Paradise (Book Two)

Having You Near Me

Give me your troubled mind you know it's used, I can do so much for you, I want you....HAVING YOU NEAR ME ~~~ Air Supply

"Trey, hijo! How's your day?"

"It was good Ma! No, let me correct that. It was better than yesterday," nakangiti niyang tugon sa ina sabay halik sa pisngi nito.

"Something, or someone is putting a smile on my son's face? Finally!"

"Really! Nothing escapes you mother!"

"Naman, Trey! It's more than obvious yang mukha mo. You were grinning like a schoolboy, my son. Sino ba yang inspirasyon mo ngayon ha?"

"Wala po, Ma."

"Asus at naglilihim pa si bunso."

"Ma! Stop calling me bunso. Doktor na ang anak nyo, bunso pa rin?"

"Nasa pamamahay kita kaya pwede kitang tawagin sa kung paano kita gustong tawagin. At wag mo ibahin ang usapan, who's the girl?"

"Sasa."

"Sasa? You mean, si Sandy? Pero teka, bakit, paano..."

"Her name is Asher Geronimo. I call her Sasa."

"Why are you calling her using nickname of Sandy?"

"She's...she's.....she's something else. I couldn't describe her. Not that she's not beautiful Ma, but even the word beautiful would not justify how she looks like."

"Far more beautiful than Sandy?"

"Yes," he admitted.

The first time he saw her when they brought her inside the operating room, hindi siya kaagad nakakibo. He was like stricken by lightning or by some voltage he couldn't move. Tatlong beses pa siyang tinawag ng nurse bago siya natauhan.

Why? Because Asher exactly looked like his Sasa, his wife.

And seeing Asher in the operating room felt like he's doing it again on her. He was like transported back to the time when he first saw her.

Sasa, or Sandra Dantes, met the same fate as Asher. She met an accident while driving drunk and he was supposed to be the other victim.

It was a rainy night and he came from almost 15 hours of operation and was too tired while driving home. He immediately noticed the swerving car coming from the opposite side. He became alert after that and slowed down, but the other car didn't. It looked like the driver really intended to kill himself.

Or herself. It was Sandra. It was late for her to avoid him so she turned her wheels on the opposite side, banging her car on a tree instead.

He immediately approached her and good thing that he pulled her out as the car exploded just seconds after.

She was brought to the hospital and he's the one who operated on her. He never believed in love at first sight but seeing Sandra, even in her blood-covered face, made him believe on it for the first time. So he did his best to treat her. He was inspired while doing his job on her.

Unlike Asher, though, Sandra did not have amnesia. It was two weeks before she came into her senses and everything became normal. He personally monitored her condition until she gained consciousness. And even after that, he did not leave her alone.

It was easy for Sandra to love back Raphael. Guwapo naman kasi talaga ang doktor at napakabait pa. She was crying over her cheated boyfriend when she met the accident. But it did not stop her from falling in love again with Raphael.