Drama Queen

I spent the whole day yesterday helping a so-called-friend in her quest to the Centro de Salud a.k.a the local health center. She claimed she was weak, had diarrhea the whole night, and asked me to lend a hand in walking her to the center. I had no objection.

Called up several centers but none were picking up, went down to the nearest pharmacy to ask for information, gather the info, went up the flat, looked up Google map and decided it was too far for her to walk in that condition. Called a taxi and waited, only to be told an hour later that it was off the route. Grrr!

Okay, so we started walking towards the center, stopping here and there as she claimed she was in pain. I prevented myself from comforting her, didn’t want to take any of her bull shit, stood by the roadside looking for a cab. Wasn’t my luck. Walked some more, got there, registered and waited for only 10 minutes before she was called in. I waited outside, only to be called later to accompany her in the room. Saw her lying on the bed with an IV drip on her arm and started feeling really bad.

Shoot, she really is sick. How could I ever think she was bluffing it?

Several nurses came by every 5 minutes to check on her and every single one of them looked astonished as she kept on saying she was not getting any better. After probably the 5^th checked, one of them decided to send her off to the emergency room at the local hospital, stating further check up was needed as she was not getting better. She was stunned, asked the nurse to call a cab, but the nurse was insisting on sending her via the ambulance. She hesitated big time; said she was embarrassed. I convinced her to take up the offer; that it was ridiculous to feel embarrassed while you are in so much pain and how it would give her better priority over other patients.

She was freaking out and started shivering all over. All of a sudden she said that she was actually already feeling better on the way to the center, and how she was hoping to STILL BE SICK by the time she arrives at the hospital so the doctor wouldn’t think she was making it all up. I knew it! Somehow i kept myself calm, and told her it was silly of her to be wishing for that.

We were relieved to get there in one piece after a nasty 15 minutes ride on the ambulance, she was pushed on a wheelchair inside the room and both of us waited for 5 minutes as someone completed her registration. While waiting, some of the nurses and the people who brought us on the ambulance were talking cheerfully behind us and were even gossiping about both of us (that she was not local, didn’t understand much of Spanish and how I didn’t understand a word of it muehehe). She got really pissed off, thought they were treating us like animals. I thought it was hilarious, and errr obviously embarrassing. Ok so after 5 minutes, I was asked to wait outside and she was ushered inside a room. Waited for another 2 hours – slept, read, gobbled up sandwiches, drank hot choc, just any means to keep myself occupied. She came out, we took a bus back home while listening to her complaining about all the wrong description they put on her paper, got off, went around to look for an available pharmacy (the hospital only writes prescription, they don’t distribute medicine). Arrived home, prepared some lemonade for her, cooked dinner, and slumped myself to bed – I was dead tired.

Only then I started feeling sick to my tummy.

It was not her first time.

Yesterday was definitely not the first time that she deliberately allow herself to get sick in the hope of receiving attention and sympathy from people around her. It was her 3^rd attempt already. I remember the 2^nd time she was in the position; she refused to take any medication. The reason – she didn’t want to intoxicate her body with drugs anymore. Wow, so much concern for a person who practically lives on processed food everyday.

Of course nobody believes her; everybody knew she did it just to get herself off work. And of course everybody knew she was faking it; probably she was sick, but not as bad as she claimed she was. Yet every time she would drag herself to the health center, and complains about how long she had to wait and how bad they were treating her. She would lock herself in her room the whole day, only coming out when people were outside preparing a meal, and would go on and on about how she was too weak to prepare food on her own. She would leave all her dishes in the kitchen, expecting others to clear up her mess. She has had low blood pressure for years, yet never took better care of herself or even attempt to change her daily diet.

I asked her how she was doing early in the afternoon today.

"Ohh same old, not any better. Still hurt as bad as yesterday"

An hour later her friend came for a visit, and off they went. I was speechless.

She said she had had a bad childhood. She claimed she was raised in a messed up family. I believe this has lead her to become the kind of person that she is today. But you know what? I have known many friends who came from similar background, yet were able to take full control of their lives without having the need to mess up with other people.

Mad at myself for falling for her trap, yet another time.