KEIRA’S POV
Nanlalamig ang mga kamay ko sa hindi ko malamang kadahilanan. Naglalakad na kami ngayon sa loob ng isa sa mga Buenaventura Hospitals. Ash was waiting outside earlier para salubungin kami. Napabuntong-hininga nanaman ako ulit.
“Magiging ayos lang ang lahat. Trust me.” Ash placed his hand on my shoulder and I gave him a grateful smile.
Nakabenda ang kaliwa niyang kamay at may mga bandage din ang iba pang parte ng katawan niya dahil sa mga sugat na natamo niya sa laban. Obvious na din masyado ang pagod niya. His eyes looks very weak kaya medyo nag-alala ako kanina pero isinawalang-bahala niya lang ang pag-aalala ko.
“We’re here.” Tinignan ko siya pagkatapos ay sa malaking sign sa taas ng pinto na tinutukoy niya na may nakasulat na ICU. Hindi nakatulong yun sa kaba ko at mas lalo lang akong kinabahan.
“Should we go in now? Are you okay?” Hale held my hand at tinignan ako sa mata. Tumango lang ako sakanya para makapasok na kami.
The very familiar smell of hospital welcomed me when Clark opened the door. Ang agad kong nakita pagpasok ko ay ang apat na hospital beds. Lahat ng mga hospitals bed ay may mga katabing machines. Machines na kagayang-kagaya ng mga machines na nakita ko after I woke up from coma. A chill run down my spine when I realized that. I stopped on my tracks.
“Please someone tell me what I’m thinking is wrong.” I helplessly looked at them. Nag-iwas ng tingin sakin si Ash at Cloud habang naglakad papalapit si Hale sa isang hospital bed and Yan followed suit. Hindi ko alam pero lumapit sakin si Clark without saying anything. Pinagmasdan ko si Yan at Hale and it almost broke my heart when Yan started crying.
Parang may sariling pag-iisip ang mga paa ko at lumapit ako kay Yan. Nang makita ko ang rason ng pagluha niya, I gasped. Napatakip ako ng bibig at ginawa kong pangsuporta ang isa kong kamay sa hospital bed but it looked like hindi ko kayang suportahan ang sarili ko sa mga oras na ito. Now I understand kung bakit lumapit sakin si Clark. He’s the one who supported me para hindi ako matumba sa sahig.
Right there at the hospital bed is an unconscious Ran. Halos matakpan na ng mga benda ang buo niyang katawan. Aabutin ko na sana ang isa niyang kamay pero naunahan ako ng yakap ni Yan. He’s crying. Ang higpit ng pagkakayakap niya sakin. Hindi ko namalayan na umiiyak na rin pala ako. I composed myself and comforted Yan. This is the very first time na makita ko siyang ganito.
“Shh. It’s okay. Nandito lang kami, Yan.” Hinagod ko ang likod niya and played with his hair. Wala siyang sinabi. Hinayaan ko lang siyang umiyak but after a few moments, inalis ko ang pagkakayakap niya and the sight of him so vulnerable like this made my heart ache.
“Oh, Yan. Hindi ko alam kung ano ang dapat kong sabihin sayo but let’s wait for them to wake up, okay? I know they will. I was in coma for six years so how bad can this get, right?” Hindi ko alam kung mae’encourage siya sa sinabi ko pero it’s the truth.
“I’m sorry. I should be the one comforting you but I couldn’t help it. Ito ang unang beses na makita ko ang kakambal ko sa ganitong kalagayan.” Umiling lang ako sa sinabi niya.
“Don’t worry about it. Kahit anong mangyari ay kakambal mo siya so you two have a special connection.”
Medyo kumalma ako dahil sa pag-uusap namin ni Yan kaya nang muli kong tignan si Ran, hindi na ganun kabigat sa loob ko. Iisipin ko na lang na nasa ganito din akong kalagayan for six years and my FMOA survived the wait. My Royal Guards survived the pain when they believed that I was dead. This is nothing compared to what they have been through because of me. I think this is some kind of a karma for me. But I have Yan, Clark, Xander, Cloud, Ash and Hale by my side.
Yan went back to just watching Ran lie there looking so broken. I have to look away or I might cry myself. Sa pag-iwas ko ng tingin kay Yan, nabalik sa isipan ko na may tatlo pang ibang hospital beds dito sa loob. Hale is standing beside one of them. Lumapit ako sakanya and there I saw Titus na nasa kaparehong kalagayan ni Ran. Pero kung titignan ng maayos ay mas malala pa rin ang mga benda sa katawan ni Ran. Hinagod ko ang likod ni Hale and he spared me a glance.
