34
"Hon, you are still awake..." Dennise helped herself against the headboard. She reached for the table and pushed her eyeglasses against the bridge of her nose.
"Malakas ba masyado 'yung TV?" Alyssa was sitting on the edge of the bed, a couple of feet away from the TV that was illuminating her face. She was watching the world news from Al Jazeera- typical Alyssa when she could not sleep, her girlfriend thought and smiled.
"No, your side of the bed is cold. Naramdaman ko lang. Hindi ka pa natutulog?"
"I can't sleep, hon."
"I am surprised 'di ka pa inantok sa pinapanood mo," Dennise joked and slowly approached Alyssa from the back. She pressed her lips against Alyssa's shoulder while her arms crept around her girlfriend's waist. "What is bothering you?"
"A lot of things, honestly."
"Of course."
Alyssa felt Den's warm sigh on her skin. She caressed Den's hands lovingly before leaning back
to kiss her cheek. "You should sleep. Come, I'll play with your hair."
"No, I will stay awake with you."
"I am okay, Den. I will just watch boring news until makatulugan ko na."
"I just don't want to miss anything."
Alyssa would have insisted but the way Dennise pleaded with her eyes made her drop her arguments. There was a certain fear in those begging eyes. Alyssa was sure it was never there before but then, how much did she know? She did not even realize until now that Dennise was not putting her guard down anymore but instead, she was already this vulnerable.
"All right, hon. I'll make coffee for us or hot choco sa'yo?"
Her girlfriend's face lit up.
"Coffee, please. Also bring a slice of that cake Ella brought. Masarap 'yun."
"Anything else?"
"Wala na po. Bilisan mo. You don't want to miss the news." Dennise added with a wink, earning her a kiss and a chuckle from Alyssa.
Around two phone interviews later regarding the economic crisis in the middle east, Alyssa was back with a tray of their coffee mugs and the slice of the chocolate cake. And it was just like how it was before- her head over her shoulder, lips on her hair and their feet cuddled for warmth. It was the kind of moment Dennise would wish for a huge meteorite to strike and wipe off the civilization like the plot of every boring apocalyptic movie. If she was the movie star, she would not think twice not saving the world and let everything return to dust and she could just die happily beside Alyssa- loving her and being loved by her.
But Dennise was not in a movie. She could not pause and immortalize the moment for life went on, the sun did rise after all and Alyssa still had to go.
Kim and Ara were so wasted Dennise thought both died in their sleep. She was about to call an ambulance when Ara kicked Kim off the bed and Den was never happier hearing Kim hurl curses and filthy words at Ara at eight in the morning. Both could not function well without being babysat so Den just decided to leave them in the room while she cooked breakfast.
Thirty minutes later, Bang arrived and Ara knew she was doomed. After their breakfast, Dennise volunteered to take over the hospital duties since Bang had to leave Mika to take care of the two- her sleep would have to wait, she complained to Dennise.
