His Silent Addiction

05

Siguro nasa labas pa ang nurse, aiding for some injured kid or what as though I am not. I just think it's irresponsible for them to leave this place unattended. As I roamed my eyes around, it unexpectedly landed on something– someone rather.

Bacon's lying on the bed across to mine while half of his body is covered by the white sheets.

Tila mahimbing ang tulog nito and somehow looking at him right now is like looking at a different person. He seems... peaceful? Tangina para namang namatay yung tao. I laughed at the thought of it.

"What seems to be funny?" I heard someone speak and realized that it's just me and this certain someone in the room right now.

I looked at the person in the bed who now has his eyes wide open, staring at me.

"You sure like staring at my face secretly," he added saka umupo ng maayos sa higaan, facing me. I was just about to respond when he noticed the bandage I held in hand since they didn't seem to have any ice here. "What's that?"

"Bandage, obviously," I sarcastically answered.

"Alam ko, what I mean is para saan?" He stood and walked closer. "What happened?"

I was taken aback sa bigla niyang paglapit that I couldn't react. Hindi agad ako nakasagot pero nanatili siyang tahimik na para bang hinihintay ako, patiently waiting.

"Sprain," sagot ko.

"Saan?" tanong niya.

"Why the fuck does it matt– ow!" I shrieked in pain nang galawin niya ang kaliwang paa ko. Putangina. If he was just about to do that, why did he even ask in the first place?

But I was more surprised when he pulled a tiny stool, a lot lower than the bed's frame, from beside the bed and sat while at the same time snatching the bandage from my hands.

"Anong ginagawa mo?" Nagtataka kong tanong.

"Helping you, obviously," he answered, mimicking the way I spoke to him earlier. "Do you expect me to just watch you pathetically put this on your own?"

Natahimik ako hindi lang dahil sa sinabi niya kundi dahil sa bigla niyang paggalaw sa paa ko, causing this insinuating pain that I can't explain. I never thought that sprain could hurt this badly.

"What the fuck Bacon, do you even know what you're doing?" I asked out of the crippling pain although the way he held my foot seemed so gentle.

He didn't raise his head pero nakita ko pa rin ang bahagyang pag ngiti niya. "You called my name, first time."

"And don't worry, alam ko ang ginagawa ko, I was taught how to do this," he added.

And he didn't lie, he knows what he's doing. The pain eventually subsided as he slowly wrapped my foot in bandage.

In the mean time, no one spoke. Tahimik ang paligid at ang tanging ingay lang na maririnig ay ang tunog ng orasan sa dingding at ang nga sigawan ng mga tao mula sa labas.

I heaved a sigh and broke the freezing ice between us. "Bakit ka nandito?"

"To rest," he shortly answered. "Not until you disturbed it."

"I did not," pagdedepensa ko. "Besides, hindi ka naman dapat dito nagpapahinga."

Hindi na siya sumagot pa and before I knew it, he was already done dressing my foot. Dahan-dahan niya itong ibinababa sabay naman ng pag-angat ng tingin niya sa akin.

"I have a game later, be there."

"Why should I be?"

"Because I asked," sagot niya. It didn't sound like anything, not a request nor a command although it sure was an authoritative voice. "At kailangan mo akong makitang manalo."

This time, he sounded confident. "What makes you so sure of that."

"I just know," he said.

"But what if you don't?"

He gave it a thought. Tahimik siyang nag-isip na para bang dito nakasalalay ang buhay niya. When he was done, he declared, "In the slightest chance na matalo kami, you can ask me any favor you want."

Parang nabuhayan ako ng loob sa sinabi niya at ngayon pa lang ay panay na ang bulong ko na manalo si Caf sa laro niya ngayon at nang sunod niya namang talunin 'tong taong 'to mamaya. I'll let him have a taste of his own medicine.

"But if I win, you'll have to do me a favor," he added that took me by surprise.

"Hey, you can't just make your own rules," reklamo ko pero parang wala lang itong narinig mula sa akin at bahagya lang na ngumiti.

He stood from his seat. "Next time be extra careful. I won't always be around to help you."

"The hell you keep on changing the subject," I whispered. "At sinong nagsabi na kailangan ko ng tulong mo?" I asked, provoking him.

"No one, but you just did," he replied in a blink of an eye, proving his point one after another, leaving me completely defeated.

"Well that's odd, I didn't ask for it." I made it sound oblivious and tried to look away.

I heard him laugh. He's making fun of me again pero wala akong magawa 'cause everything he says just make sense I can hardly even argue.

"You didn't ask because you didn't want to, but you needed it," sagot niya na parang ayaw pa talagang magpatalo.

Huminga ako ng malalin at hinabaan pa ang pasensyang malapit nang maputol. "Fine, you win."

Hindi na siya sumagot pa and turned his back on me to return the bandage on the drawer. I was about to call his attention when someone came in from the door.

"Nics!" Caf came out of nowhere at lumapit sa akin with the same worried eyes as yesterday. "Anong masakit? You told me yesterday that it was nothing tas malalaman ko lang kay Basil na nasa infirmary ka na. Baka sa susunod sa iba ko pa malalaman na nasa sementeryo ka na pala."

Caffeine seems to be overreacting but I swear, he acts out like this every chance he gets. He's just too dramatic na minsan nga halos kunin na siya sa theater club.

He inspected my body and saw the bandage on my foot. Hindi na niya ako pinagsalita pa at may idinagdag ulit, "Is that it? Ano yan, fracture? Dislocation? Sabi ko na nga ba, you should know how to say no to people sometimes, kaya ka napapahamak eh."

"Can you shut up for a fucking second Caf?" I finally interrupted him and everything fell into silence again.

That's when I realized na andito pa pala si Bacon. But when I checked, he was no longer around.

"Nasan na siya?" bulong ko sa sarili.

"That guy who left? Nakasalubong ko siya kanina lang nang papasok ako, it seemed like nagmamadali siyang umalis," he answered. "Why?"

"That was Bacon," I mindlessly said.

Caf looked confused for a second when it sunk into him. Napansin ko ang tila pagdilim ng mukha niya as his eyes narrowed. He turned over his head and whispered something. "So that was him."

Hindi ko na narinig pa ang sinabi niya nang makita ko ang strawberry juice na nakapatong sa mesa, next to the bed. It wasn't here earlier. Nang tinitigan ko itong mabuti, I saw a note under it.

I snatched it from the table na ikinagulat at ikinataka ni Caf.

It said, "Take a good rest and you'll need the energy to cheer for me later," with a little smiley at the end.

I don't even like strawberry.

——