Fear Essay, Research Paper
FEAR
? Aaa choo ??
?I think you are catching a cold sweetheart?, said Sonia, as she was opening her apartment door.
? I think you I should take you to the doctor.?
?I feel tired Mommy?, said Jasmine.
? Why don?t you go lie down sweetie, and I will get you a glass of warm milk.?
As soon as she entered her front door Sonia walked into her small kitchen that was in the front of the house. The kitchen looked spotless because she couldn?t stand the mess, at least not in her kitchen. All appliances in the kitchen were beige and cabinets were made out of wood out of wood and colored to match the kitchen counter and appliances. Everything in the kitchen was arranged in very orderly manner. She opened the refrigerator and poured a glass of milk from the container and in the flow of working she placed it in the microwave and turned it on. As microwave is heating the milk she is thinking to herself that she could have heated this milk on range, as she always thought that the food cooked on cooking range is always better than micro waved food. The thought of heating milk on range disappeared with the final beep of microwave and as her eyes read ? ENJOY YOUR MEAL? on the microwave display.
She then added a little strawberry flavor, favorite of Jasmine, to milk and gave it to her.
?Here sweetie.?
Jasmine took the glass of milk from her mother and sipped it.
?Yuck, it tastes funny.?
After she finished her milk she placed the glass on the table near by her and lied down on sofa. She was tossing and turning to acquire a comfortable position to rest her body in. in the matter of few seconds she got up sat straight and started crying.
?Mommy, mommy I think I am going to throw up.?
Sonia came running to Jasmine picked her up and ran to the bathroom.
? Here why don?t you try throwing up now??
Jasmine stood there crying because she was very uncomfortable.
She was trying to throw up, but she couldn?t.
?Stop crying, Mommy is right here. Don?t worry, you will be just fine.?
After struggling a little, jasmine finally threw up. She threw up all over her clothes and toilet seat. There were little pieces of chewed hamburger and fries that she ate at McDonalds earlier. There was chewed up food floating in the toilet.
Sonia took off jasmine?s clothes and turned on the shower for her. Jasmine was very skinny and tall like her mother. One could count her ribs by just looking at her.
She had beautiful dark face, big black eyes, and long beautiful black hair. While lifting jasmine to put her in the shower, Sonia realized that jasmine had very high fever.
?Oh my god! You are burning.?
?I need to take you to the doctor right away.?
She glanced at the clock. It was 3.30 p.m. it was very cold outside and was starting to get dark.
?Let me call your father, and tell him that I am taking you to the doctor.?
She picked up the phone and dialed
? Hi Ronny.?
?Hey, what?s up??
?Jasmine has a very high fever, and she just threw up. I am taking her to city hospital, do you think you can come there too??
?I am working till eight today.?
?I think you will be back home by the time I leave here.?
Before Sonia said anything Ronny said, ?But please call me and let me know what doctor said.?
Sonia took Jasmine out of the shower and dressed her. Both jasmine and Sonia put on their jackets and left the house to go to the city hospital. The hospital was only few minutes away from the house and Sonia had been there a few times before.
When Sonia reached the hospital, she glanced at her watch. It was 4.30pm and it was dark outside.
?Oh! I hate coming to city hospitals, now we will have to wait good few hours before we see a doctor.? She said to herself.
She opened the door to the emergency room and stepped inside with jasmine. The whole scene of the emergency room scared Jasmine. A middle aged Hispanic man with a broken arm, and an old women breathing heavily like she was going to die any minute. Then there was this other young man with moustache and beard. He had a white baseball cap on, which looked almost black with dust and grease. It seemed like this man had not cleaned himself and his cap in months. Jasmine looked all around again and clinged on to Sonia with fear.
?Mommy I am scared? said Jasmine
?Scared of what sweetheart? tell me what are you scared of??
?Look at all these people?. They look scary. The blood. And look at that man. Jasmine said.
?Don?t be scared Jasmine. These people are here because they are hurt. They are all nice people.?
