Stethoscopes and Lesson Plans

Prolouge

DISCLAIMER: This is just a work of fiction,

names, places, events, locales, businesses etc. are either product of the authors imagination or purely for fictitious purposes. Any actual resemblance of real people, alive or dead may purely be coincidental.

Happy reading!

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"Aguilar, Ashia Cyreen E., Bachelor of Elementary Education; Summa Cum Laude,"

The statement echoed through the stadium, cheers and applause roared from the crowd as I approach the stage, about to get my diploma—my heart filled with pride and joy, as I had already accomplished one of my dreams. I shook hands with the University President and the College Dean.

As I walked down from the stage, I let out a heavy sigh—a sigh of relief from the sleepless nights, 3 AM coffee runs, 1 AM dinners, and thousands of money I had spent to do my instructional materials.

I sat on my chair, my friends and blockmates congratulating and cheering me on. I can't help but feel thankful for them, for staying by my side for 4 years, supporting each other in every Demonstration Teaching, helping each other out with their Instructional Materials and learning something new together along the way. I wanted to thank him, too. He was there when I was on the verge of giving up. He was there when I needed someone to lean and to cry on. He was there, always.

"Congratulations, my love." He immediately greets me with his warm smile and a bouquet of roses. My eyes widened in shock, it was bigger than my face. I took it and smiled at him.

"Thank you," I smiled and kissed him on the lips.
"Congratulations to you, too." I scrunched my nose at him then looked down to read his medal... which immediately shocked me when I saw it, Summa Cum Laude.

He never told me anything about it!

I nudged him, shot him a look and looked down on the medal again. He just shrugged, "It was a surprise," He winked. I rolled my eyes and shook my head, smiling.

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"You passed LET! And Topnotcher, too!" My friends exclaimed, hugging me. I smiled and returned the hug.

I wanted to run to him, tell him I passed, but he wasn't there anymore, he wasn't by my side anymore—I felt, empty... lonely.

But maybe it was for the best, we never know. We might see again each other soon enough.

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"Children, please tell your parents that we will have a meeting tomorrow. Is that okay?" I asked my students, always in the cheerful and lively tone.

"Yes, ma'am!" They answered, one boy even saluted which made me laugh.

The next day, I prepared the classroom for the meeting. I cleaned the tables, organized the chairs and wiped the blackboard clean.

And a few moments later, parents and guardians started to arrive one-by-one, holding their children in their hands, greeting me a good morning.

"Are we all complete?" I asked and noticed one vacant chair.

"Hi, teacher Cyreen!"

I shot my head at the door, a little boy—who was the same boy who saluted yesterday and his father I assumed. I smiled at the child and said hello back, not noticing the father's whole appearance yet.

"We're so sorry for being late, ma'am." A familiar voice echoed, which made me freeze momentarily. I looked at him and immediately bit my inner cheek, is that... him?

He was stunned, too. He momentarily stiffened but immediately recovered.

"Hello, it's okay. We're haven't started yet. Please, take your seats and feel comfortable." I tried to act more calm and professional.

The agendas of the class were clear, but my head wasn't, it was moving from one conclusion to another. It was humiliating.

The meeting was adjourned, then the little boy earlier went to me, dragging his father with him.

"Teacher, teacher, look! He's my dad! The one I have been telling you about!" The child excitedly said, almost jumping.

"Ah, right... Uh, hello..." I awkwardly muttered, feeling so embarrassed.

"Uh, hi..." He was the same.

"Daddy, meet my teacher! Teacher Cyreen! She's the teacher I was telling you about!" The child uttered again.

"So that's why your stories were so familiar," He whispered, looking at his son. His whisper was barely heard, but still loud enough for me to hear.

Huh...

"Hello, i'm Dean Raphael Hernandez." He stretched his hand out for a handshake, which I accepted.

"Hello, Mr. Hernandez, Teacher Cyreen Aguilar." I gave a smile.

The little boy was over the moon, smiling so big and laughing.

"Yey! They're friends now!" He jumped up and down and ran outside, probably to play now. Mr. Hernandez lets go of my hand and followed his child with his eyes. But his gaze immediately turned into panic when the child accidentally slipped.

"Asher Cyreus, be careful." He excused himself and followed his son.

I let go of my breath that I didn't know I was holding the whole time. Shock and confusion visible on my face.

Who is his wife? It didn't look like he was married, though.

I immediately realized I was thinking about nonsense and shook my head, slightly slapping my cheeks, too.

So that's why his face and actions reminded me of someone, and the child's surname was familiar. And his name, I remember making it when we were still in college—names that we wanted to name our children. Cyreus was one of them. I thought it was already a common name after all these years.