Unscathed

Chapter 24

Akim

It's been almost a month when Philip and Dana had that accident. Since then, my Dana wasn't mine alone anymore. Madaming beses na naming pinagtalunan but I always lose because Dana won't mind my pains. She was so over Philip again and again.

I sighed.

That night of the accident, I planned to propose to her, it was all set except Dana did not come.

Truth is, I am losing her and I am on the verge of giving up. But I need to fight, fight until I can.

"Dana,.."

"Hmmn?"

"Saan ka pupunta?"

"Pupuntahan ko si Philip sa ospital."

"Dana, si Philip na naman???"

"Akim."

"Dana, nakalimutan mo ba ang usapan natin ngayon?"

"Akim, sorry, nakalimutan ko nga. But I need to go to Philip."

"Dana, mahal mo ba ako?"

"Akim, wag ka namang sumabay!!"

"Ako?"

Dana sighed.

Philip was badly hurt by the accident. His legs are cemented that he can't move. According to his family, because of the accident, they already lost billions of contracts and Philip was depressed.

"I need to take care of Philip."

"Dana, ako ang boyfriend mo, hindi si Philip!"

"Pero napahamak sya ng dahil sa akin!"

"Dahil sa kanya yun Dana!"

"He saved me Akim!"

"He didn't save you! He put you in that danger!"

"Akim, try to understand!"

"What do I need to understand Dana??! Oo, his spine wasn't okay, his legs were cemented and he temporarily lost his ability to walk. But you don't need to be responsible for that!"

"I have to Akim! If not for me, he wouldn't jump off! He saved me!"

"Hindi ka naman tatakbo sa kalsada kung hindi ka nya hinahabol!"

"Akim! Pagod na pagod na ako."

"Sa akin? Sa akin ka ba napapagod??"

"Sa pagpapaintindi sayo na kailangan kong alagaan at tulungan si Philip dahil ako ang rason bakit sya nagkaganoon!"

"Dana, kahit ngayong araw lang."

"Akim, you have to understand. Today is Philip's first appointment to the PT. Philip is expecting me to accompany him."

"Dana, kahit birthday ko ngayon, sya pa rin ang pipiliin mo?"

"Akim, let's celebrate later. I need to accompany Philip. Hindi naman ito buong araw."

"You're choosing Philip?"

"I'm sorry Akim."

"You sure you are choosing him? Because Dana, when you turned your back on me today, I won't even bother listening to you again."

"I'm really sorry Akim."

"Wow, so this is what it means when people say history repeats itself! Ang galing! Either you are abandoned or left for another. Fantastic! Thank you, Dana, for hurting me this much. What a nice gift to receive on my birthday. I don't deserve this pain."

"Eto nga pala, paborito mong cake, enjoy!"

"Akim."

"We're done, Dana."

I expect Dana to say sorry and call me. I expect her to greet me. I waited until midnight but there was no sign of Dana.

I looked at the ring we bought.

I guess I can never wear this to Dana anymore.

Dana

Seeing Akim walk away from me is the most painful part of my being.

I sighed.

I was always the selfish one. Lumaki akong nakukuha ko lahat, kahit ano. The truth is I like Philip kaya kami na engage na dalawa. I like him so much that my grandfather arranged that set-up for me. I was beyond spoiled.

But now, I know I love Akim more than I ever could. I let him go not because I don't love him anymore but because I want him to find happiness somewhere. Living with me won't make him happy especially now. I wanted to be with him, I wanted to always care only for him but I couldn't because my guilt won't let me sleep at night.

Days and nights have passed, Akim never contacted me back. It's all my fault, it'll always be my fault.

Every time I will go to Philip, my heart bleeds for I am missing Akim so much. At night, all I can pray for is for him to start laughing again.

"Dana,.."

"Mom."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, Mom."

"Let's go to Dra. Bea?"

"I need to do something, you can go without me."

"Dana, you're rarely resting."

"I need it, Mom."

"Dana,..."

"Go Mom, I'll be home late."

Mom sighed and left me.

It was already late when I went to the bar and drink some. I don't know what gotten into me that I tried calling Akim.

He's not answering. I tried to contact him more than a hundred times but he wasn't attending his phone.

So I drove to his condo out of frustration.

I know his passcode so I went in. Unfortunately, he wasn't around.

My guts with alcohol really are increasing. Imagine that I drove to Laguna so frustrated to see a glimpse of him.

And you know what I found?

I found inflated balloons of my favorite colors and withered flowers. I get it out of the trash and broke my heart even more.

It's not just balloons and flowers too but paper cutouts saying Will you marry me?

My world suddenly collapsed.

Akim wanted to propose, and I ruined him.

If not for my mother, I would have killed myself that day.