SOME PEOPLE STILL CARE

It was a normal Wednesday, Just like always, I drove my car to school with one main intention, to meet my students and give them something worth to learn today. Well, I do have a ‘side’ intention. There was a particular thing I wanted to do. It was something divergent from my main intention, but hey, it was not wrong, right? Sometimes you need just a little more reason to wake up in the morning rather than just to receive your paycheck at the end of the month.

It was a moody morning. But I arrived school safely. I went into classes like always, scolded pupils with unfinished homework, pinching some who pulled out their legs under the desk so that other people fell down, laughing with some who helped me with some work, joking around with those who were shy, discussing important things with the committee member of some stupid event.

It was just a normal day.

2pm sharp, I punched my card and made my way. I was heading to UM where I was supposed to meet my friends for a deep discussion. I was smsing with Sudi and someone else, telling them how wonderful my life was. I passed through the toll gate and hit the pedal to move a bit faster.

Then, out of nowhere, a car in front of me seemed a lot nearer than before. I didn’t managed to think, I hit the car anyway.

BOOM!

All of sudden, my mind went blank. It hit my mind that I just had an accident. I asked myself, was it bad? Yes, No. I wanted to look outside but I couldn’t move. I heard people calling.

“Kak, akak ok? Akak turunkan cermin kereta, kak.”

I rolled down the window. That was the only sane thing I managed to do. The guy helped to open the door and switched off the engine.

“Kak, akak ok? Akak berapa orang dalam kereta, kak?”

I didn’t answer at all. I was too blank. I heard the man asked for back-up.

“Minta bantuan, over. Kemalangan di DUKE menghala ke Jalan Duta. Dua kereta terlibat. Satu dah melintang tengah jalan. Hantar back-up lalu lintas dan ambulans, over. ”

“Mangsa dalam keadaan separuh sedar. Terkejut rasanya. Minta bantuan ambulans, over”

I smelled something, I saw smoke from my engine. I wanted to get up and have a look but I just couldn’t.

“Akak, ade sakit kat mana-mana, ke? Akak ok tak?” This time, I nodded.

Then, back-up arrived. Some of them helped with the traffic. Two of them tried to talk to me but I just couldn’t answer. A man reached out for my handphone.

“Kak, ada siapa-siapa akak nak call?” Then, it hit my mind. I snatched my phone and called for PAKCIK.

“I accident. I accident. Tolong I,.”

“U kat mana ni?”

“I kat Duke, I nak pg UM..”

“U tunggu, I pegi sana. ” He hang up.

I saw the environment. Cars were slowing down. Suddenly there were so many people at the area. An ambulans of Pertahanan Awam came. A man asked, “Cik, ok? Kat mana sakit, cik?”

“Takda. Saya tak sakit pun. Saya tunggu kawan.”

The man nodded, but he touched my forehead. It felt swollen.
“Saya cuci luka ni sekejap ye, cik” Then only I knew, I got bruises on my forehead.

“Kami kena hantar cik pergi hospital ye.”

“Nanti dulu, Encik. Saya tunggu kawan. Saya ok, tak perlu pg hospital.” I insisted.

I tried to get up again. This time, I managed, but almost fell down. A man carried me to the ambulans.

I made few phone calls. Firstly to friends who are waiting in UM. Then to someone, then to ayah. The news spread quite quickly. Then, phone calls came in and it never stopped.

PAKCIK arrived. He checked on me first. I said sorry.

My colleague came to the scene once he heard the news. So nice of him to come all the way to help me.

I saw PAKCIK talking with some men. He took pictures. People who were at the scene told him about the incident.

“Kereta depan tu berhenti, dia nak undur. Diorang dah salah jalan. Akak ni datang terus libas lah. Kuat tu terhentak, sampai keluar air-bag tu. Abang bawalah akak ni pegi hospital. Tadi dia terperanjat sangat tu.”

Then, PAKCIK carried me to the car and headed AMPANG PUTERI. Dato’ Dr Jalil was informed and ready to meet me.

At the hospital, Dr Jalil asked for x-ray. He wanted to see if there was something wrong with my left hand. It turned out my hand was still ok. Just severe bruises.

We went straight to the BALAI POLIS JALAN BANDAR, the one which handled all accidents stuff. I reported my incident and gave them my statement. Then, I went to the PEGAWAI PENYIASAT TRAFIK office on the second floor. Here, they investigated about the accident. It turned out, the other driver didn’t give statement that he was reversing the car in the MIDDLE of the highway. So, after careful questioning session, the police decided that the other guy was at the wrong side. He shouldn’t, in fact couldn’t stop or reversing car at that particular place. He had to pay RM300 of fine and the expenses of the damaged would be on his insurance claim.

At night, I went into deep sleep after swallowing pain killers. Around 5.30am, I woke up choking and coughing, and I felt severe pain all around my body.

At 8am, I made a call to school saying that I had 2 days of mc. Apparently, the news had gone horizontal. It was all over in the office.

People at work kept texting me. Some did waste their credit to call me. Some offered their help in any way regarding my students. Oh, god. I didn’t know I had such wonderful people to work with.

The good thing didn’t stop there. Parents of my students kept calling to ask about my condition. Some came to the house to pay for a little visit to my small cottage. The students, God. I raised a good bunch of students. They texted me using their parents’ handphone. Some give me a call hoping that I would get well soon. How wonderful these people are.

I thought I was the fiercest teacher in school. Apparently, I was lovable enough. Now I know, some people still care. THANK YOU GOD, for giving me such wonderful people around me. Thank you so very much.

I am having 2 days of mc. Boring, but I need to use it so that I can be fit enough to meet the students on Monday. I miss a lot of them already.

My car, erm. She was badly crashed. Especially the front side. She was barely alive. Pity her. I don’t wanna talk about her, or I will burst into tears. She will be in the workshop for almost a month, according the tow truck guy. What choice do I have? I will have to get back to olden days’ life. Taxi and foot.

PS: Tuhan, balas lah jasa mereka yg membantuku dalam kesusahan, dengan segala kebaikan yang engkau ada. Amin..