Paul arrived a couple days after and he went straight to the hospital. A day after Paul arrived, the doctor said that her vitals were improving but they are still going to do further scans to make sure there is no internal bleeding that they missed. Fortunately, her neurologist also said that she should wake up soon.
Louise has been checking in with Richard day in, day out. Though he was a bit angry at her sister, Paul couldn't help but feel bad because she couldn't come home.
It's Paul's 2nd day in the Philippines, spending the spring break of his senior year in the hospital at the bedside of his mom.
Richard fell asleep holding Rachel's hand and Paul was on the sofa bed on his phone when he heard Rachel cough. He looked at her. Rachel started making sounds. He got up, "Pa.. Papa! Mama's.. I think she's choking on her tube! I'm gonna call the doctor!"
Richard jolted up, "Oh my-- Rachel, Rachel..." he held her hand, "Hold on, okay? The doctors are coming." She kept moving, and coughing because of the tube down her throat that helped her breathe, "I know, my love, I know. Hang tight, the doctor is coming. Just hold my hand, okay?"
The doctor came in, "Sir, labas muna kayo."
"Hindi ko siya ii--"
"Sir, please step outside so I can do my job." The doctor said firmly.
He kissed Rachel's hand and let it go.
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He called Louise right when he got out.
"Hello, Pa? Ano, kumusta?"
"Anak, the doctors is with her kasi.. I don't know, she looked like she was choking on her tube.. Yung tube that helps her breathe daw.
"Oh my gosh, thank you. Thank you, Lord.
"Anak, what do you mean?
"It's the tube that was put after her surgery when she was still unconscious. It was placed because she couldn't breathe that well on her own.
"So what does that mean?"
"Papa, she's fighting the tube because she's awake and breathing on her own. That's why it looks like she's choking kasi nakalagay 'yun sa may throat niya," she answered.
"Sir, okay na po si Ma'am," one of the nurses said.
"Go ahead, Papa. Mama's gonna be okay. Her voice cracked, Please tell her I'm sorry and I love her.. so much." She hung up the phone.
Paul pat his shoulder, "Papa, let's go?"
They went inside the room and saw a nurse holding a cup of water with a straw to Rachel's mouth.
"Doc, is she okay? My daughter said that she was fighting the tube because now she can breathe on her own."
The doctor smiled a bit, "Well, she's right. She's a great doctor, she talked to me last night. Well, maiwan ko na muna kayo. She's stable right now and I'll check back in later during the evening rounds, okay?"
"Thank you, Doc."
He sat at Rachel's bedside, "Rach..
She looked at him and a tear fell from her eye. "Sorry," she muttered.
"Shh... Just rest, okay?" He kissed her forehead, "I love you, " He whispered.
Paul approached her bed, tears pooling in his eyes, "Hi, Mama."
Rachel saw him and raised her hand a bit. Paul hugged her gently, "Ma, anong nangyari sayo? I told you to be careful."
"I know, I know." She winced, sore throat from the tube, "Kasama mo si Ate? Ikaw lang ang umuwi?"
"Yeah, just me." Paul's face changed.
"Hey, did you guys fight?" Richard asked.
"Well, I got angry at her kasi hindi niya maiwan 'yung trabaho niya du'n para kay Mama. Naturingan pa naman na doctor siya, " Paul replied.
"Paul Vincent, sinabi mo 'yun sakanya?"
"Not exactly that but.. yeah."
Richard sighed, "Anak, I'm pretty sure that your Ate wants to be here more than anything right now. But sometimes, you just have to make a choice."
"So hindi niya priority si Mama?"
"She is her priority. Pero, " he sighs and stares at him, a signal that he needs to tell him something that Rachel can't hear.
He gets it, "Fine. But I'm just saying."
"'Nak, water?"
He gets her water and holds it up to her mouth as she sips from a straw. He kisses her forehead and whispers, "Love you, Mama."
She smiled and gently rubbed Paul's arm. Richard is happy that she's awake. He's holding her hand at her bedside, thankful to God that nothing too tragic had happened.
