PANDEMYA

2

The following days become more colder.  Simula nung nalaman ni Victoria ang trabaho ng sariling ina ay mas lalo itong napokus doon.  Her mother would eventually will be home after two to three days. But,  she never forgets her own daughter,  when she had a time to spare she would snatched her phone on her pocket and tried to call her and asked her if she is okay or be careful because she will come home late.

Nasanay si Victoria sa set up na iyon.  But there is something that was bugging her and she really feel uneasy. 

Maghapon siyang walang ginawa dahil tinapos niya ang lahat ng gagawin sa gabi at nagising na lang siya ng maga-alas dose.  The sound of her own yawn echoed around the room.  Ramdam niya ang tahimik na kapaligiran kaya't,habang nakapikit ay dahan-dahan siyang tumayo at wala sa sariling nag-istretch ng sarili.  Her bones made a crack sound that satisfy her ears and her numb body. 

She decided to take a long bath.

Victoria was startled when she heard a noise coming from downstairs.  Mabilisan siyang nagdamit at dahan-dahang naglakad patungo sa hagdan.  The noise was getting louder as she slowly descend down the stairs.  Low murmurs and shuffling can be heard downstairs as she took the one last step.  Sweats covered her forehead,  ramdam niya ang pagbilis ng tibok ng puso dahil sa unti-unting namumuong takot sa kalooban niya.  She would not react this way if her mother haven't texted her earlier that she'll be late to come home so she remember locking all the doors when she decided to take a long bath to release all of her stress out of her mind and to relax just a little. 

But mom only had the spare key. She said to herself.

Muntik nang mapasigaw si Victoria pero napigilan niya ang sarili dahil sa nakita niya.  Hindi na sana siya sisilip kanina pero dahil sa biglang tumahimik ang paligid ay agad siyang lumabas mula sa pinagtataguan at iyon ang naabutan niya. 

Her mother was unconscious. Its body was on the cold marbled floor.  Victoria froze. Her mind went blank and her face paled. Ang mabilis na tibok ng puso kanina ay mas lalong bumilis. She gradually collected herself and get into action.  If she would let her fear eat her then it will be the biggest regret of her life. 

Victoria's mother was breathing heavily,  sweats covering her forehead and her body was so hot that Victoria herself can't believe.  It is not normal temperature for a person who had a high fever,  it is more than this.  Walang nagawa si Victoria kundi maghanap ng pwedeng panghawak sa ina dahil sobra ang pagliliyab nito sa init.  Her mind kept on asking and her curiosity and her fear was damn eating her whole system!

As soon as her mother was lying comfortably on a sofa, she sighed hard.  Ilang beses niyang sinubukang hawakan ang ina at hindi siya makapaniwala.  Sa.sobrang init nito ay di niya magawang hawakan ang ina kung hindi siya gagamit nang makapal na gloves.

She uses a cold wet cloth to try to wipe her but it failed, the cloth get warmed within a minute. 

Sobra-sobra ang pag-aalala niya.  She even think of getting her mother in the hospital but she knew eventhough it was an emergency,  no one will come for her— because they were too busy assisting the positive and they had no enough money for the bill.  Alam niya na isang gamot pa lang ay umaabot na ng libo,  paano pa kaya kung mag-stay sila ng ilang araw doon?  Isang araw pa lang sa hospital ay libo-libo na ang babayaran.

Sumapit na ang gabi ay mahimbing pa din ang tulog ng ina. Pero mas umayos ang kondisyon ng sariling ina, hindi kagaya kanina na halos nag-aapoy ito sa sobrang init. It became a normal fever na ikinahinga ng maluwag ni Victoria.