3Encounters: MewGulf

Chapter 1

It was fate. That was one thing for sure. The heavens had brought them together. Good or bad - no one knew the type of fate that bound their lives. Bridges surely had to be crossed and mountains had to be overcame and all this they had to experience in three encounters.

It all started in the year 1990 at the Hospital that was called Hope Foundation. One September evening, a Mr Jong came in with his wife in labour in the busy building where nurses, doctors and patients were moving around. His fancy dressing gave his status away and immediately they were transferred to the VIP maternity room. The most respectable doctor was placed in charge of his wife's deliverance.

Being the CEO of a huge company J-Limited Co. surely came with perks. He was one of the respected men in the country because he had built a company from scratch in his early 30s, he had worked so hard for it. JLC was one of the brand names that had gained fame especially in the fashion industry. That was not the case for Mr Traipipat who came in the hospital a few minutes after and got the normal services any middle-income man could get at the Hospital.

Mrs Jong had a normal delivery and they celebrated the birth of their son who they decided to name Mew. Mr Jong was ecstatic because having son meant so much more as a father and as a company owner. They celebrated briefly before the baby was sent to the baby ward to wait for paperwork processing among other things. Although they had been served with the high-end services, the hospital was still small and underdeveloped, so all babies were put in one room after they had been born.

In another delivery room a woman was battling with her delivery.

"Sir we need you to motivate your wife to keep on pushing before she gets tired"

Nurse 1 said wiping the sweat from the struggling woman on the bed. Mr Traipipat was praying dearly gripping a pendant that seemed to have a significant meaning. He was quite a reserved man incredibly soft spoken and downright humble. He went closer to his wife's and whispered,

"Mummy, you can do it. I'm right here and I believe in you."

This gave Mrs Traipipat all the motivation that she needed to push the baby out. She knew her husband and she knew how important this moment was for them as a family.

A baby's cry echoed in the room. The nurses did what they had to do and handed a safely wrapped and wriggling new-born boy to his parents. They were delighted. Mrs Traipipat was tearing up just watching her baby. Her Gulf. They had already decided on his name and they were happy with it.

The husband and wife glanced at each and their had their own conversation with their eyes. Mr Traipipat was about to put a pendant on the baby, but the nurse stopped him.

"instead of putting the pendant on him, we recommend to just place it on top of the baby."

"what if it falls or get lost?" The father voiced out his concern.

"it is not safe, and we are not allowed to do that to new-borns. He might get choked by the string sir."

"I understand." Although he was hesitant, he slowly and cautiously placed the pendant next to the boy's hands and covered him with the baby blanket.

"it's a lucky charm pendant that has been passed from generations and I have to fulfill the ritual." He softly told the nurse. "it's one of a kind and there's no where you can get it" he finished, indirectly telling the nurse to be careful. The nurse just smiled in return.

The nurses let them celebrate their moment and waited. After that, Nurse 1 took the baby to the baby room. The baby had to be registered.

As the nurse got to the baby room, she started listening to what other nurses in the room were talking about.

"oh have you heard about the baby named Puifai? She hasn't cried at all since delivery. It was a normal delivery and the baby is alive, but we all haven't heard her cry. It's just so.."

They left the room to finish their conversation elsewhere. Rude. Nurse 1 thought. They should have the decency of finishing their conversation before they left. It was a busy night. She admitted.

The baby room was packed. September was the ninth month and they always had a peak of babies in this month. She couldn't find an empty baby bed. She looked around but could not find any space. Luckily, as she was surveying the room, she saw a baby that seemed to be in a double baby bed. She didn't know they had these. She carefully moved the owner of the bed to create some room for the other baby.

"ok be good boys and share. I will come back and transfer you" she looked at the tag on the baby's foot with the name and read "Gulf as soon as I find an empty space for you" she said to the baby and then she left the room.

"ok come in here and also get some pictures" A man opened the door and was followed by another man who seemed to be a camera man. "we never took pictures of our baby room before but this time the manager said we had to get everything."

The camera man just nodded.

The owner of the bed had woken up because of the noises so he started to squirm looking for food. He got hold of his tenant's hand and wouldn't let go. The camera man had perfect timing. He turned and saw two cute babies holding hands. Now this is money. He thought as he took the first shot. He had to get more pictures so he went and opened baby blanket covering the other baby. Now this is a perfect shot, he thought as he got the perfect angle of the two neonates. The shuffling from the camera man made the pendant fall on baby Mew's hand. He took several pictures of the two and the rest of the room then they proceeded to another room.

Another nurse came in accompanied by a doctor, asking a lot of questions. "They are not spending the night? Is that even possible? Shouldn't the babies spend at least one day in the hospital? What about all the newborn measures?"

"the thing is rich people decide what they want to do. They feel like they are not inclined to follow rules." The doctor responded as he finished filling out some paperwork. "The rest we'll have to send it to them, I hear the father has a business trip and he does not want to leave his wife in the hospital. They must be hiring a professional nurse to nurture the baby and the mother too."

The nurse, too destructed listening to what the doctor was saying, wrapped the baby with the blanket and left.

Later that night, as Mr Jong and his wife were in the lobby about to leave, they heard a commotion as the nurses were looking for something that might have been lost. A pendant was missing and supposedly it was priceless and the only one in the world. 

Limited edition I see. 

Mrs Jong thought. 

Who brings items like that to the hospital? 

She pondered.