Rachel falls back asleep from the medications that caused her to be groggy. He grabs his phone and texts Paul: Your Ate is going home the day after tomorrow. Pero for one week lang kasi yun lang yung longest na pinayagan siya nung hospital or else she might get kicked out the clerkship program.
This makes Paul look at him and sigh. He texts back: That's good. Sorry.
Richard looks at Rachel who is fast asleep. "It's okay, I understand. Magsorry ka din sakanya," he tells Paul.
Paul smiles at him.
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New York
Louise is in the lounge when one of her Filipino classmates, Dr. Patrice Lopez, emerges from the doorway. "Gomez, I've heard of what happened from Dr. Jacobsen. It's good that you're going home."
"Yeah. And staying here would be a bit worse because I'd be unfocused and worrying about my mom instead." She chuckles, "They might file a malpractice suit pa, hindi pa nga ako intern." They laugh.
"Sabagay, that's true." She sits on the bench with her, "Don't worry too much, okay? Your mom will be okay." Patrice pats Louise's shoulder, "Tell your mom that I said hi and pagaling siya."
Louise smiles, "Thanks." They stand up together, "Tara. Baka malate pa tayo sa evening rounds, uy!"
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Fast forward---Manila, Philippines
Louise's plane arrived at 6:43am at NAIA. She didn't bother asking her Papa to pick her since it was early in the morning.
She hopped in a cab with her only luggage, "St. Lukes po tayo, Kuya."
---
Louise arrived at the hospital and went to the nurse's stationin her mom's ward, "Excuse me?"
"Yes, ma'am, ano po 'yon?"
"Hi, uhm, I'm the daughter of the patient in room 127. Rachel Gomez yung name niya. I was wondering if her doctor is here already and if I can speak with him please?"
The nurse typed something on her computer, "Ah, kayo po pala yung isang anak nila Sir du'n. Ma'am, it says here na they should be starting the morning rounds in a few minutes. Maybe you can speak to him them po or may urgent concern po ba?"
"Uhm, if I can speak with him beforehand kasi.. ano, uhm, I'm in the middle of my clerkship right now in my surgical rotation and gusto ko sanang makausap siya na kami lang. Kasi you know naman, when you're talking to the family, iba dapat yung approach. I just want to talk to him as a doctor and not as his patient's daughter. At the least, I just want to know her course of treatment."
"Ah, sige po, Ma'am. I'll page him po sa lounge. Du'n na lang po kayo magusap," the nurse smiled at her.
"Thank you."
-----
Louise talked to Rachel's doctor for a while before going to Rachel's room. The lights were dimmed and Paul was sleeping on the sofa bed with his headphones on. Richard, as expected, was at Rachel's bedside holding her hand.
She tapped Paul, "Psst.." he groaned. She nudged him again and he woke up.
"Good morning, bugnutin." She greets him.
He takes off his headphones and sighs, "Sorry, Ate."
She smiles, "Okay na 'yun. I understand. How is she?" She asked, as if she didn't just talk to the doctor.
"They said she's stable for now. It was good that she woke up from her temporary coma that was probably caused by the trauma nga daw. Tapos okay naman daw yung paggaling nung wound niya from the repair of her spleen but they're still doing scans para mamake sure na wala nang internal bleeding."
"Ah, that's good. Go change, I'll wake up Papa na then you guys can go eat breakfast. Ako muna magbabantay dito."
"Ha? E kakadating mo lang, e. Jetlag ka pa, uy," Paul says.
"I got this, okay? Ako pa. Kung du'n nga sa hospital 36 hours minsan yung shift namin, e."
"Sabagay. You know what kulang na lang, du'n ka na tumira, e"
"Gan'un talaga. It'll pay off in the long run," she replies and Richard stirs.
He opens his eyes, "Uy, 'nak, nandiyan ka na pala."
She stood up and kissed his cheek, "Yeah. Just got here. Breakfast muna kayo ni Paul, ako muna magbabantay dito."
"Sure ka? Kakadating mo lang?"
"I'll be fine." she smiled. The boys went off to breakfast.
