'Cause I Like Him Too Much

Chapter Thirty-Six

“I’ll take some of these capsules again, please.”, I told the storekeeper while I lay a number of silver pieces on the counter, I could not stop looking at the white and round pods in their transparent cellophane case. For now they are my savior, I thought. The symptoms of my bad health continued to haunt me, it never left. Only dozing of the medicines helped relieved the pain it kept bringing.

  The storekeeper’s tiny forehead wrinkled when she saw the same old remedy I had been buying from her in weeks. She must be wondering why I kept on taking these similar ones. After that, she gave me a significant stare as she took the coins away and wrapped the thing I paid for in a small brown paper bag and handed it to me.

  As I took the small packet, placing it inside the wide pocket of my coat, I uttered a soft thank you to the woman. But before I could walk towards the exit and go on my way, I heard the soft, mellow voice of hers inquiring, and it made me stop and look back.

“Haven’t you been dosing them up in a long time already?”

  I got my head stirred meagerly. “Uhmm..”, my eyebrows curled up together. “It has been weeks, I think.” I frowned, unsatisfied with what I just said. I looked back at the lady seller who was leaning forward a little.

  I saw her expression. She didn’t seem to believe me. Her mouth opened in a slight manner and said, “As far as I know, two tablets, just two, will work well to have the aching gone.” I heard her sigh as I watched her arranging the goods near her side. I leaned on the counter and stayed for she went on with her explanation while she worked.

“Take it from me. That’s what health professionals say. In your case, taking so much of that medicine, well that isn’t normal anymore.”, then she fixed her eyes at me.

“But..but...”, I protested. Not normal? If you’re in my place, I know you would do what it takes—even eat a whole jar of it just to feel better! I didn’t think of it aloud, though I wanted to blurt it out. “It doesn’t stop, you know. It keeps coming back, the longer it stays, the more torment it causes. And uhm… every time I swallow ‘em, well I feel better. That is how it works, right?”

  Like at a snail's pace, she gaped and shook her head. The upper part of her façade was wrinkled, it appeared like the justification I did was in vain. She still wasn’t convinced. “I don’t think so.”, she said in a low voice.

I threw a sharp stare then. “What do you mean? Of course it works for me!”

  I felt a hand touched my shoulder. I gasped and quite shivered since the touch felt cold. I turned and saw that it belonged to a smiling old woman in a plaid coat and a brown hat. A fellow customer, I should say. I saw her browsing on the newspaper and magazine section when I entered the store.

“You see, my dear…”, in her softest tone she told me and removed her hold from my shoulder. She took my hand and placed her own one on mine. I couldn’t recall of meeting or knowing her, and with her gestures towards me left me surprised. “…An expecting mother should not be consuming such prescriptions. It is far too risky for both mother and child.”

“Excuse me?”, I retorted, removing my hand from her grip. I let my feet move a tiny step backward, away from her.