APRIL 19, 2017 - SALVUM
The smell of the sterile room didn’t help my mood to lighten up. I could hardly remember everything I did but I do know that it’s something foolish again, judging by the fact that my always-busy mother was here. My mom had been busy ever since my father left us. Once, I told her that two women can’t live alone. Then, she said that we could.
“Dionne! Baby, you’re awake!” My mom hurried beside my hospital bed and hugged me tight. “I was so worried!”
“I didn’t die?” I asked her with keen eyes. She suddenly stood up and pulled the chair beside her then sat down again. She took my right hand and squeezed it firmly as if she was giving me security.
“No, you didn’t. You’re in the hospital, but you have scratches and probably a fractured bone.” She answered in a serious but caring manner.
“Oh,” Was the only thing I could stutter. I looked away so that she won’t see that tears were beginning to pool in my eyes. Even if I did that, I could tell that she knew I’m about to cry.
“You didn’t have to do that,” She cried. “What would have happened if you did die? Why would you do that? Do you want to leave me alone just like what your father did?”
I didn’t say anything again. Her words struck me. What would have happened to her if I died? Would she feel sad? Would she feel alone? Would she feel wounded? But I perfectly knew the answer. She was my mother and she’d feel sad, alone, and wounded without me, especially because I was the only one left for her and she was the only one left for me. How could I even mess up this small thing? Instead of feeling better, I thought of myself as a bad person for trying to kill myself and for not thinking of my mother. Then again, I knew that I felt bad about everything. I knew that I was so pessimistic about everything that I didn’t have the chance to think of my mother before trying to kill myself.
“I guess you’re not ready to talk about that yet,” She said, emphasizing ‘that’, “Once you feel better, I think you’ll want to thank the man who saved you.” Then, she left. Saved me? Did somebody save me? Why would anyone do that? I jumped off the train, didn’t I?
I walked towards the television to take the remote control beside it and turned it on. My legs hurt a bit because there wounds on it. It wasn’t fresh anymore, though. The television was set on the news channel and I didn’t think I wanted to hear any news. I would totally go for Disney Channel, Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon right now but before I could even press the numbers from the remote control, an interesting report flashed.
“Last Monday, there was a commotion in the LRT Line 1. A damsel in distress, who was on the verge of committing suicide, was saved by her knight-in-shining armor. It has been reported that the lady pressed the emergency button and stood directly in front of the door,” The news reporter announced while they show the videos of what happened with the label, The Kiss of Life. My face and the guy’s face were blurred, probably to protect our privacy. “Before the lady’s attempt to jump, the guy tried to stop her from doing so but it is seen in the video that she refused and was to attempt on jumping again. Suddenly, the guy planted a kiss on her which made the girl stop. Unfortunately, the train was still moving and the girl lost her balance. The girl fell but the guy took her by the hand and embraced her, taking almost all the blow from falling. The two were taken to the nearest hospital to be checked. The girl had fewer wounds and bruises compared to the guy.”
I turned it off, not because I didn’t want to see the news but because I recalled everything. With haste and hurry, I went to the nurse’s table and asked, “Where is the guy who was taken in last Monday? Which room was he taken?”
