Toto and the Boys III: Dannie

Chapter 23

A piece of the past...

Her friends, Jackie and George, came by the hospital one Saturday with Troy, Lee and Miguel in tow, and most of them tried to cheer her up, most especially Troy who had been trying too hard, making Jackie and George roll their eyes. But Tessa seemed to enjoy Troy's exaggerated storytelling so everyone gave him the floor. In return, Tessa told Troy of her new friends, some British missionaries who had been visiting the hospital.

Jackie and George were concerned how Dannie was doing but they couldn't openly talk to her since her mother decided to lurk around. The way Jackie and George looked and talked to her, she was somehow grateful that the woman was there because she was not ready to tell her friends what had really been happening.

"Hey, you okay?" Troy asked when Tessa finally gave in and slept. Her medications had started to work and somehow, after everything that had happened to her, Dannie started to feel a little hope.

She looked up and saw Troy looking at her with worry. "Yeah," she answered, nodding her head.

"Just don't stress yourself too much," he said, rumbling her hair before stepping away with a soft chuckle.

Jackie pushed a white envelop in her hands before they left and gave Dannie a hard stare even before she could refuse. Dannie just smiled at her friends with grateful eyes.

Her mother saw the exchange and immediately grabbed the envelop from her hand and counted the cash inside. The lady shook her head in disappointment. "I thought your friends are rich? This is not even enough for your sister's medications. If you did not do what you did last time," she said, throwing Dannie a look of ire, "we won't even be here worrying about money."

Dannie did not answer. She just stood up and walked away before she could say anything that would only cause her mother to freak out.

PRESENT DAY

"Can't we just spend the night here and rest for a while?" Troy asked when they finally reached Bacolod.

Dannie turned her head and opened her mouth, about to protest, but she saw the tired look on his face. Slowly, her body responded to what she was thinking and she suddenly felt tired as well.

She returned her gaze on the road and sighed. "Okay. Let's just go back to the apartment."

"Thank you," he said with relief.

"But you better be ready to face George and Jackie. They were really pissed the last time I talked to them."

"I can face anything but more driving right now."

"Let's rest for now and then we're going out to get Toto the very next morning."

He did not answer. She waited.

"Troy. We're going out to find Toto tomorrow morning." It was an order.

"Okay," he answered faintly.

*****

Troy did not go to bed easily. George and Jackie made sure that he got the message. Jordan and Dean were there as well, both looking pissed. The war was still going on, obviously, but Dannie was too tired to even bother to try to talk to them.

Troy deserved some talking anyway, since he was obviously aware of the plan but did not do anything to stop it. Jordan and Dean were aware of what they had done but they were also both too proud to admit that what they did was wrong. Jam was nowhere to be seen and Dannie was willing to bet that he was away for the very same reasons she was thinking of.