On Monday I fell to bed at 6pm with a high fever, shivering and burning from the inside. The next morning when I woke up I realised I can not swallow, which kind of consequentially meant I could not eat and if I drank it hurt like crazy. I stayed in bed for the next 2 days but since I was not feeling any better I finally decided to go visit a doctor and see what is going on. I went to the hospital at 7:30 in the morning so I could be the first one in line and back in the bed as soon as possible. I arrived at at 8:00 and the door was locked. I searched for the timetable but it was not there, the only think I spotted was an A4 sheet taped in the window of the office that was informing about the hospital working hours during the Festive Season. From there I understood that the doors open at 8:30, so I decided to go to the Sainsburry's to buy some oranges and tea.
When I came back the doors magically opened. I came to the reception to make an appointment, but they do not do appointments before 8:45. So I waited. Well, I finally came to the doctor at 9:12, due to an appointment cancellation, I was lucky. At the beginning she was really a kind one. She asked me about my symptoms, checked my throat, suggested me to stop smoking. She put a tiny strip in to my mouth to measure my temperature. When it was time she pulled it out and said that something like: "oh, it is really high!". Then I said: "oh, really, how much is it?" and she replied " 37,8." I didn't think that was too high though, but OK. She prescribed me the medicine, 4 different pills. I was a little bit surprised, so I asked her what are they for. One of them was called Penicillin and I got a bit scared, since I know that the medicine was used to cure syphilis. Maybe my language was not so sophisticated but she looked at me strangely, like she did not want to hear but I asked again. I could see she was annoyed. She explained me briefly just for the one I asked, for the rest she did not bother. I tried to improve the awkward situation so I thanked her greatly, put a big smile on my face, left the room and read about what I am going to consume when I came back home.
Since England is not a social country, the Health Care houses, at least this one do not have a pharmacy incorporated into the building. You have to buy medicine in private shops or supermarkets. So I returned back to Sainsburry's armed with a prescription. When I pulled the recipe to the sales-lady, she asked me how will I pay and announced that I have to wait for 15 minutes for the medicine to get ready. I was a bit confused since in Slovenia, we do not pay for the medicine prescribed by the doctor and I did not quite understand why can't I get the pills immediately. Well, in the end I payed 14 pounds, I waited 14 minutes, in between went to the store to buy few more things and finally, really finally arrived to bed, with a little higher fever and a bag of groceries. Probably I will need a day more to rest between the sheets due to the lovely walking experience that was just behind me, but who cares, I live in London.
