Life is not measured in minutes, but in moments…

Last Saturday, 21 February 2009, that was the day.

I just reached home after my latest purchase of NEC VERSA S3500 when I received the unexpected phone call. I looked at the LCD Screen of my mobile phone. Rai’s name was there.

“Dym, I have bad news…” That were the exact first few words uttered by Rai. What followed after that left me in shock. Not believing what I heard, I asked her numerous questions; whether it’s Zack as in the Zack that I knew; whether it’s Zack as in Veeky’s Zack, etc. With the utmost shock in me, I started to bombard Rai with questions - how, what, why, when, who…

The next thing that came across my mind was to call Veeky - to confirm the news and if the news is true, to make sure that she’s alright. The line couldn’t get through though. I called Roy - nope, couldn’t get through. I called Susan then. The news WAS true. I asked Susan about Veeky.

Veeky was on the way back to KL from Kuching, that’s what Susan told me. And worse, Veeky might be waiting for Zack to pick her up at the airport. My heart felt so terribly heavy at that time. Shock + Sadness = Speechless. I was trembling when I told my boyfriend and his cousin that my friend had passed away. I felt like crying, listening to my own voice conveying the heartbreaking news.

The initial plan was to go to Shah Alam with Zaim & Norwen. But that plan had to be aborted since I had to go to Bukit Jalil first. Not exactly so sure as to the whereabouts of SMC @ KPJ Selangor, I took the Federal Highway heading to Shah Alam. My concentration was locked at the road signs - Section 21 - until I reached the Panasonic factory and realized that I was lost. I stopped my car to ask for direction. One fella who looked like one of the factory workers pointed to the Panasonic factory and insisted to me that that was SMC. Politely, I nodded and smile at him before driving off to make a U-turn. My car passed that fella again. I could see from my rear view mirror that he kept of pointing to the factory while looking at the direction of my car.

I stopped my car a few meters away from the factory and gave a call to Rai. I proceeded to drive to what I understood as the direction given by Rai. Obviously my understanding was wrong. I saw a sign board that showed, “Tanah Perkuburan…” Yes, that was eerie. I decided to make another U-turn and called Zaim for direction. The phone was passed over to Norwen. I then proceeded to drive to what I understood as the direction given by Norwen. The right one, this time. Despite the sign on the hospital that said, “KPJ” instead of “SMC”, somehow I knew that I was already at the correct place.

As soon as I drove through the entrance of the hospital, I saw a lot of familiar faces, all sad and troubled; some with red teary eyes; some expressionless.

A lot of friends were there - a lot. This somehow showed how much Zack meant to his friends. How shocking the news was to his friends. How news like this was so unexpected and so uncalled for. How friends will come all the way to give our last goodbye, to show respect and to show how much we care.

Zack has always been a good person - a good friend to most people. He was smart, funny, nice, friendly, honest and never failed to amuse. I knew him since 2000, when we first started to do our pre-law. Gradually as years gone by, I started to know him better. Though we have never been so close a friend to each other, he will always be a friend that I will cherish.

The most unforgettable moment was of course that day when we were still doing our chambering. After one of the CLE talks, Zack, Zaim & I decided to hang out together. Zack brought us to the firm he was chambering in at that time - Messrs Sharizad, Rashid & Lee. That was the first time I went into that firm. We went to the library, where the chambering students were seated then. Then we decided to spend the night watching movies in Zaim’s place until the wee hour of the next morning. I was the fasting month in 2006 at that time. We had sahur together before heading home… Eversince that day, everytime when I bumped into Zack, he will always teasingly asked me, “Bila lagi nak lepak, Dym?” *sigh*

Life is indeed so short and indeed unpredictable. Who would have guessed a nice fella, with bright future ahead of him, would leave his family & friends in the tender age of 27.

The post-mortem was carried out at Klang Hospital instead of KPJ. I saw the van leaving KPJ Selangor heading towards Klang, escorted by a police car. Few minutes later, a green CRV followed the lead. It’s Steph, with a distraught looking Veeky inside, calling for me. I waved. I wanted to go there, to see Steph, to see Veeky, to tell her not to be sad (although of course it’s hard not to be). But the CRV was already holding a traffic; hence I decided not to. I waved some more and the CRV left.

It was starting to drizzle then.

Rain… Is always good, especially on days like that…