Suriyenai's Courageous Journey

I remember the first time I met Dr. Suriyenai. It was about a year ago, right after the war. The whole city was in an uproar, people were panicking, fleeing, rioting... it was a mess. I was doing my rounds at the hospital when one of the nurses approached me and asked if I had ever heard of her.

The name sounded familiar somehow but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. "Who is she?"

The nurse then took out a piece of paper and handed it to me:

"Dr. Suriyenai Pannarapornchai. She's kinda like a pharmacist, you know? Except she doesn't work for anyone."

I stared at the piece of paper and found myself entranced by the words written there. They seemed to rush past my eyes, jumping over each other as they tried to find their place in my mind. When I finally looked up again, the nurse was gone. I folded the paper and placed it in my pocket, where it would stay until today - when I finally decided to visit her home for the first time.

I made sure to look presentable this morning. I didn't want to look like some kind of charity case, especially since I needed something from her as well - a vaccine against flu that has been going around here lately. Hailing a taxi outside of the hospital, I told him to drive me to where Dr. Suriyenai lived along with a short description of the way. "That house over there! That's her house!" He exclaimed after only a few minutes of driving, pointing towards a two-story house on the corner of a quiet residential street. I paid him and got out, looking up at the house as he drove off. It wasn't much but still nicer than anything else on this street. Most houses probably haven't been renovated for many years now - unlike this one that almost seemed brand new; fresh paint, flowers neatly arranged on either side of the doorframe and lots of bamboo poles sticking out from its roof just like in old days... so old days indeed.

Taking a deep breath, I walked up to the front door and knocked three times before stepping back slightly to wait for her response; when suddenly I saw someone appear behind one of the latticed windows next to the doorframe - someone looking very much like Dr. Suriyenai herself - just as described by her nurse... except older and wearing traditional attire instead of that white coat she always wore before. She eyed me carefully before opening the door and inviting me inside: "Ah... Dr... ?"

"Dr Saxby," I said nervously as we shook hands for what felt like forever before finally letting go, "it's good to meet you."

"You too," she replied simply before turning around and leading me deeper into her house, "please make yourself comfortable in here while I make us some tea." After placing my bag down next to an empty stool in what seemed like her kitchen and sitting down on another stool opposite hers, she started boiling water in her stove whilst talking about how busy she's been lately - how sick people keep coming all day long despite having no money left after paying those expensive medical bills which even medical insurance doesn't cover anymore these days; how most people have lost hope despite everything she does for them - including those who are still convinced that western medicine is better than any alternative forms of medicine whilst overlooking some aspects which might not be so great about western medicine these days either; how everyone's getting scared... very scared! And how she feels that things are only going to get worse before they get better again....