Her mother?s words made Jasmine feel a little comfortable about the whole atmosphere. Sonia got the number and sat down to be called by the registering clerk. Her number was 97. Sonia sat on the seat holding Jasmine on her lap looked at the number in her hand and then at the display which read ?72? in bold red. Twenty-five more numbers to go, that shouldn?t be too bad she thought to herself. She was hoping that they would move fast enough for her to get home by 8.00pm and prepare dinner before Ronny gets home. She sat on a chair right in front on the registering clerk. She had only been waiting for a few minutes. When the dirty man with the baseball cap walked towards the registering clerk.
?What the *censored* is going on??
He said to the clerk.
?Please calm down sir and tell me what can I do for you.? Said the clerk.
?I have been waiting for almost one hour, when the *censored* am I going to see a doctor?? he said.
?Sir this is an emergency room, and people are served on first come first served basis, unless it is a real emergency and the person needs to be admitted right away. To tell you the truth, I know you are in pain but it is not that big of an emergency. You will see a doctor as soon as it?s your turn.? Said the clerk
?It is an emergency, and I need to see a doctor right away. Now.?
?Sir that is not the way it works. Please go back to your seat and wait for your number.?
?I said I need to see the doctor now, you *censored*!?
?Sir you are disturbing everybody go back to your seat now or I will have to call the security guard.?
The man was very angry and started to walk back and forth mumbling in his mouth. He was cursing.
?Why don?t you?? Call the *censored*ing security guard. Let me see you call the security guard.?
The clerk rang the bell to call the security guard, which made the man very angry. He punched the window real hard where the clerk was sitting. Then he took out his knife and grabbed the child sitting right in front on the clerk. He lifted the child and placed the knife on her throat.
?Please let go of my daughter.?
Said Sonia. ? She did not do anything to you. Please put her down.?
Jasmine was crying hysterically which made the man very angry.
?Shut up, before I kill you.?
Sonia was so scared when she heard those words. She thought to herself that this man is crazy and capable of doing anything.
As the security arrived she stood there shaking and looking at her daughter screaming.
?Mommy, Mommy, he is hurting me.?
There were two security guards and soon they saw the man holding knife they pulled out their guns and pointed at him.
One yelled out loud, ?Put the knife down and let that kid go, now.?
While other security guard called Police on his radio.
?Sir, please let the kid go and I will help you, tell me what you need.? Said the first security guard.
?No, get away, don?t come any closer.?
?Don?t hurt the little girl it won?t do you any good, sir.?
When he heard the police cars he started walking towards the door.
?Please let my daughter go.? Screamed Sonia.
To Sonia it seemed that security wasn?t just trying hard enough to get her daughter back. The man kept on walking backwards toward the front door. Right before he passed the door cops surrounded him.
?Freeze, drop your weapon.? Said one of the officers.
?Let the girl go and nobody has to get hurt.?
One of the officers started moving towards that man slowly, which scared the man and he pressed his knife against Jasmine?s neck. Jasmine cried out loud and officer saw blood come out of her neck.
?Okay, you take it easy now.? Said officer.
That man was moving outwards towards where his car was, being very careful about who is trying to follow him.
?My baby, my baby,? screamed Sonia.
The man lowered Jasmine to reach his pocket for car keys and officer in the front shot that man. As soon as Sonia heard the gun shot she fainted by the door.
Two hours later she woke up in bed screaming.
?My daughter! Where is my daughter??
?Its okay miss, your daughter is just fine.? Said doctor pointing towards the bench on the other side where Jasmine was sitting with little bandage on her neck and a candy bar in her one hand. Sonia ran towards Jasmine and picked her up and started kissing her.
?Are you okay sweetheart??
?Yea mommy, daddy is here too and he said we are going home now.?
?Yes baby, where is daddy??
?How are you feeling, baby? Said Ronny walking through the door.
Ronny took Jasmine from Sonia and hugged them both at the same time.
?Everything is been taken care of, we are going home now.? Said Ronny.
?Did you find out who that man was?? said Sonia.
?Police said that man was involved in a bank robbery last week and they were looking for him.?
?Ronny, what happened to him??
?Don?t worry he won?t ever bother anybody again.?
On the way home Sonia was thinking how in few hours her whole life changed. She was so disturbed by the whole incident that she could probably never live her life in comfort. The fear that she felt would follow her and her daughter probably for the rest of their lives.