It’s my first day at Toa Payoh Hospital. I hate first days. New hospital, new staff, new patients. New everything. Why must they keep posting us around? Why can’t we just stay in one hospital and be done with it?
SGH is huge. It has everything. Every discipline. But no. They had to send me here — this out-of-the-way hospital with nothing familiar.Now I’m stuck in the hostel too. And guess who my roommate is?
That girl from Alexandra. The horrible one. The one everyone warned me about. Nasty, they said. Full of herself. Chased two girls out of the hostel, apparently. I even requested a change of room, but the hostel supervisor just smiled and said, “No change. Full house.”
So that’s that. I’m stuck with her. No sign of her yet. She hasn’t even moved in. Probably waiting to make a grand entrance. Let her try anything funny I’ll chase her out first. Let’s see who wins this time.
Duty starts at 0700 hrs. I need to be in the canteen by 0615. Time to gear up. First impressions matter — and I plan to survive this.
Later that day, 2:30 p.m.
I made it. Honestly? It wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be. The staff were surprisingly nice. Friendly, even. I got assigned to EN Soh, a senior enrolled nurse. No official orientation, the Nursing Officer is on her day off but EN Soh brought me around the ward, showed me the ropes.
Most of the routines are similar to SGH. I think I’ll be okay here. Back in the room now.
And she’s here. She was already sitting on her bed when I walked in — legs crossed, reading a book. Looked up, smiled.
“Hi,” she said. “How’s your first day?”
“Okay,” I replied, cautious. “Not as bad as I thought. You’re not on duty today?”
“Nope. Day off. First day and they give me a break. But my next day off? A week from now.” She rolled her eyes, shrugged. “Which ward are you in?” I told her.
“Ah — Geok Choo’s there. Second year. She was posted here earlier. I used to hang with her batch back in Alex. People say we look like sisters.”
She does look familiar, same speech pattern, even the same way of laughing.
“Who else is with you? Anyone from our batch?” I listed the names. She nodded.
“Good for you. At least you’ve got friends. Those two stayed with us in Alex hostel for a while.” Then silence. She went back to her reading. That’s it? That’s all she has to say about them?
They had plenty to say about her. She doesn’t seem to care. At all. I glance around.My desk is a collage movie stars, singers, bright chaos.
Hers? Bare. Clean. Precise. A few textbooks The Principles of Anatomy and Physiology, a nursing dictionary, stacks of notes. Pinned above her mirror: a poster of a woman, standing defiantly before a firing squad.I stare at it.
“Who’s that woman?” I ask, uneasy.
“Don’t know,” she replies. “Got it from a nursing journal. She was executed called a traitor for helping a wounded enemy soldier.” She studies the poster for a moment, then looks at me.
“You’re disturbed by it?” I nod. It gives me chills.
“No problem. I’ll take it down.”
And she does just like that. By the time I’m back from my shower, it’s replaced with… a gorilla. A giant, angry-looking gorilla. Great. Now I get to fall asleep under the watchful eye of King Kong.
She’s still on her bed, flipping through her notes.
“You doing anything tonight?” I ask. “The girls are going to Toa Payoh Central. Grab dinner at the hawker centre. Wanna join?”
She shakes her head. “Nah. I’m heading to MacRitchie Reservoir.”
“MacRitchie? What’s there?” I’ve heard of it, but never been.
“It’s about a 30-minute walk faster if you know the shortcut. I used to run there during school cross-country. Figured I should start again.”
She says it without looking up. She runs too. Great.
