By nature I am a loner. I have been known to go to extreme lengths to maintain my space. Sometimes even regrettably losing a few good friends to the whims of my mood swings. I cannot survive in a world where I cannot expect a few moments with myself. How can I help it, Im such good company :)) .

There is one exception to this state of things and that is when I get sick. I need constant murmurings of sympathy and someone to constantly hold my hands. In my defense this only happens when im really sick. Common colds or slightly higher temperatures dont bring this out, but if its anything more than that, god save my loved ones. Even left alone for a few minutes I will bring the house down. There have been instances when my mom had to catch the next train to wherever i was as i refused to be sick and alone.

Then I happened to travel a little further than an overnight train's reach. I thought this in itself was a rite of passage - I was now mature enough to handle sickness alone. Pop a few pills and sleep, thats what everybody else does. My first bout of sickness came out of the blue. In my never ending quests for new and interesting food, i ate in a mongolian restaurant. The next day was torture, mixing artificial crab meat, frozen chicken and lamb chops in my noodles wasnt such a good idea. I soldiered on through the seemingly endless visits to the bathroom. On the grosser side, i wish to mention that an upset stomach is more suited to my motherland where frequent trips to the loo do not end in any sort of wiping process. After a few rounds it could be entered into the chinese torture hall of fame, however soft, smooth, cuddly or full of cloudy references the aforementioned item is. There is nothing like a soft jet of soothing, cooling water to an overworked behind.

And then tears and an avalanche of self pity rose in me. My mother was the only person in the world who i had entrapped into unconditional sickness sympathy and she was too far away. I craved for those cool hands on my forehead and sympathetic words in my ears. The only person nearby was the guy who i would end up marrying. As the storm raged, he handled the caregivers role. A bit flustered at first, he carried on the role with panache. That sealed the deal. I was never going to let go of this poor human being, in health and especially in sickness!