Officially Blake's

CHAPTER 67

CHAPTER 67

BLAKE’S POV

“Dude, you gotta talk, man. You can’t just sit around there on your bedroom floor with your back against the wall forever, saying nothing. You’re breathing man, but you’re not alive anymore. Come on, Blake. It’s not the end of the world. She’ll be back. I know she will but— damn—you gotta act strong. You gotta act strong for Nicolle, man. Look at you, your eyes are bloodshot. You don’t eat. You don’t talk. You don’t react. You just sit there, staring at nothing. I talked to you, mom talked to you, dad talked to you, Andrew, Samantha, Luke. Crap, even Nicolle’s family tried talking to you. But you just don’t respond. You seemed lost. Find yourself. Stand up and—I don’t know, maybe try to make an effort to get your girl back.”

He sighed.

“I’ll get back to you later.”

Pagkaalis ni Nick mula sa kwarto ko, umiling na lang ako. Totoo lahat ng mga pinagsasasabi niya. Saturday ngayon pero mula noong Tuesday, kung kelan ako pumunta ng Oaks Village, wala pa akong ibang kinakausap.

Wala ako sa mood para makipag-usap. Si Nicolle lang. Si Nicolle lang ang gusto kong makakausap. Siya lang.

Tumingin ako sa orasan ko at nakitang 9o’clock na ng umaga. Mga ganitong oras nagse-send sa akin ng bagong video si Matthew.

Somehow, nalaman niya kung ano ang cellphone number ko. Nag-text siya sa akin noong isang araw at sinabing gumagawa ng mga videos si Nicolle every two hours para naaalala niya ang mga ginagawa niya. At sine-send niya sa akinpara alam ko na okay si Nicolle. Sine-send niya din yung mga videos na yon sa pamilya ni Nicolle.

Siguro pareho kami ng reaction nina Vincent, Robert at Jennifer tuwing natatanggap ang mga videos. Sobrang natutuwa…. Kase sa mga napapanood ko, masaya si Nicolle. Merong time na nakikain daw siya dun sa kapitbahay nila na si Karla. Merong time na nag-tennis sila noong Czarina Greene. Merong time na knkwento niya yung tungkol sa therapies niya.

At tuwing napapanood ko yung mga videos niya, hindi matanggal ang ngiti sa mukha ko. Kahit papaano—kahit wala ako sa tabi niya—masaya siya.

I should be happy for her, too, right? I was trying to be happy for her. But somehow I couldn’t. Because she’s suffering.

Magbubukas sana ako ng isang video nang biglang may panibago akong natanggap. Galling ulit kay Matthew.

Nakita ko si Nicolle sa video, nakatawa, basing basa at kumakain ng ice cream. “Hi,” bati niya sa camera. “I’m Nicolle Lopez Lee. 18 years old. My birthday is on February 14. I have this condition… uhm, Alzheimer’s disease—which is a common form of dementia. I lose my memory every now and then, get confused, and sometimes I don’t act normally. And in addition, I have this multiple sclerosis. Because of this, I tend to lose my balance, vision, sometimes it’s difficult for me to hear clearly, and I’m uncoordinated.”

Tumingin siya sa malayo at tumawa ng mapait.

“I remember those things now… I don’t know about later. Ten minutes from now, five minutes, maybe ten seconds from now, everything I just said is just another lost memory. Anyway, so here I am, in the public pool of Oaks Village, trying to enjoy the heat of the sun in this raw February morning. As you can see, I’m all—oh!”

Napatigil siya sa pagsasalita dahil hinalikan siya ng isang batang lalaki. Pagkalingon niya dun sa bata, tinanong niya, “Why did you kiss me?”

“Gusto ko eh.”

Tapos umalis na agad yung batang lalaki na humalik sa pisngi niya. Sa totoo lang, nagselos ako. Sana pwede ko ding gawin kay Nicolle yon… sana pwede ko ulit siyang halikan kahit kelan ko gusto. Pero sa ngayon, malabo pa eh. Sa sitwasyon ngayon, mahirap mangyari yon.