Royally Screwed (Finished)

SC 02

Special Chapter 2

Play the music above for this chapter: Robbers (cover) by Somebody's Ghost

•••

What if Dr. Dino Zamora didn't die?

•••

Stella groaned when she fell the sunlight on her cheek. She slowly opened her eyes. Napakunot-noo siya nang mapansing nasa dating apartment siya. She scanned her surroundings and noticed it looked the same - the same like she was living in the apartment with her first boyfriend, Dino Zamora.

She looked at the calendar and almost gasped when it was April 23, the day that Dino died beside her on the bed.

Nakaramdam siya ng kaba. Anong nangyayari?

Where's everyone?

Where is Javion and their children?

"Oh, gising ka na pala, ging."

She got surprised when her first love, Devin Noah, was in front of her who seemed to be done cooking. Naka-white tshirt lang ito at black boxer shorts. He was in full body, smiling and standing in front of her.

He's alive and she almost wants to cry.

And he called her ging, he usually calls her ging or langging if nanglalambing ito. It's another sweet bisaya endearment.

She finally cried. "What is happening? Why are you alive? Am I dreaming?"

Ngumiti ito at inabot ang kamay nito sa kanya. "I am and we'll talk about that later sa dining table. Eat muna tayo ng breakfast."

She stared at him like it was unbelievable.

"Stella," Dino stifled a light laugh, "Are you going to stand or am I going to carry you?"

Hesitantly, she accepted his hand and held it. Somehow, she felt the familiarity of holding his hand. Matagal na rin niyang hindi nahahawakan ito.

Her heart was feeling surge of emotions again.

Dino looked at her again and noticed she was sobbing. Bigla siya nitong niyakap ng mahigpit. She wasn't expecting his hug but she hugged him back. Somehow, even though things ended up badly before for them... she missed his embrace. Maybe because she had a lot of unanswered questions for him.

"Hey..." His voice was soothing. "Don't cry. I don't want to see you crying. You know I don't like that... I love you, langging. Let's eat our breakfast na."

Magkahawak-kamay silang pumunta sa dining table. They sat opposite to each other. From the two of them, Dino was the good cook. Siya, kababaeng tao, hindi marunong.

And the food? Her favorite. It was a beef kaldereta and a bowl of chicken nuggets. She almost smiled.

"Kumain ka ng marami. Dapat hindi ka papayat."

"How are you alive? You were supposed to die today... Then after that, I got depressed and my life went down. It was... so painful to me, Dino. Iyong bigla mo na lang akong iniwan na walang paliwanag. When I learned you were just lying to me and me thinking our relationship was all a lie because you were already married. Gusto kitang tanungin pero hindi ko magawa kasi patay ka na..." She emotionally started. Tumigil ito at napatitig sa kanya then he smiled at her.

"They gave me one more day to spend time with you so I grabbed the opportunity." He simply answered. "Ito sana mangyayari if I didn't die during my sleep."