Be aground

Short Message

"Runaa, I'm sorry to be beaten, ha-ha," quipped Vienna when I realized I was sitting on a bench near the park entrance.

"It's okay, Win. His name also met an old friend," I said understand.

"See you soon, Runa. Later if I go to Bandung can meet up?" pamit Beni with a familiar tone.

"Oh ... Yes," I said awkwardly.

"That's a really big laper, huh?" vienna asked with a guilty face after Beni left us.

"Not too. So eat ketoprak right?"

"So, yuk. The ketoprak on the other end is the most delicious. Some deliberately come here just to eat ketoprak," explained Vienna pointed to the ketoprak who is at the end of the park complex road.

"Rame so, Win," I said, looking at the queue around the ketoprak bone.

"Yes, always rame. Buruan yuk," asked Vienna half to pull my hand.

"From the others. I'm males ngantri to eat. Finish eating the laper again that is there because of the slowness of the ngantri," I refused.

I don't like eating in a lot of buyers. I think that a comfortable place to eat that is not too crowded and the time to wait for the food to be served is not too long. Especially if you are hungry, where too much food queues in my opinion are too torturous.

"Well, even though I want to tell you the most delicious ketoprak here," said Vienna with a slightly disappointed face.

"Yes, anyway. But the queue was already rich in that line of sobako," pointed me towards the horde of people surrounding the ketoprak vendor's cart.

"If it's chicken porridge, won't you?"

"Origin't too rame, hau aja," I said.

"Rame too, but the waiting place is quite comfortable" said Vienna.

"Yes already, yuk."

We walked out of the park. Entering the residential area. Not far from the highway, seen a chicken porridge cart placed in front of the courtyard of a house. The veranda of the house is used as a place to sell. On the canopy that covers the terrace of the house it says "Sukabumi Chicken Porridge".

Fortunately, there are not too many buyers in line. It is hard to find an empty seat. Vienna ordered two servings of chicken porridge along with two glasses of warm tea.

"Cock eating that's not appetizing? Less good, huh?" ask Vienna while stirring the porridge in her bowl.

"Enak, the savory taste is just right. Not unappetizing, because my eating style is like this right," I said brushed off the worries of Vienna.

"We're just going straight to the house. The hour and a half ten left for the hospital," said Vienna as if to erase the shock of my heart.

"Yes." Yeah." I sped up the feed to get home quickly.

***

Vienna was still heating the car when I was just a shower shop. The water in Jakarta is not as cold as in Bandung, but it is quite refreshing to eliminate the sultry feeling of sweat that has been stuck to my skin.

"Have it been done, Run?" Vienna's face appeared at the door.

"Here, yuk."

When I was about to close the room door, I just remembered that my phone was still connected to the charger cable. A little hasty, I took the phone I hadn't started in the morning and stuffed it into my little sling bag.

"Run, later aunty stay at home here aja, do not have to go back to Bandung first." Vienna opened the conversation after a moment of silence from home.

"Later to take nicotine, Win," I said.

"No, my mom is here. Before my aunt went to the hospital, she stayed home for a month. Mom has friends. Both are the same as the aunt" said Vienna.

Come to think of it, if my mother takes me home to Bandung, pity also mother at home alone. I've started to get busy with various college assignments, then next semester also has started Real Work College.

Uh! My head's dizzy. I didn't want to burden the maktuo family, but on the other hand, I wasn't able to take care of mom with the rest of my time either.

Should I take a college leave?

If I take a leave of absence from college, my scholarship is automatically revoked, not necessarily I will be able to get a scholarship back if the track record is not good. If I choose to quit college, baby is also only a few more semesters. I feel faced with a difficult choice.

"You can't drop me thinking, Run. God willing, if the diet and treatment are carried out in accordance with the recommendations of the doctor, the growth of cancer cells can be suppressed. The chances of survival can also be long. Cancer is not immediately the patient's life will end. You have to give support to your mother so that her spirit against her disease" said Vienna.

"Many cancer survivors who can survive dozens of years even though they have been sentenced to an advanced stage. As long as the patient has the spirit to heal, the environment also provides support" continued Vienna.

I was stunned to hear Vienna's explanation. Trying to accept a speck of hope expressed by Vienna just now. If for mother's fighting spirit, there is no need to doubt. Yesterday when I met, my mother's face still implied her spirit, even though her body already looked weak.

