Hospital Visit

During the days we spent in the hospital, we were given a ton of pills for fever, nausea, and rashes. The fever pills made us really drowsy, and we got them even if we just had the slightest elevated temperature. They also caused a terrible itch in our hands. Jan didn’t feel as sick as I did, which made him restless lying in bed. He started wandering over to a shopping mall right across from the hospital. He’d go over to eat and check his emails. Sometimes, he’d sneak a bit of food back for me since I was really struggling to eat the Malaysian hospital food. One time, he got caught when a nurse saw him returning with shopping bags—oops. One day, Jan came back after checking his emails at the mall with some big news. My brother had gone to New York, the Danish government had resigned due to the Prime Minister’s drunk driving, my riding club had closed down, and instead, they were going to build an Olympic riding arena behind my parents' house, with Michael Laudrup as the new coach in Vejle. I found a natural explanation for all of it and didn’t think much more about it since, as I mentioned, the pills were making me drowsy. Jan filled me in with little white lies throughout our stay, and I didn’t suspect a thing. I guess it must be really boring to be hospitalized when you don’t feel sick. We were in the hospital over the weekend, which is when it’s common for a priest to come by and pray for the patients. It felt strange and a bit awkward to be prayed for, as we’re not very religious. Adventist is a Christian hospital, even though Malaysia is predominantly Muslim. Later that day, a group came around the hospital to sing, pray, and offer hope to the sick. Jan was off on one of his trips to the mall when the group visited me. They asked what song I wanted to hear and if there was anything specific they should say in their prayer for me. I felt really embarrassed lying in bed with strangers around me singing and praying for me.