Red String of Fate [PUBLISHED by Bookware]

Chapter 4: Old Scars

"Who's going to look after you?" Alexa asked, confused.  

"Edgardo will be there to see to it that I receive the best comfort."  

"Pero, Dad..."  

"I'm so sorry, anak." Her father suddenly said. "I'm so sorry that I left you. Gustuhin ko mang makasama ka hindi ko kaya ang araw-araw na away namin ng Mommy mo." 

"That's the past, Dad." Alexa said as she tried to swallow the pain that she felt. "Wag na po nating pag-usapan yun." 

"You deserve to know that your mother and I tried but we were not able to make it work. I didn't know of your older sister's existence but your mother didn't believe me. Akala nya, nagsinungaling ako deliberately. She grew vengeful and full of doubts. I didn't want you to grow up in that kind of environment, anak that's why I left." 

"Dad, that's bullshit." She couldn't help but whisper. "Ano sa tingin ninyo ang sitwasyong kinalakihan ko nung iniwan nyo kami? Sa tingin po ba ninyo sobrang saya?"  

"Lianna..." 

"It's no longer Lianna, Dad. It's Alexa. It has been Alexa for fifteen years but of course you don't know this because you weren't there!" 

"Anak..."  

"Hinintay kita, Dad. I never understood why you left. I cried myself to sleep hearing Mom's muffled cries, my heart breaking because I didn't know how to comfort her, because I knew that my love for her was not enough."  

"I'm sorry..." Attty. Carbonel tried to grasp his daughter's hand and stopped when Alexa scooted further. Sighing, he slowly wheeled his wheelchair towards the door but not before putting a thick, brown, leather-covered book on top of her study table. Alexa watched her father struggle with the doorknob but did nothing. Finally, after a few minutes, her father managed to open her door and exited her room.  

Alexa stared at the book her father left and hesitantly heaved it into her lap wincing at its weight. She stared at the books' blank cover and slowly opened the pages. She saw baby pictures, pictures of a man and a woman holding a baby together, a man holding a smiling baby against his knee, a baby in a blue bonnet.  

Her tears fell when she took a closer look and realized that the man holding the baby was her father. Flipping the pages, she saw more pictures of herself -- her first communion, her first visit to the dentist, her first piano recital, her first camp-out, her first award. She turned page after page and the pictures changed from a smiling child to an older Alexa - her prom, her high school graduation, the day she received her letter of admission from Harvard, her first blind date and a picture of her crying silently at her Mom's grave. Pictures upon pictures of her eating, sleeping, talking to her friends, reading and sometimes just staring into space were inside the book and she couldn't stop her tears from falling. She wiped the tears off the laminated surface of a picture of her in a gray business suit, her first moot court participation. A newspaper clipping listing the successful bar exam passers was pasted neatly next to a photocopied picture of her Law Year Book. She flipped another page and stared at the blank space...  

"We planned on attending your graduation but he was already so sick by then and the doctor forbade us to travel..."  

Lee Ann's voice echoed in her mind and she sobbed uncontrollably, gulping in large amounts of air to relieve her tightening chest. The pictures stopped because he was too sick to continue. Alexa realized as she gently closed the book. She was wrong to think he did not care. He had painstakingly chronicled her life while hiding in the shadows.  

"Sinabi mo na ba sa kanya?" Edgardo asked.  

"Hindi nya maiintidihan. Hindi pa sya handang intindihan sa ngayon." Atty. Carbonel replied wincing as his nurse massaged his aching legs. The medication he was taking made his muscles stiff and he winced in pain as Marco pinched joints he did not even realize existed.  

"Kailan mo balak sabihin na wala ka nang masyadong oras?"  

"Hindi na mahalaga. Ang importante kasama ko ulit ang anak ko. Yun lang naman ang gusto ko." 

"Leandro, ang tagal na nating magkaibigan pero hanggang ngayon di ko pa rin maintidihan kung ano ang tumatakbo sa isip mo." He said and Atty. Carbonel laughed as he let his nurse wheel his wheelchair towards his bedroom. They were surprised when the door opened to reveal Alexa.  

"I'll take it from here." Alexa said, her face shadowed by her bangs. Atty. Carbonel nodded his head and the two men left the room. Alexa moved behind him and pushed his wheelchair towards the door. He waited for her to say something and sighed when his daughter remained silent. After a few seconds, he felt something trickle from his forehead to the bridge of his nose and he reached up to wipe it when another drop fell to his hand. He looked up and saw his daughter crying silently.  

"Anak...?" He asked and Alexa stopped pushing his wheelchair, she quietly moved in front of him and dropped to her knees, her head bowed.  

"Daddy, I'm sorry kasi di ko po alam." She whispered and Leandro Carbonel openly cried as his daughter launched herself into his arms.  

AUTHOR'S NOTE: 

Sorry about the drama, dear readers. ♥