Saint is a Biology major student who goes on a field trip to a distant forest with his classmates. When he returns, he is found to be suffering from intermittent blindness caused by flashes of bright lights. His father hires a driver (Perth) to brin...
With much anxiety, I entered the living room where the housemaid had invited my son's professor and my son's classmate to sit on the couch.
Saint was sitting between his professor and his female classmate on the couch where his classmate had her arms tightly around my son, whispering some comforting words to him, her lips almost touching my son's ear.
The professor stood up to greet me when I walked into the room but my son's classmate continued to hold on tightly to my son and just bowed to me from where she was sitting.
"Good evening, Mrs. Suppapong," the professor said, his hands clasped together, his face wearing a very troubled expression, "I'm Mr. Watthanasetsiri, your son's Entomology instructor. We just came back from our field trip to the Khao Luang forest and just when it was time for us to head back to the university, Saint started to complain of seeing bright flashes in front of him, making him unable to see clearly. He is not complaining of any pain in his eyes or any body part but these bright flashes are hindering him from seeing clearly and this could be a safety issue for him."
I listened carefully as the professor continued his narration.
"He was with Tanya during all of the forest activities," Mr. Watthanasetsiri pointed to the female classmate who was still wrapped around my son, seeming not to want to let go of him.
"We had an agreement that we were all going to meet up after an hour at a designated spot at one of the entrances into the forest. When Tanya and Saint came back, Tanya was holding Saint and guiding him to where I and the rest of the class had come together to meet up. Saint was holding his arms outward as if unable to see a thing. Tanya explained that halfway through their walk back to our meeting place, they had come upon a small clearing where Saint suddenly asked Tanya to stop walking because he could see bright flashes of light in front of him and could not see anything else. Tanya had to carefully guide him back to our meeting spot."
"Thank you for your explanation," I said to the professor. Then I addressed my son.
"Saint, you haven't lost your speech, have you?" I asked, walking towards my son and kneeling in front of him.
"No, mom, I'm just quiet right now because I'm still in shock about what happened to me," my son replied.
"Are you still unable to see right now?" I asked worriedly.
"No, but I get a few seconds of clear vision before the bright lights start flashing in front of me again," he replied, "There are times when the interval of clear vision are a little longer but most of the time the intervals are very short."
"I suggest that you have his eyes examined by an ophthalmologist," the professor said to me.
"I will, first thing tomorrow morning," I replied. "Thank you for bringing him back, and Tanya, you can let go of my son now. I am here. I will take over. He will be safe with me. Thank you, Tanya, for taking good care of my son."
Tanya slowly and reluctantly let go of Saint and stood up from the couch.
"I will let the housemaid see you both to the gate," I told the professor and Tanya, "I wish you both a lovely evening."
"Thank you, Mrs. Suppapong," the professor replied, "I wish you and Saint the same."
"How are you feeling right now, my son?" I asked, searching my son's face for any signs of stress and anxiety.
"I'm alright, mom, I feel comfortable," he replied, "but earlier in the forest, when Tanya and I came upon a clearing, Tanya had stopped and she suddenly gave me a tight hug. And then she was trying to kiss me. That was the exact moment when I started seeing these bright flashes."
"I see," I remarked, nodding thoughtfully.
I wondered whether I should let my son see a psychiatrist first, before seeing an ophthalmologist.
"Come, my son," I said, "let's have some dinner first. I will guide you to the dining room."
"It's alright, mom, I'm not having bright flashes right now, so I can see in front of me very clearly," my son said.
Saint and I were in the middle of dinner when my husband arrived.
He was looking extraordinarily happy and was telling us about a big contract that he had clinched from another big company which meant a huge windfall for him.
I was happy for him and so I did not want to ruin his happy moment by telling him about what happened to Saint.
"If you haven't had dinner yet, dear, I will ask Amelia (A/N: housekeeper's name) to set a place for you," I told my husband.
"No, I haven't had dinner yet, so yes, please have Amelia set a place for me while I set my briefcase down and change into something more comfortable," my husband replied.
While my husband left to change out of his executive suit, my son suddenly said, "Mom, the bright flashes are coming back. I can't see my food."
"Don't worry, son, I will sit beside you and guide your hands to where your food is," I said, all my worry for my son returning once more.
"What's going on here?" I jumped when I heard my husband come back to the dining room.
There was no avoiding the issue now. I had to tell him all about what happened to Saint.
My husband listened carefully and then stayed silent for a long time.
Then finally he started to speak.
"Yes, of course, we have to get an eye consult for him, but also we need to hire someone to drive him to university and to stay with him at all times to guide him wherever he needs to go. We have to hire a high school graduate at least who will be able to take notes for him in class. I will be informing the university about the person who will have to accompany him inside his classrooms."
"How will we be able to hire this person in such short notice?" I asked anxiously.
My husband did not answer. Instead he took out his phone and tapped on a contact. When the contact took his call, I heard him say, "Hey, Mongkut, remember your son's driver whom you let go because your son had to go back abroad?" A brief pause, then my husband was speaking again, "Is he still available?" Another brief pause. "Great! Would you contact him for me and let him know that I'm offering him an employment. I will pay him whatever you used to pay him as your son's driver and companion. Great! Please call me as soon as you're able to talk to him. I need him tomorrow morning. Yes, it's that soon."
I couldn't believe how, in spite of problems being sent our way, somehow we were finding ways to cope with them and to solve them. I'm saying this because while we were in the middle of breakfast the following morning we heard a buzz at the gate.
Amelia went to open it and soon she was bringing a good looking young man into the living room.
My husband and Saint and myself left the dining room to meet up with my son's new driver/companion.
The young man stood up quickly from the couch and clasped his hands together and bowed to us.
"Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Suppapong, I was sent by Mr. Mongkut to be your son's driver/companion," said the young man who had a pleasant looking face and appeared to be very capable of performing his duties.
"And what is your name, young man?"my husband asked him.
"Perth, sir," I heard the young man say, "Perth Tanapon, sir. Here is my driver's license, sir."
ओह! यह छवि हमारे सामग्री दिशानिर्देशों का पालन नहीं करती है। प्रकाशन जारी रखने के लिए, कृपया इसे हटा दें या कोई भिन्न छवि अपलोड करें।
