blues

2:30 am

2:30 am

It was already summer but we have to stay in Ateneo dahil may acads requirements pa akong tinatapos and also, we have practices pa with our national team for the upcoming U23 tournament.

Most of our ateneo teammates either went back home to their provinces na or were enjoying the summer break so that leaves me with no one in our room.

Jia, who is also a national team member and is one of my roomies, won't be back until tomorrow night pa.

Geez, what a great time to catch a fever. Hindi ko alam if stressed ba sa acads or if the three-day break given to us before we start our training did me no good dahil hinanap ata ng katawan ko 'yung 5 am jogs at 8 pm court drills. Whatever it was, saklap.

Bea was on the phone. Tumawag kasi para magtanong if gusto ko ng churros. Of course, I did not tell her na may lagnat ako dahil baka magmadali pa 'yun na umuwi at 'di pa dumaan sa UP Town.

So I just waited for her to drop by our room and it did not take me that long naman dahil half an hour later, the giant was looming to hug me with her long arms.

"Jhoooo!"

"Bhe, wait!" Tinaas ko agad 'yung mga kamay ko at nagulat at natigil din siya sa pagsugod sa akin. "H'wag ka lumapit."

"Bakit? I missed you kaya!"

"I know." I grinned. "Kaso may lagnat ako, bhe. Pagbalik ko dito kaninang umaga galing Batangas, bigla akong nilagnat."

"Weh?" She was still skeptical as she took few more steps near me. "Hindi mo ba ako na-miss?"

"In between all our FaceTime sesh, viber messages and your random midnight calls... uhm, I still did."

The little dimple below her lips showed up and sobrang cute kasi kaya napangiti na rin ako.

"So can I get a hug now?"

"May sakit nga ako, bhe. Mahawaan ka pa."

Naningkit ang mga mata niya and then her forehead creased as if ayaw talaga niyang maniwala. So I beckoned her to come nearer so she could feel my temperature. Without hesitation, she jumped to me.

"Jho! Init mo!" She suddenly exclaimed after a moment of taking me in an embrace. She was still on my bed with half of her body weighing me down. And I doubt she even had any idea na she's been leaning on me. I didn't mind anyway. "Jho! Ba't 'di mo agad sinabi?"

"I was telling you, 'di ba?"

"Sarado na infirmary! Should we go and see a doc?"

"Bhe, lagnat lang 'to."

Bea frowned adorably. Her eyes actually looked sad that I felt bad na naga-alala siya. "How do you feel, beb?"

"Fatigued, bigat sa katawan and woozy."

"Babe, sure ka ba na lagnat lang 'yan? Wait up, I'll call ate Den."

"Bakit?"

"That could be symptoms of something worse." She searched through her bag and frantically phoned Ate Den. After a while, the other line picked up at wala na akong nagawa para pigilan siya because Bea stood up and started pacing back and forth the room. She was speaking quietly kaya 'di ko rin siya marinig until... "Kidney?! Malaria?! UTI?! To name a few?!"

"Bea, OA mo. Lagnat nga lang 'to, bhe..." sabi ko kaso 'di na siya nakikinig. For sure, Ate Den was also playing around with her at lalong inaasar si Bea dahil itong isa, nagpa-panic na.

"So Ate, should we see a doctor? This could be hepatitis! I had that when I was a kid and akala namin, it was just lagnat!!!" She tucked her phone in between her ear and her shoulder tapos she rummaged through my study table for a pen and paper. "I'm listening, Ate Den... so round the clock monitor, sponge bath... and make sure she gets to eat and rest. What if bukas, may lagnat pa rin siya?... Ah, basta. I'll take her to the infirmary first thing tomorrow para sure. Sige, ate... thanks."