==JAPAN: KM== [Crisis]

"Ouch!"
It all happened in an instant. A paring knife I was using to peel a Japanese orange which was as big as a volleyball, slipped toward my left hand. At first, I thought I was all right, because it was an everyday incident for me. But, next, when I stared closely at it, I was astounded. Because it still wasn't bleeding, I could see something white peeping through the cut! It must have been bone or tendon. Wasn't it a severe injury? I would be in trouble if I left it as it was. Because a layman's judgement is poor, I didn't go to the hospital at once, but I should have.
The matter seriously changed a few minutes after my left hand was filled with blood, and my right hand was holding it with a tissue. Then I tossed my insurance and hospital identification card and money in to my shoulder bag. And I turned off the "kotatsu" and the light in the room putting on my shoes in a hurry. When I opened the door, I was surprised because the whole place was covered with snow. Besides, it was about 10:40 at night. Although I wasn't wearing my coat, there was no time to lose. I rushed out of the apartment into the street. It was comforting to know that Fukui Medical University Hospital was at the very nose of my apartment.
I started to walk toward the hospital without caring much about my appearance. There was nobody walking the street except me. Only the streetlamp lighted up my destination. I was walking on the snow not only timidly but also hastily. Because it had never snowed in my hometown, and I was not used to it, as I expected, I slipped and fell down completely. But nobody would help me in the middle of such a snowy night. I got up by myself and struggled, starting to walk again.
When I got to the hospital at last, the clock showed 11:00. Usually five minutes was enough for me to get there, but it had taken as much as 20 minutes. There was a calm atmosphere in the emergency division. Because I expected noise like on the TV programs, I was slightly disappointed at the difference. But this was no time for making jokes. I pulled myself together and pushed the intercom button. A receptionist slowly appeared from the back room. At first sight, his face hardened. My hair and sweater were covered with snow, and the blood stained tissue was grasped tightly in my hand. But contrary to my expectations, his first words were "Have you previously informed us of your visit?" Gosh! There was the reason that it was so quiet! A nurse who heard the commotion came up to me and asked, "What's wrong with you?" I thought it was obvious but I politely answered. "When I was peeling some fruit with a paring knife," interrupting my speech, she cried, "A knife at such a time?" The nurse obviously had a strong opinion about eating at night. But my theory was, whether it was midnight or not, I couldn't do anything on an empty stomach.
In a minute, another nurse guided me to the consulting room. After the doctor looked from all directions, he said, "We have to put stitches on that cut. But fortunately the nerves weren't cut." When I heard this, I thought indeed all my effort to get there was not in vain. The nurse brought a crash cart near the stand. I turn my eyes in her direction and saw that a lot of tweezers, syringes, etc were spread out. This situation was as I had expected. Then I was at a loss about which way to turn and I just stared at my cut for a while, worrying about whether they could really join the cut or not. The wound was in a sliced U-shape, and the sliced skin had shrunk. Soon, I felt increasingly dizzy and couldn't stand it any more. "Doctor, I feel sick!" His reply was "Oh, but I still haven't done anything." He was right. It was shameful of me as a medical student to grow faint from merely looking at my own bloody hand. Immediately I was laid on a bed and I felt blood went to my head and I recovered a bit.
Then, finally the time had come for me. The nurse said, "We'll give you anesthetics." I was displeased to hear it, because anesthetics are always "most" painful. Wasn't he putting the cart before the horse? And this time was no different. I felt as if he stuck the needle in the bone. My face was distorted with pain without making effort to bear it but he gave me three stitches in the small finger ignoring my heartful pleas! My hand had fallen asleep and felt double its normal size. Kind of the same experience as mine when you sit with you under you and you feet become totally numb. The worst was over now and Iplaced myself willingly in the doctor's trust. I felt easy and dozed off.
The call of the nurse woke me from my nap. She was putting a bandage on the wound saying, " We put in seven stitches". The clock struck midnight exactly. I thanked him and her and left the room. When I looked out of the window, it was still snowing hard. I shuddered to think that I had to walk alone again in the snow as far as my apartment.
Opening my door, I called out, "I'm home," but there was no answer. Only my voice reverberated through the room. There was no family who would worry about my hurt. In such a case I felt living alone was hard. All that was waiting for my return was the bloody orange. I couldn't help thinking so, warming myself under the "kotatsu", and finally I ate the unlucky orange. I became suddenly determined to call up my family the next morning after weeks of separation.

"Getting It Together"

It is a said that a precious thing is invisible and also it isn't until we lose it that we notice its importance. When I entered a university last year, I began to live alone. How hard it was for me to do so! Cooking, washing, cleaning etc was my mother's job. I thought it was natural, and I have never thanked her. But through my accident, for the first time, I noticed what my family exactly means to me, and that I have been supported by them. For someone else, the day he will realize the same thing will come sooner or later. I hope that I have expressed that gratitude with my essay, because I feel embarrassed saying it face to face.