"Now try to suggest yourself, if you can be a supporting system aunt to heal. How will the patient's spirit to heal, if the people around him have run out of hope." The sound of Vienna is heard again. Soft, but right on target.

"Thank you, Win. Yesterday when Maktuo said that she had cancer, I felt like I was told the death sentence for Mom" I said in a hoarse voice. The pressure on the chest feels back tight.

"No cry, don't hold it. Let it be right to meet your mother, it can be cheerful again," said Vienna took his eyes off the streets to me.

***

After passing through several points of congestion on the streets of the capital, finally the car driven by Vienna entered the parking area of the hospital building. My heart has calmed down a little because it was satisfied to cry during the trip.

It turns out that tears are indeed efficacious to shed all the flavors that can no longer be expressed in words.

The smell of drugs and disinfectants welcomed me back when I entered the hospital courtyard. The atmosphere of this place is not as scary as the first time I entered it. Either because it was daytime, or because my heart was not overwhelmed by the excessive fear like yesterday.

"Assalamualaikum," said Vienna as she opened the door of the room where the mother was in care.

"Waalaikum salam," said the voice of two women in the room —voice of mother and maktuo.

Vienna walked first in front of me, she immediately went to makto—mama— and my mother.

"Where is Indra going, Win?" ask me when I see only Vienna and me coming.

"Say there's work, Ma. It was uda who wanted anther, but I said no," said Vienna while sitting on the side of an empty bed opposite the mother's bed.

I approached Mom, kissing her hand that only remained a bone.

Lord, please return my old mother, my cry in my heart.

Which child could see his mother in such a helpless condition.

Vienna and Maktuo gave me time with mom to chat together. Maktuo asked Vienna to take him home.

"So good Vienna Union? Just come to be invited home," (Not tired of Vienna, Uni? Just came home) asked the mother when she was about to leave the room.

"That's a road hobby. Indak need to be thought of," (he is indeed a hobby of the road, do not need to be too thoughtful) said maktuo with the peculiar raspy sound.

"Well, umtuo come home for a minute, Run. Satisfied tell me the same story of your mother," continued maktuo patted slowly on my shoulder.

"Yes Maktuo, thank you for taking care of me last night" I said.

"Sama-sama," said the maktuo passed by leaving us.

"Ntar malem I picked up again all anter mama, yes. Dah aunty," said Vienna waving her hand while holding the motto towards the exit.

"Thank you, honey," said the mother with a special smile that made her eyes seem closed.

"So what story did you miss?" mother asked with a probing smile when only the two of us stayed in the room.

"Many," I said, returning my mother's smile.

This morning my face looks a little more excited than last night.

"Mother first the story," asked me to gently massage the mother's legs, a ritual I always do when I meet my mother.

"Runa's not mad at you, is she?" ask mom with a sad face.

"I'm just sad, Mom, why didn't you be frank from the beginning if the health condition of the mother is like this." My tears blurred my vision. I think he's been spilled all along on the way.

"Not to cry. Maybe this is how God tells us to get closer to Him" comforted mother.

"God willing, the day after tomorrow you can go home. The condition of the mother has improved," continued the mother.

"I want to accompany my mother during the treatment process" I said in a trembling voice.

No matter how hard mom is, my heart is still unable to accept this harsh reality. What I imagine is how painful this cancer treatment process is.

"Just go back to Bandung ...."

"But I don't feel good about bothering the maktuo," I cut.

"Already, in this condition eliminate such feelings. I want you to focus on your college."

Silence pauses. I was like I was out of words. Don't know what to ask for any more reasons so that I can accompany the mother's treatment.

"Don't arrive because of this incident, your learning spirit decreases, you must be more enthusiastic. Let's graduate quickly." Mom smiled back.

"Don't waste our struggle these few years," said the mother back.

Trying to digest the sentence by sentence you say. Yes, I must not be discouraged, the sooner I graduate college, the sooner I can accompany mom. Even though the mother who was sentenced to death was the one who encouraged me.

"Yes, mom. I'm going to focus on college. You also have to be eager to keep on surviving." I was finally able to remove the tears that were hanging.

If you're excited like this, why should I keep lamenting about your fate. I also have to be able to give positive suggestions to myself, in order to encourage my mother through these difficult times. This disease can not be cured easily, but if discipline undergo treatment and maintain a lifestyle, can extend the life expectancy of patients. I have to put that in my mind.