders for a few seconds and then speaks. ‘Say, Ms Marak. Are you lactose intolerant?’
Main? Intolerant? Only to morons! Kya baat kar raha hai yeh? Haan, mishti gives me a little heartburn, but that’s acidity. It’s the Bengali genes in me.
‘Not that I’m aware …’ Timira’s voice trails off. She’s scared of all the foods she’ll have to forgo if she does turn out to be intolerant to lactose.
‘You might want to have that checked out? Could explain why you are feeling squeamish.’
‘This isn’t very urgent, is it?’
‘Don’t worry, Miss. You can fly back to Seoul tomorrow. Nothing, not even celiac disease, will stop you!’
With that, the doctor smiles a little and draws the curtains as he steps out of the makeshift cubicle.
‘Seonbae, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have given you milk …’
‘Honey, how were you even supposed to know I might be intolerant? Even I didn’t know! Chill!’
Timira cannot hide the fact that she is disappointed to not see Haneul by her side but tries not to dwell on it.
‘So, how are we doing this? Am I going back to the hotel tomorrow to get ready and go to the airport?’
