Happiness is the best medicine

For most of us, the average day includes a mixture of the things we look forward to and the things we do not look forward to. The girl that I am writing about is my friend, Emily. She is an optimistic 13-year-old girl, who hardly ever cries. She is an adventurous person, so she goes hiking with me every Sunday. Be it rain or shine, she would always show up at my door.

My story begins when we were walking back home from school. She was skipping along the sideways of the road, singing a familiar tune,

"Mi, Re ,Do ,Re ,Mi ,Mi ,Mi ,Re ,Re ,Re,Mi ,Mi ,Mi "

At that time, we were both feeling good as we had passed our English examination with flying colors. But, our euphoria didn't last long.

When we went home, we saw an ambulance parked upfront of our houses. As we walked closer, I saw that Emily's father was on a stretcher, lying unconsciously. I called out to her,

"Emily! Emily!"

She had already seen her father. She covered her agape mouth and a pang of guilt slapped her. She blamed herself for skipping and singing. If she had arrived sooner, she would have been alert about her father.

I followed her to the hospital. Tears formed around her eyes. I comforted her and attended to her needs. Suddenly the monitor connected to her father's body started beeping uncontrollably.

"Beep, beep! Beep, beep!"

The paramedics froze as we all knew what that meant. Immediately, they performed CPR on the dying soul. To my surprise, Emily didn't cry at all. She stayed calm as if nothing happened. She prayed, looked up to the sky, and smiled. But in her eyes, I saw a glimpse of sadness.

We finally arrived at the hospital. It was a gruesome sight. The paramedic crouched over Emily's father and continued performing CPR. There were a lot of patients and nurses that put the hospital into chaos. The thought of Emily's father waiting in the line was unbearable.

The paramedics brought Emily's father to the ICU (Intensive Care Unit). Luckily, there was a doctor on standby. The doctor immediately took charge and ushered us out of the ICU. We were then brought to another room.

Emily and I sat in the room and waited. A doctor wearing a protection suit and a mask entered. We didn't know what it was about. He then said,

" It has been presumed by several doctors here, that your father has lung cancer.

We were shocked, at a loss for words. We were told to go home and if Emily's father had lung cancer, it would be the last stage.

It was the only time I heard Emily say,

"I wish there were no tomorrow,"

These words struck me. My friend, who is an optimist, uttered that. I couldn't absorb it.

The next day, Emily woke up all smiley and happy. I could sense a euphoric sense of goodness floating around the room. It felt like a sad puppy finally found its soul. She made me pancakes and a hot latte.

I blurted out,

"How are you so fine with this? Your father is in the hospital, you should be worried sick!"

I immediately regretted it. Emily then replied,

"My father is a strong man. This disease? Pooh! He will overcome it. As long as you and I believe in him, nothing else will go wrong. As he always says,

"Happiness is the best medicine"

She said happiness as if it was a curse. From that, I knew she was hiding her true feelings.

A few minutes later, we got a call from the hospital. The telephone rang,

"Ring! Ring!"

I picked it up. A nurse talked to me over the phone. She says,

"It's a miracle! The patient has woken up, and his muscles are perfectly fine!"

I immediately rushed to the hospital holding hands with Emily. We braced ourselves and stepped into the ICU. I saw Emily's father walking around the room, not as an old, fragile man but as a living, healthy man. We rejoiced and danced around in circles. After a few seconds, the doctor came in. He said,

"Hey! You are a patient! You are not supposed to get out of your bed! Where are the tubes? Gosh! How do you even have the energy?"

Emily's father then replied,

"Doc, I ate too much so I had to use the bathroom. I took out all of those irritating tubes! Stuck to my body, too weird! I am not a sick man, I am perfectly fine! What are you talking about?"

The doctor could not believe his eyes, and neither could we. The doctor ran Emily's father for several tests, but he was fine. It was truly a miracle. The doctor re-entered the room and talked to us. He said,

"Never in my 10 years of being a doctor, I got a patient like this. There is no scientific explanation!"

Emily and I giggled. This time, her giggle was sincere. It wasn't fake. I was so happy for both Emily and her father. Then, Emily's father entered the room. He gave Emily a big warm hug. Emily returned it and shed tears of happiness. I was pleased looking at the father and daughter re-bonding again. I got out of the room to have some fresh air and left those two alone.

A few minutes later, I decided to head back. I saw the doctor entering the ICU. I quickened my pace to see what was wrong. A group of reporters entered the room. Emily gave way to them. I tiptoed and stood beside Emily.

"What are they doing here?"

"A doctor at the hospital told the press about my father's instant recovery and the reporters were amazed," replied Emily.

I saw Emily's father settling down. He asked the reporters calmly,

"Who are you looking for?"

"I am looking for a man, who had a miraculous recovery."

"Yes, that's me I guess!"

"Great! Can we interview you?"

"Sure. I would love to tell the public about my story."

"It will not take long, just a matter of minutes."

"Alright!"

They started the interview and Emily's father answered the questions with patience. Finally, they came to the last question,

"What do you believe made this miracle?"

Emily's father chuckled softly. He thought for a split second and answered,

"Well, many people are facing hardships as we speak. They may think money is the cure to it all. There is a saying from a long time ago, what was it called? Ah, yes! Money can't buy happiness. Now moving on to my case, I believe that Happiness is the best medicine. Now, we are going live, right? I want everyone who is watching me now, smile. A nice big smile that lights up a person's heart. Yes! That's it!"

"This was honestly the best answer I could have ever expected from you. Thank you for your time."

After listening to the interview, I realized that I had misjudged Emily. When she was all smiley-faced, she wasn't trying to hide her sadness. She was trying to console herself by telling herself,

"Everything will be alright"

That was something that I had learned that day. Something more powerful than money itself. Emily had always looked forward to tomorrow, and I would like to do the same myself. No more negativity in my life. Emily patted my shoulder and said,

"Gosh. I take back my word when I said I wished there were no tomorrow. You never know what tomorrow may bring, be it good to bad. As long as we are happy, everything will be fine."

Something struck me. It made an impact on my life. I was so lucky to have Emily as my friend. I replied to her,

"Happiness is the cure for everything!"