bang! ouch! phew!

you know how thoughts run in your mind about what to write? i was planning for a last-min work trip to bangko this evening because there was an urgent client to meet and the thai chic tv (some fashion tv channel) people wanted to meet us about our software. sharon was in hk yesterday and was due for jakarta tomorrow morning. so she asked me if i wanted to go. i was in a little conflict. it was too last-minue an arrangement and i had my own local clients to handle. but since the thai distributor was quite persistent and it seemed rather important, i said yes and he went ahead to make the arrangements. i was thinking i should write a blog entry titled "location: bangkok" since not many people knew i was making the trip. but i prayed to God that if it wasn't His will for me to go, show me clearly that i will not doubt it. (i was referring to things like not being able to get a ticket in such short notice, but how was i to know.................)

yesterday night around 11pm, jon was driving me home in our usual route at tampines ave 10. it was drizzling and we were talking about money matters, particularly how to stay out of debt. the lights turned red and we stopped. the next thing i know, i heard a bang! and i can't remember what happened followed besides feeling his arm in front of me. until i saw the plastic casing that covers the aircon vent (if you know nissan cars, they have this little compartment in the front on the dashboard) lying next to me on my hand. so i calmly put the cover back and jon turned around with a stunned look with his hand on my face, asking me continuously "are you okie??". i was wondering why my face felt wet, and when i saw his hands with blood all over, that was when i got a shock of my life.

he called the police. i called my dad. he called his dad. we were praying that everything will be fine. i grabbed tissue paper and started cleaning and pressing my wound. the van driver that hit us from the back came out and asked if everything was fine. he admitted it was his fault because he couldn't brake in time.

there was so much blood on the right side of my face that i didn't know where the wound was. i was worried i injured my eye and the first thing i did was to cover my left eye and check if i could still see. phew! it wasn't coming from my eye... cleaned it a bit and realised the cut was on my eyebrow. i was too afraid to look at it anymore and i immediately called zihui. she told me to apply direct pressure to my wound and the ambulance came. i walked out of the car and sat on the stretcher as they wheeled me into the ambulance. i could still sneak in a smile and wave to jon.

arrived at CGH A&E department and still on the stretcher, i was wheeled into the consultation area. now i understand what jac meant by malu! it was so embarrassing to see all these faces staring right back at you. blood pressure, heartbeat, everything was fine. (nurse insisted that i stayed on the wheelchair as my dad wheeled me around and in circles. he makes a bad trolley driver!) doc said i definitely need stitches because it was a y-shaped cut. sent me on my way for my x-ray. i was afraid there might be internal injuries because i felt weird at the back of my head. (on hindsight now, i think it was the pain from the fron that was travelling around my head.) mum and auntie violet was cleaning my face with wet tissues coz i had blood over my face and on the right half of my tee.

doc asked if i was feeling nauseous? no. giddy? no. headache? of course! i hit my head! it felt like a giant blue-black around my entire forehead.... and she said she needed to give stitches for me 2cm cut (in doc terms, it's a lasceration). and it couldn't stop bleeding because i hit a vasculous part.

waited almost half an hour for the doc to get ready. walked my way into the OT and laid on the bed as the nice nurse (shanti) covered me with a cozy blanket. nice doc came in and we were all chatting about how dumb the hospital is to lower the temperature so freezing on a rainy night. she looked at my wound and said she'll give me 6 stitches. talked about what i do for work and she said she will try her best to keep my image as it is important in the fashion and apparel industry. anaesthesia part was painful because there isn't much flesh at the eyebrow part. she gave me twice because i didn't feel as numb as i was supposed to. felt the stitching but it wasn't painful. was humming "God is the strength of my heart" to keep my mind away from thinking about it. such a gentle doc. kept asking if i was fine and if it hurt and when she was giving me the anaesthetic jab, i went ouch! and she said "ouch 4 more times and it would be over!"

walked out with a huge bandage covering half my right eyelid and daddy took care of everything for me. cancelled my BKK trip and asked for a letter to get a full refund. jon called to check if i was fine. he was so upset i was injured. the car is going to take some time. the boot was smashed in. he is trying to claim for everything (and perhaps including the loss of business for my work trip). not sure what the arrangement is... not really my concern.

for those who are figuring out how i look now, here it is. huge blue-black over my entire right lid. huge bandage over my eyebrow. i can only see with one and a half eye. two red marks on the side of the bridge of my nose due to the hit.



what i thank God for was that worse things could have happened but He was in control. i prayed continuously that there wouldn't be any internal injuries.

thank God that:
- jon didn't get hurt.
- i was wearing my seatbelt or else i would have ended up like diana young.
- i didn't hit the windscreen or dashboard. (it would have been a concussion!)
- He gave me the strength to overcome the fear.
- He helped me stay calm to call daddy and zihui and sharon. (i can't believe i was so calm!)
- my injury isn't all that serious.

what could have happened if God wasn't in control:
- the van may not have braked in time and the impact would be greater.
- cars from the left side of the road could have sped up and hit my side of the car.
- we could have hit the kerb and flipped because we were on the extreme right lane.

it was truly God's intervention! praise the Lord that His angels were with us, although we forgot to pray for journey mercy before we drove. (we usually do, but we were talking and forgot.)

A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE SHOWN THEIR CONCERN OVER THE PHONE, MSN OR SMS!

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on a happier note, here are the photos we snapped at moonfish and tcc last monday where th and pearl bought us dinner.