The Other Woman

Sorry guys, dahil tamad si ako. Eto, nilahat ko na sa isang chapter. At hindi ko alam kung bakit pinrivate ng Watty eto.

00

                                                                            A year ago…                                                                                                                                                                                      

Alex

I dabbed the tears angrily with the back of my hand. As their sobs grew louder in my ears I felt empty-handed and lost to the world. I stared blindly at the deathly pale face of the man on the bed. The pain was something I thought I got used to as time passed by. But I was wrong. Dead wrong. Because I was still aching inside.

I wanted to touch him for the last time. But I didn’t. It would be too much to ask. I absentmindedly touched the heart-shaped choker and pulled it out from my neck, ready to throw it to the nearest wicker basket. I always called it my ‘heart’ even then.

“Alex… you should go away. Mom’s not in a good condition to… to… assist visitors.” Jade tried to make it light. But I knew… I knew that I wasn’t needed. I nodded, just as I was about to walk away I looked at him. Really saw him for who he is. “I’m sorry…” I was walking down the hallway of the hospital when an agitated man marched across from me. In my grieving state I wouldn’t have given him notice but I felt the brush of our arms as he passed me by.

I felt the whole world started to dim. I lost the grip to my ‘heart’.

Lloyd

I was half-running, half-walking as I got out of the car. My heart accelerated in a gritty, fast pace. No one was about in the dim hallway of the hospital save for the woman walking blindly with a withdrawn, bland face and tear-stained cheeks. I hated the smell of medicines and antibiotics in the air. It was like a premonition.

Our arms brushed as I walked past her. I didn’t know why, but there was a silly voice telling me to look back. I was already beside her before she even crumpled on the floor. She fainted dead away.

“Lady, Lady…” I tapped her cheek. I was afraid she was sick as her fair complexion became deathly white. I lifted her in my arms as nurses came rushing to our aid. They took her away from me. I didn’t know why I had this sudden urge to protect her. Silly of course, maybe she has just wakened in me my protective instinct because of her vulnerability.

I hurried just as I remembered Nina. My Nina. “Hello…” She smiled at me just as she saw the worry in my face. The doctor stepped forward with his prognosis.

“How long will I live?” She took my hand and squeezed it just as the words were out. I opened my mouth to say something… something by that startling question of her.

“I’m sorry. Your wife’s got Brain cancer. Give a year or two.”

I was numb with disbelief then a receding pain washed over me. I slowly gaped at her. She tenderly hugged my midsection. I never thought it was this serious. We never heeded her symptoms.

I couldn’t take it in. She let me go. She knew I was just coming to terms with her illness. I didn’t know how I got out of there. All I knew was how suffocated I’d been. I stood on the hallway not knowing what to do, or what to feel.