the universe of us

chapter six

"OKAY, Doc. We'll go there tomorrow. No problem." I ended the call and placed my phone on the bedside table. I close my eyes and I felt a jolt of pain in my head.

*cough* *cough*

Shit, this is bad.

Doc Crisostomo is the one who called earlier. She asked me and Vaughn to attend a seminar tomorrow at 8 AM in behalf of her. I don't know why she picked us but I am more than grateful. The seminar tomorrow is such a big deal especially for a fourth year resident like us who is in the middle of thesis writing. So I can't and I will not miss this one.

But the thing is, I am not feeling well.

I shrugged. It will be okay. I just need to sleep and tomorrow for sure it's gone already.

AND it's not gone. It is not going anywhere as of this moment.

I turn around to where I can hear my name and I saw Vaughn approaching my direction.

"I knew it." He gave me the mask and the medicine.

"Thank you. *coughs*" He pat my back and worriedly looks at me.

"Are you sure you still want to attend the seminar with that state?" I wear the mask after I drank the medicine that he gave.

"Yes, of course. I have to. Also this is a very big opportunity for us. You know that." He sighs in defeat. We continue to walk. It's already 7:45 AM so we need to move fast.

We decided to meet at the university where the seminar will be held. Since we are both here, Doc Crisostomo asked someone to fill our spot in the ER until tomorrow evening. The seminar will last until 7 PM so more or less we still have half of the day to rest.

We reach the hall where the seminar will take place. We choose to sit in the middle part so we can see clearly. On our way here, I saw some familiar faces and I greeted them formally. This is what I hate the most when I am attending seminars or any social gathering wherein you are required to smile or do small talks with the people you happen to know.

I move my mask down so I can drink water. My throat hurts so bad.

"You good?" Vaughn ask as he reach for my forehead and gently touch it. I unconsciously close my eyes as a response to his touch. Damn. Sick and all, you still want to flirt? Really, Prime?

"You have a fever. Do you really want to do this?"

"Haven't I told you?"

"But..Haay. You are the only Doctor I know who don't have any medicine at home. I mean, how stupid are you?"

"From the scale of 1 to 10? I think Im 7."

"No, idiot. You are 11."

I laugh at him and he only shakes his head. He looks annoyed.

This guy.. I have a clear view of his face right now and yes you're right. I am staring at him.

And he caught me. Again.

There's a smile small that starts to appear at his face. He reach for my mask and fix it in my face. Walang bumibitaw kahit isa sa amin sa pagtitig sa isa't isa.

"Just tell me immediately if you feel uncomfortable okay? We will go straight to the hospital." I nod. I feel so dumb because I can't stop myself from smiling.

The seminar started. The speaker is so good that I suddenly forgot that I am sick. Vaughn and I are so busy taking down notes.

"We will have a 1 hour break. We prepared food packs to everyone. If you want to go out, make sure to go back here after an hour."

I close my notes and let myself dissolve in my desk. My headache is coming back.

"Stay here okay? I'll go get some food so you can take your meds."

Hindi ko na naintindihan ang sinabi niya. All I know is he left and I am dozing off.

I woke up with the sound of Vaughn's voice calling my name. I momentarily forgot my whereabouts but when I look at the person beside me, I slightly feel good..and safe.

"I let you sleep for a while but you have to eat."

"What time is it?"

"Don't worry you still have 30 minutes to eat."

He arranged the food in front of us and gave me the spoon and fork. I took it and was about to eat when I realized what is in front of me.

There are apple, banana, bottled water and the food pack containing rice and a chicken. There's also two bowls that contains a soup and some veggies from KFC. They are my favorite.

He's fixing something in his bag but he felt that I wasn't eating.

"Hey, what's the problem? You okay?" He opened the bottled water and gave it  to me.

I gladly accept it and drink. I put it down and tears started to roll down on my cheeks. I immediately wiped it but Vaughn caught my hand and force me to look at him.

"Let's go to the hospital. Screw this seminar. Your temp isn't even going down."

"I-I told you, I can. It's just that, I've never experience something like this," I look at what's in front of me and laugh. I can still feel my tears coming out and they are non stop. What the fuck, Prime?

"Whenever I'm sick and I have to attend class or seminar like this or even when I'm on duty, I only have a bottled water with me. I am living alone so I'm used to taking care of myself. No one has ever done this for me." I wiped my tears and placed both of my hands on my face. This is so embarrassing. I don't even know that medicine can make me emotional.

"I'm sorry, Vaughn. Thank you for this, I really appreciate it a lot. Just forget what I said. I think medicine and I are not good friends. It makes me feel crazy and emotional." I laugh and started eating.

"I will not forget what you said and from now on, you have me. You're not alone anymore, Prime." I can feel his hands on top of mine. I gently squeezed it as I hold back my tears.

The seminar ended well. I am so happy because I just got the right amount of data that I need for my study. Every now and then my head hurts so I have to stop writing for awhile. When Vaughn noticed it, he slowly leaned my head to his shoulders. My heart is beating so fast and I bet you a thousand that he heard it.