---
She was fixing the blankets on the sofa bed when Rachel stirred.
She went to her bed and kissed her forehead, "Hi, Mama."
Rachel opened her eyes and saw her, "Louise? Pa-Paano ka--You're here."
"Yeah. Got here this morning. How are you feeling?" she sat down by her side.
"I'm okay naman. Paano ka nakapag paalam? I mean, di ba you told me that you could barely take a leave from the hospital?" Rachel asked.
"I wasn't gonna stay miles away and not check on you and Papa after an accident. I was so unfocused so there was no point. I had to go." She sighed, "'Yun nga lang, I was only allowed to stay for a week then I'll have to go back."
"That's okay. i think I'll be out of here in a couple of days na naman,e."
Tears pool a bit in Louise's eyes but she wipes it quickly. "Ma, ano ba kasing nangyari?"
"Papa and I were on the way back to Manila kasi he took me to an out-of-town resort kasi we've been so busy for the past month because of the remerging. Then ayu, we were just singing in the car to some tunes then the next thing I know there was loud horn then everything went black. After that, bam, I was in the ICU and your Papa was in a wheelchair at my bedside."
Louise burried her face into the hollow of between Rachel's neck and shoulder. "Don't ever scare me like that, okay? I was so scared. I thought I was gonna lose you."
Rachel hugged her back, "You and your brother are so much alike, you know?" She kissed her cheek, "Hindi ko naman kayo iiwan, e."
Louise sat back down and smiled a bit, "I talked to your doctor earlier and I had to be my doctor self. I gotta admit, it's so hard to try to be a doctor when your mom is the patient. Now I understand why they don't let us treat family members." They both chuckle and she explained to her mom the treatment/post-op plan that they talked about earlier.
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As discussed, Rachel was discharged two days after but she was scheduled for a post-op follow up in two weeks. Louise is and Paul is set to go back to New York in four days. They've been at home, spending time with each other since Rachel can't really go out and about.
All four of them were in Rachel and Richard's bedroom having a movie marathon, with popcorn and all. Their second movie just finished and they're loosening up before they play their third.
Paul farts and he laughs. "Yuck! Paul Vincent, ano ba 'yan!" Louise exclaims.
They laugh, Paul being the loudest. "Manang mana ka sa tatay mo, nako. Spray ka nga ng febreze, Rich." Rachel says.
He grabs the spray from the closet and sprays. "Grabe ka naman saakin, love. Lahat naman ng tao naggaganon."
"Pero kayo lang dalawa yung nagfafart na hindi lumalabas ng room, 'no? Kadiri." Rachel.
"Oo nga! Nako, Paul, matuturn off mga girls sayo." Louise says.
"Alam mo, hindi sila matuturn off because this face never gets rejected." Paul smirked.
"Hindi lang pala 'yun ang namana mo kay Papa, pati yung pagkamahangin." This makes Rachel laugh.
"You got that right." Rachel agreed.
Richard puts his arm over Rachel's arms, "Nangaasar ka ba, hm?" He kisses her cheek.
"Ayun naman kasi, e. Dumadamoves si Father," she takes out her phone, "Selfie muna."
As if on cue, they all face the camera with a smile on their faces. Louise clicks the shutter once and asks for a wacky one. She and Paul goes crazy with their poses while Richard looked at Rachel with a smile on his face. He kisses her lips then her cheek. Louise take more than one picture, not realizing that she captured their parents' two kisses with them doing wacky poses in the foreground. The picture being the cutest for Rachel had a kilig but shy smile on her face.
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Hi, guys! I hope you liked this update. More interesting chapters to come since the end is near. I just want to thank you guys for the support that you have given to this story, it really means so much to me. Please feel free to dm me any requests since i'm currently writing drafts for the last chapters of this story. Also, please let me know what are your reactions and/or thoughts about this chapter or story as a whole here or on twitter (#MaybeCD). Your comments inspire me to write. Thank you & Happy Easter!
- E
Up next in the following chapters:
"... Twenty. Five. Years. And I still find myself head-over-heels whenever I see you. Happy Anniversary."