After contemplating for five days, I decided to send my Baby Toshi(I just named her spontaneously. And decided her sex on the spot.) to the best hospital for diagnosis. I checked the map and the exact location of that hospital, recommended by a polyclinic which my friend Lele introduced, just to find that I had to go to some funny Kallang Sector that is nowhere near Kallang. I tried to minimize cost by checking out the buses and see which one plies to that area, just to find that I'll do better with a cab. So in conclusion, I hailed a cab, whose driver stunned at the mentioning of 'Kallang Sector' at first, and sped(metaphorically of course, to create the impression of urgency) all the way to The Hospital.
Once I got off the cab, I headed straight for the Emergency Room, with Baby Toshi in my arms. It didn't take long before our number was called, and I, apprehensively, went up to Counter 2 with my Baby. I flipped her over, so that the crack on her spine was visible. The Doctor did some checks on her - her spine in particular - and took her inside where she was to be examined further by the Specialists. Moments later, the Doctor came out of the A&E room with my Baby Toshi, and I was told that my baby's condition was rather serious and that they could not just rectify that little crack on her spine, but rather, they had to change her backbone altogether.
I asked how long would my baby take to fully recover, and the Doctor said, that because my baby's spine has to be preordered before the surgery can be performed, it might take a couple of weeks. So the usual thing followed - I was asked for my baby's particulars as well as mine, and I gave every information they needed.
Then the Doctor quoted the full medical fees I would have to pay if my baby were to be operated there. 170 dollars, and only 70 was for her new backbone. The rest was for the Doctors' expertise! OH MY GOD OH MY GOD! And because my baby was not from Singapore, I had to pay 50 dollars MORE for service charge! But then again, I had no choice since I wanted the best treatment for my baby and that was The Best Hospital.
After filling in everything and made the payment, I bid goodbye to Baby Toshi, and the Doctor sent her to the ICU, where she will lie, waiting for her new backbone to arrive, and her surgery to be done. As for me, I left The Hospital, feeling empty and alone. Empty as my life would be void of my baby for another three weeks, and alone because, well, I was all by myself that time.
Lucky for me, I was meeting Yao at Centrepoint for lunch. So, lucky for me, my day was not lonely at all.
And finally, I figured out the way to get to The Hospital by bus. So three weeks later, when they call me to inform me that the surgery is completed, I can save money by not taking cab there!
