Aurora Borealis

Chapter 56 - Point of No Return

Hindi na 'ko nag-abala pang magpusod at tiningnan ang kuwarto ni Mom upang siguruhing tulog na siya bago ako dahan-dahang humakbang papalabas ng bahay.

I'm sure Mom will get mad at me if she ever finds out, so it's better to be careful while sneaking out. Uuwi rin naman ako agad bago mag-umaga para hindi niya mahalatang umalis ako.

East texted me the address and followed up with the room number.

"How is he?" tanong ko.

Naabutan ko ang isang kulot na babaeng humahagulgol sa tabi nina West habang naghihintay sila sa waiting area sa labas ng hospital room. It's just the six of us right now since Jamila and Tohru is out of reach.

"He's unconscious... I don't know what'll happen to him...I came too late after he called me." tugon ng babae na inabutan naman ni Aero ng panyo.

"His voice's frantically shaking when I heard him over the phone..."

"Everything will be okay, Agnes." sagot naman ni East.

"I certainly hope so. Just thinking that he's on that bed sucks. He may be an idiot and an insufferable person, but he doesn't deserve this." Agnes blew her nose on the tissue as her face is already swollen from her tears.

Lumapit sa 'kin si Wendy. "I thought you're going to stay at home?"

"I have conscience, Wendy. Pumunta ako rito dahil gusto ko siyang kumustahin, kahit na bawal." anas ko.

"I see."

The door of the hospital room flung open as a doctor approached us, "Are you the relatives of Mr. Barron Dominico."

"We're his friends, sir. Ano po bang nangyari?"

"May I ask some questions first?" tanong pa ng doktor sa 'min. Pumayag naman kaming lahat.

"First, ito ba ang unang beses na nakaranas ang pasyente ng sintomas ng paninikip ng dibdib habang hirap sa paghinga?"

Nagkatinginan kaming lahat. I can't speak for them but I definitely don't have an idea.

"I think it's his first time, Doc. Hindi ko naman siya nakitang nagkaganyan noon." si Agnes na ang sumagot.

"The patient has STEMI, a severe type of heart disease that you can deem as life-threatening. We detected some ST-segments elevated on the patient with our electrocardiogram. In other words, a major artery is blocked and erratic heart contractions are triggered."

It's as if a lightning struck me. I couldn't imagine how much Barron suffers right now. While here I am, being shallow about whether I should come or not depending on how we're closely-related with each other.

"You said earlier that you're going to perform angioplasty on him, right?" tanong naman ni West. "How did it go?"

Bakas sa mukha ng doktor ang pagdadalawang-isip. It could mean a lot of things, so I'd rather not conclude something that will drive me in paranoia.

"I'm a little bit angsty to break it to you... but the angioplasty wasn't successful."

I can feel my legs wobble upon hearing the news. Napakapit ako ng mahigpit kay Wendy na hindi rin makapaniwala.

"There's still a way for the patient to be kept away from the risks of a heart disease. Although, it would be risky and we can't completely assure by a hundred percent that it would be successful." the doctor relayed.

"What way?"

"We're going to perform an open heart surgery to him for revascularization. The odds of his survival is quite low, so we need to hear your decision."

What should we do?

That's the only thing running in my mind as of the moment. His safety solely relies on our decisions.

"We'll be going for it, Doc. Please perform the surgery. Please save him." Agnes spoke again.

"Are you sure, Agnes? Hindi ba natin hihingin yung desisyon ng nanay ni Baldo—"

Agnes looked at West boldly. "Kritikal ang lagay ni Baldo ngayon, at kapag nagpataan pa tayo habang delikado ang lagay niya sigurado akong pagsisisihan natin ang mangyayari. I'll take full responsibility of the possible consequences that might happen, but what matters now is we should grasp on every single opportunity to keep him alive."

"Is your decision final?"

Tumango naman si Agnes. "Yes, Doc. Please, we'll be counting on you."

Pumasok naman sa loob ng hospital room ang doktor. Sumilip ako sa may salamin na bahagyang may siwang sa pagitan ng mga kurtina at nakita ang nakaratay na si Barron kasama ang mga nurse at ang doktor na abala sa paghahanda para sa isasagawang operasyon.

I can feel my heart as it beats loud and slow that it echoes through my ears. I lost count on how many times I've gulped even though I can't clearly see things from inside.

Hindi ko rin marinig kung anong pinag-uusapan nila sa loob. Ang nakikita ko lamang ay ang mabibilis nilang kilos habang inooperahan si Barron na walang kamalay-malay sa nangyayari.

Inilayo ko ang sarili ko sa kurtina at huminga ng malalim bago naupo sa tabi ni Wendy.

"We probably haven't noticed that he's been having symptoms of heart disease." ani East.

"It's unlikely, right?" sagot naman ni Agnes. "First, leukemia. Now, this? I'm starting to wonder that he must've done something horrible in his past life."

I remained staring at the floor while listening to their conversation. There's a part in me that still doesn't feel like this is happening.

You'll really never know people completely when you just tend to look at them at one side. You might even be looking at the depthless side.

"Now it reminds me that when I found him, he's lying on the floor of his atelier along with his brush and palette. In front of him, there's an unfinished portrait..." pahayag pa ni Agnes.

So he's into painting. Hindi halata sa itsura niya.

"It's a portrait of you, Lauren."

My eyes widened as I turned my head up with shock on my face.

What?