“He’s going to be okay, right? I know all of them will.”
“They better do or else, I’ll beat the hell out of them until they wake up.” Natawa ako ng matabang sa sinabi niya.
“Good thing that you didn’t think of that when I was in coma.”
“I actually did. A couple of times.” I gasped and punched him lightly.
“You did not!” Umiling lang siya.
“Of course I didn’t. Thanks, Em.”
Nginitian ko lang siya. I don’t know how I’m doing this but seeing my Royal Guards and FMOA so broken like this, may kung anong nagsasabi sa loob ng utak ko na kailangan kong magpakatatag para sa kanila. It’s my turn to support them. I think that’s the reason why I haven’t broken down yet.
Iniwan ko muna si Hale doon na nakatayo sa tabi ni Titus. Nilapitan ko ang katabi nitong hospital bed na kung saan nakahiga si Grey. He’s on the same condition as Titus. Both so full of bruises and bandages with the same type of machines attached to them. I held his hand in mine and kissed it.
“Come back to me, G. You need to. Understood?” I whispered to him and kissed his forehead na meron ding benda. Inayos ko na ang kamay niya at lumipat sa huling hospital bed na hindi ko pa nalalapitan. It’s Tristan.
Compared to the other three, hindi masyadong malala ang mga natamo niyang sugat but I remembered that he was the one who shielded Ran from the grenade thrown at them. I kissed his forehead as well.
“Thank you so much, Tris. Thank you for saving him.” Bulong ko sakanya and gave him one last look bago ako bumalik sa tabi ng hospital bed ni Ran.
Ngunit bago pa man ako makarating doon ay napansin kung nandito pa rin sina Ash at Cloud. Nilapitan ko silang dalawa.
“Aren’t you guys going home yet? Kailangan niyong magpahinga.” Habang papalapit ako sa kanila at naramdaman kong sumipa ang anak ko kaya I drew circles on my stomach. My baby’s been restless for the past few days.
“We’re just making sure that everything’s okay here before we leave.”
“Cloud, you two needs to rest. Kapag nakapagpahinga na kayo, pwede naman kayong bumalik dito if you’re that worried about them.”
“We’ll do that, then. You sure you’re okay here? Do you need us to bring you anything kapag bumalik kami?”
“No need, A. I’m fine. Oh, by the way, where are the others?”
“They’re all here in this floor. We closed this whole floor for them so if you want and if you can, you can just check on them.” Tumango ako sa sinabi ni Cloud. Mabuti naman kung ganun para hindi nakakapagod ang pagchecheck sa kanila.
“Okay. I’ll check on them later. You two go home now.”
I watched them as they went out of the room and only a couple of second later, may pumasok na tatlong doctor dito. They checked Titus and the others. Kinausap din nila kami and told us that the four of them needs to stay in ICU for the next 24 hours for further observations and if there’s no complications, they can be moved into another room.
They’re all in coma. Sinabi ng mga doctor na hindi nila matitiyak kung kailan sila magigising. They said that Tristan can wake up within the next few days while the other three may or may not wake up within the next month. Sinabi din nila na habang nasa ICU pa sila ay hindi advisable na manatili kaming mga nagbabantay sa loob so Clark told our men to vacate the room next to it para doon kami manatili for the mean time.
Pagkaalis ng mga doctor ay lumapit ako kay Ran and kissed him at nagpaalam ako na titignan ko muna ang kalagayan ng iba pa naming mga tauhan. I don’t know if he heard that but still, I just felt like doing it. When I was in coma, I don’t remember hearing anyone talk to me, even once.
“Guys, I want to check on the others. Who’s going with me?”
“You guys go. I’ll stay here to look after these four inside. Hindi tayo nakasisiguro na walang manggugulo dito and the people that you’re going to check needs to see familiar faces from their own mafias so it would be best if Khyan and Hale go with you.” Tinignan ko si Hale at Yan kung agree sila sa sinabi ni Clark and they both nodded.
Umalis na kami and decided to start our inspection from the farthest left side of this floor. Ran and the others are on the farthest right side.
For the next few hours, pinasok naming tatlo ang lahat ng kwarto dito sa floor na ito ng hospital and I made sure that I talked to each and every one of my men – both from Genesis and Apocalypse. They placed their lives on the line under my command so I have to thank them for doing that.
Two weeks. It has been two weeks since the battle between Round Table and Pyramid. Nagising si Tristan after five days of the fight and is now recovering from his injuries. Karamihan din sa iba pa naming tauhan ay nakalabas na din ng hospital. The only ones left ay yung may mga malalang tama and that includes Ran, Titus and Grey.
