Can You Hear Me?

Chapter Five

Maeve

          I woke up with the smell of flowers in the room. May bumisita ata while I was asleep. I stood up to open the curtains in my room. It's a nice day. Bumukas yung pinto. I saw Reid come in. He stood there for a while habang tinitignan ako. Ah-uhm.

          "May dumi ba ako sa mukha?" I asked as I checked my face too. Napailing naman na siya.

          "W-wala." He shortly replied. He started cleaning up his stuff. Tiningnan ko yung oras. Its 7:30 am..

          "Reid! Oh my! Diba may pasok ka pa?!" I panicked! It's a Wednesday so he should be at school right now. Napangiti naman siya sa akin na para bang ok lang.

          "Suspended ang klase. May bagyo oh." He pointed at the TV screen. Oo nga. EH ba't? Whuuut?

          "Ba't ang araw-araw, suspended ang klase?" I was dumbfounded. What is happening to the world?

          "Alam mo naman ngayon. Kapag may pasok, kulang na lang ay magdala na tayo ng pangswimming dahil sa lakas ng ulan. Kapag naman suspended ang klase, walang ulan." He told me at naupo na lang sa couch.

          "So what do you plan to do today? Hindi ka naman siguro magmumuk-mok dito sa kwarto mo diba?" He asked as he was scrolling through his phone. Ano nga bang pwedeng gawin?

          "May garden ba tong hospital?" I asked. Gusto kong lumabas man lang eh.

          "I don't think so. Pero merong café-resto sa likod. Gusto mong itry? Mukhang masarap naman dun. There's always a lot of people there." Pag-aaya niya. I just nodded. He doesn't seem like the Reid I met on the first day of classes. He's different. I guess, eto yung Reid na hindi nakikita ng marami. Eto yung Reid na hindi niya basta-basta pinapakita kahit kanino.

ᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜ♥ᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜ

          I got dressed at bumaba na rin kami ng hospital. As in sa likod lang pala talaga siya ng hospital matatagpuan. Ang pagitan lang nila ay yung daan ng mga sasakyan papuntang parking. Marami-rami ngang tao. Parang nakakaramdam ako ng lamig. But, he seems ok. Ako lang ba nilalamig?

          Umorder na kami. Marami-rami akong inorder. Sabi naman kasi niya, umorder lang ako ng marami eh, libre daw niya. I ordered two kinds of pizzas, two kinds of pastas, and a big glass of mango shake. He was astonished when he saw all the food that came to our table.

          "Glutton." He whispered and took a bite out of one of the slices of pizza I ordered. Wow ah!

          "Tch! I know what it means. Hindi ako bobo. I know that glutton means matakaw." Inirapan ko siya at kinain na yung isa sa mga pasta ko. He just smiled and ate too. Habang kumakain kami, may tumigil sa tapat ng table namin. It was a girl, about our age.

          "Reid! Wow! I did not expect to see you at a place like this! Anong ginagawa mo dito?" the girl was so enthusiastic as she was asking. Its like I'm not even here. I just continued on eating.

          "Halata naman diba? Eating?" Malamig na sagot ni Reid. Hindi siya pinapansin ni Reid. He was just eating and minding his own business. Yung babae naman, she kept on blabbing non-sense. So lumalandi lang si ate in short? I rolled my eyes at how desperate she was for some attention from Reid.

          Habang kumakain, I felt like I was going to throw up. I stopped eating for a moment para pakiramdaman kung nasusuka ba talaga ako. Too, late! I threw up everything I ate. I threw up every bite I had. Kulang na lang pati bituka ko isuka ko na rin eh. After all that, the world is like spinning and blurry.

ᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜ♥ᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜᵜ

Reid

          "Fuck." I uttered to myself. Ba't ngayon pa?! Alam kong under observation siya para sa dengue, mukhang eto na yun. Nagulat naman si Pam sa nangyari. I don't expect her to care, and tama nga ako. I carried Maeve to the emergency room. They told me to wait. Everything was settled. Nabalik na si Maeve sa room niya talaga. May mga bagong ikinabit sa suero niya.

          Sa ikinabit na suero, I can see how painful it is. She reacts like its more than just a mosquito biting her. Napayuko na lang ako. Di ko siya kayang tingnan ng ganun. Nararamdaman ko din yung sakit na nararamdaman niya sa itsura pa lang ng mukha niya eh.

          Pinag-pahinga ko na muna siya at hinatid si Pam sa lobby ng hospital.

          "Buntis?" She asked. Nabigla naman ako sa tanong niya. Buntis agad?!

          "No. She's under observation dahil sa dengue." I answered her calmly. She just gave me a small smile.

          "Ganun ba? Akala ko nakadisgrasya ka na sa mga babae mo eh. Well, I don't need to know who she is. I just want to remind you na ako lang ang babaeng pwede sayo. No one can judge me or you, and no one will ever get hurt." She threatened, gave me a peck on the check, and left.

          I hate her so much. All she does isstick to me like a leech. Isang parasite. Ang gusto lang naman niya ay yung mananiya sa kompanya ng family niya. She won't get it until she gets married. Andang kailangan lang naman niya ay isang lalaking walang pakielam kung sino-sinopa ang kaflirt niya, in simpler terms, yung ayaw rin sa kanya. She thinks I'mperfect for that. I don't like her, and I don't want to get married right awaytapos ganun lang. Of course, marriage is sacred, ayokong basta-basta lang akomagpapakasal sa kung sino-sino.