Mr. Bubbly Meets Mr. Gloomy

Chapter 25

Keilah's POV

Kasalukuyan akong nagbabantay kay Cherub habang tulog s'ya. He is peacefully sleeping. It's okay, you deserve a rest with no interruption.

"But, you need to wake up." I murmured. "We are all waiting for your return. Bukas, bibisita dito si Ralph. Like what he do everytime na ma-admit ka sa isang hospital. This time is different though. May kasama s'ya. His lover, I suppose. Si Atter."

I sighed and held his hand. Tanging tunog ng machine ang naririnig sa buong kwarto. I saw you like this before, Cherub. You got hurt that time too. But, this is absurd! You do not deserve any of this.

Ibinaling ko ang atensyon ko sa may pintuan nang may kumatok. Bumukas ito at nakita ko si Kevin na pumasok. He approached me, and kissed me in the forehead.

"How is he?" Tanong nito.

"Okay naman s'ya. Patuloy na lumalaban." Sagot ko.

I smiled at him. A bitter smile. I'm scared, actually. I am scared of what will happen next. Walang kasiguraduhan sa ang mga mangyayari sa mga susunod na araw. I don't know if he is willing to wake up from this slumber.

Lumabas na kami ni Kevin at sinabihan sila Ethan na umuwi na. I told them na ako nalang ang magbabantay dito. Ay first, Ethan refused. Gusto n'ya na s'ya unang makita ni Cherub. Mabuti nalang at na-convince s'ya nila Matt at Caelum. Umuwi na din sila afterwards.

Sinabihan ko na din si Kevin na umuwi muna para maalagaan si Tita Cherry. Naka-uwi na s'ya sa bahay nila. Well, she still needs to rest. And the doctors told her to avoid stress.

I went back inside and sat on the chair next to the hospital bed where Cherub is lying. I sighed and took my phone from my pocket. Sakto naman sa pagtawag ni Ralph.

"Ralph." I said after answering the call.

"Hey, Keilah. Good evening. How's Cherub? Is he awake?"

"He's still sleeping." I said. Halos bumakas sa tono ng boses ko ang takot.

"You know who's behind this?" He asked.

"I don't know. The officers don't have any leads yet." Sagot ko bago tignan si Cherub.

"Hmmm, I hope the officers get some leads on the suspect. Cherub don't deserve any of this. And why would someone abduct him?"

Knowing this guy on the other side of the phone, I know he have a person of interest in mind. "How about you? Have a person of interest?" I asked.

"I have this one in mind—" Sabi na eh. "But I am not sure."

"Care to share who?" Maybe pareho kami ng person of interest.

"Erwin." He answered. Yep, same person of interest. "I think Erwin is behind all of this. I heard, they had a huge argument with Radson last time. And Cherub was the topic. So maybe—" He paused for a moment. "Maybe, he's behind all of this."

"Yeah." Napa-isip isip ako. "Ever since that last incident, he set an eye on Cherub."

"He became obsessed with him. Which is not a good thing." He added.

I said my good bye to him and ended the call. I looked at Cherub one more time while thinking of something. What if Erwin caused all of this?

•|NEXT_DAY|•

Ethan, Matt, Caelum, and I are outside Cherub's room. Two of us are standing while the rest are sitting. Medyo mahirap para sa kanila ang mga nangyayari. Hindi sila sanay dito. While me? Sanay ako na palaging nasa tabi n'ya kahit anong mangyari.

"Bro, you okay?" Matt asked when we heard Ethan sighed.

"I am fine." Sagot n'ya. "Any updates from the doctors?"