For the entire two weeks, pabalik-balik lang kami sa hospital ng mga iba kong Royal Guards at FMOA. We would take shifts para magbantay dito sa hospital dahil hindi namin pwedeng pabayaan ang mga kompanya so I have to help them in managing them too. The others insisted that I need to have enough rest dahil malapit na akong manganak. My due date is only two weeks away. Gaya ngayon, kakatapos lang nila akong kulitin na umuwi na at magpahinga dahil galing ako sa isa sa mga airlines na nakapangalan sakin. The passengers are making a big fuss because of the cancellation of several domestic and international flights due to the bad weather. Clark and the other couldn’t make it there earlier so I have to do it myself. Well, I took care of it, alright but not the best way possible. They’re acting really stupid and it pissed me off.
“How did you guys do it?” I asked no one in particular as I stare at the ceiling of the room. Actually, this is the room in one of Buenaventura’s main hospitals na naka’reserve lang dapat sakin. This is the biggest room in the entire hospital and I want the three of them to be inside the same room so we used this one. Hale and Ash didn’t know that the hospital have something like this. Ash wouldn’t shut up about it saying that it’s so cool. I couldn’t get him, how is having your own room in a hospital cool? For me, it only means that from the very start, I am expected to be on this very room for God knows how many times. The idea itself is unnerving.
“Sorry, what was that?” I know it was Yan. Andito kaming lahat ngayon. Yan, Xander, Cloud, Ash, Clark and me. Xander’s still recovering pero ayaw niyang manatili sa isang kwarto kaya naman hinayaan na lang namin siya but definitely no work for him. Most of the time, siya ang naiiwan dito para magbantay sa tatlo. Wala dapat kami dito ni Clark at Ash pero I insisted na dumalaw kami so here we are.
“A, H. How were you able to survive those six years just watching me lie on that bed without any signs of waking up any time soon?” Nakatingin pa rin ako sa nakabitin na chandelier dito. Nakasandal ako sa sofa and I’m trying to relax when that question came into my mind. I never asked them that question before.
“We believed that you’ll wake up, I think. Personally, I know that you will so I thought I'll just hold on to that idea and you actually did, didn’t you? I was there when that happened so the long years of waiting paid off.” Ash.
“Well, for me, at the beginning, I was thinking that you’re our last hope to get Apocalypse back so I don’t really have a choice but to wait for you to wake up. However, as days passed by and I look after you, comb your hair and sing you lullabies, I grew quite fond of you eventhough I believe that you didn’t know what I was doing. So basically, I was taking care of you for the late Empress and Apocalypse pero hindi ko alam kung kailan nagsimula pero I looked after you because you are you and I want to do it because of you. You’re like a little sister to me, Em.” I smiled at that. Hale can really be the sweetest guy in the world if he wants to.
“Maraming salamat sa inyong dalawa. I couldn’t imagine waiting for the three of them to wake up after six years. Hindi ko alam ang gagawin ko, to be honest. Anyways, Clark, Yan and Xander. May tanong din ako sa inyong tatlo.” Walang sumagot sa kanilang tatlo pero sinabi ko pa rin ang tanong ko. I think they’re waiting for me to say it. I couldn’t see them so I just thought that they are.
“How did you move on? I mean after my supposedly death.” I didn’t know who snorted but I know at least two of them did.
“We didn’t, really.”
“Explain yourself, Yan.” Bored kong sagot sakanya.
“As you know, nagsimula kaming mangbabae after that and quite frankly, I think the reason why is that I looked for some kind of a replacement for you. You were the center of my world, Zeph, you know that so when you left, I was a walking hallow and I tried so hard to find something or someone to make up that space but I failed miserably which resulted on me having a bloody stalker.” Natawa ako sa sinabi niya and Aya’s face popped up on my mind. I heard the other snickered as well.
“Xander?”
“Uhh, well, same with Khyan.” I scoffed.
“Can’t you be a little more original?”
“What’s more original than the truth? Khyan basically got the exact wordings for it.”
“Whatever. How about you, Cloud?”
“Almost the same as these two. The only difference is that I didn’t gain a bloody stalker. I actually found someone who’s worth it.” Yeah, and that was Libby.
“Good for you.”
“Bakit mo pala natanong, Em?”
“Wala naman. I just want to know what to do now.” Wala ng nagsalita sa kanila pagkatapos ng sinabi ko and I think they’re thinking the same thing as I do. I sighed.
“I hope they’ll wake up soon.”