Assalamualaykum wht,

I deleted my last 2 entries because of some modifications required, plus there are certain parties who do not really approve some parts of the story. But here, I already rearranged everything... for you.

Natasya


I just stumbled upon an article bringing up an issue of another baby found in a plastic bag, in front of a masjed. Obviously, the customary thing understood here was that small, nearly suffocated baby was a fruit of the loin of another unmarried couple.

Whenever I saw or heard this kinda news, my mind would always recall my short, yet unforgettable reminiscence of a 3-months old baby girl that I nearly regarded as my own child.

The first time I heard about Natasya was from my younger sister, Afiq. (Wan Fikriah to be exact, I didn't know how her name turned out to sound more like a boy's name)....or was it from Aishah, aissshh..couldn't remember correctly which one of them told me about that girl, since it was nearly 7 years ago when I was in Form 4,..or 5....well, that doesn't matter, does it? :p

There was one time, my 3 brothers got into trouble because of eating this mysterious food, and they ended up terdampar in the hospital's beds. So, for the rest of my family, numerous trips to Hospital Seberang Jaya, Penang seemed kindda inevitable.

My mom, being as friendly and charming as always, liked to walk around, meet other kids and their parents in that ward. And me, being as nosy as always..hohoho.. always followed my mom cam anak itik pulang petang. Furthermore, I was looking forward to take my first glance at the baby terbuang that my sis always talked about. Kesian woo..bebudak ni, ada yang kena dok dalam kotak transparent, mak dia dok sebelah, tunggu je, speechless while praying hard for her own kid.

And that was when it met Natasya. When I first saw her, she was with this 15 year old girl yang dok kat sebelah dia cam nak tak nak je. It turned out that the girl was from Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat. She was placed by the people in the Jabatan, rotated la ngan beberapa kengkawan dia untuk jaga si Natasya nih, who was found somewhere alone by herself, while a group of ants dok menghurung dia. ALhamdulillah, she was found before her condition got any worse.


Once I knew Natasya, the 3-month old baby with a heart problem, and plus dia selalu dok sengsorang sebab kena tinggal oleh her caretaker, I took the opportunity to get a closer look at her. At first, I was only holding her hand, and caressing her soft, puny body. Than after a while, I started picking her up from her bed, making her botol susu, and even changing her diapers when nobody was around.


After a couple of days, Natasya nih dah jadi lebih kurang a family member dalam keluarga kami. Siapa2 yang ziarah my brothers, would also ziarah Natasya. Sampai satu tahap, kami anak beranak bekerjasama dan bergilir-gilir menjaga Natasha. Main-main ngan dia, bergurau senda, ugaga-ugaga-gaga ngan dia, pendek kata. Di manakah penjaga Natasha ini? Hmm..most of the time, kalau bebudak belasan yg jaga, memang kena expect dioarang bergayut kat pondok telephone la.

When I was in the hospital taking care of my brother, I always loved walking in the ward alone at night. Bejalan tengok orang, budak2 ni tengah buat apa, tengok parents dioarang, tengok nurse ke hulu ke hilir.
So, one night..when I was taking a stroll down the hall, dari jauh lagi kedengaran suara baby sedang menangis. Of course I knew it was Natasya, alone..., sebab lama sangat nangisnye. Kalau ada si penjaga, tentu sudah lama tangisan itu berhenti.

When I came to her bed, I picked her up, and dodoi & buai Natasya macam yg mak-mak selalu buat tu. Nurses yang ada sebok sangat kot, sampai tak reti-reti nak angkat kjap baby tuh, tengok dia lapar ke, apa ke. And I think I was pretty mad at those nurses, when I decided to sneak her out from her ward to our room. We had a room just for ourselves since we got 3 sick little boys, senang nak jaga kot. So, I brought her back to our room, close the door, and put her in one of the three beds. And I turned out put to be sleeping in the bed with her when I couldn't ilas (ilahi lastu lil-firdaus...ring a bell?) no more. Pagi-pagi sebelum subuh, tetibe je beberapa org nurse came bursting through our door, muka masing2 gelabah. When they saw I had Natasya with me, they pick her up while yelling some words to me which I couldn't remember since I was too sleepy. I just let them be on their way out of the door peacefully.

The next morning, I went to Natasya's bed and suddenly I stopped before resuming my steps. There was a big sign saying something like "Dilarang Mengangkat Bayi Ini sama Sekali" on the wall behind her small bed. Pastu, siap angkat lagi pagar kat tepi bed dia tu kira macam kubu la kot. I thought they had some kindda trouble when realized the baby was gone last night. When I asked permission to play with her, one of the nurses won't allow me. Ye la.... ye la.. I knew la it was my fault. Takkan la nak punish me this way....enggak fair...


Hmmm, that's all I remembered about Natasya. Even though I couldn't even remember how her face looked like back then, I wish that she knows that no matter how great her life is, or no matter how hard her life is, there's always another stranger who happens to miss and love her right now.

posted by Hana' at 8/10/2005 02:23:00 PM |