It's just mom and me in her hospital room; silence dominates between us. I sit on the chair beside mom's bed.
"Mom, it's just the two of us now. Can we talk?"
"If that's about my health, we will. I'm just waiting for someone, and then we can talk."
I nod in agreement. "Who? Your doctor?"
"No, your father, Angelo."
I freeze, and my mouth falls open, comprehending if I heard her right. Mom's eyes confirmed it. She looks at me without batting an eyelid.
"Angel, he is still your father."
Mom obviously read me just by looking at my facial expressions.
I immediately get to mom's bed and wake her up as the tension between Angelo and me grows. The only thing that keeps me from venting my anger at him is having mom in one room.I gently rock mom's shoulder to wake her up. "Mom, he's here; wake up."Mom must be in deep sleep as she hasn't come back to her senses the third time I shake her arm."Angel, you can let your mom rest for a while. I can wait." Angelo says to me while I am desperately trying to wake mom up.I can't. I refuse to voice it out. I snort at the thought of it. It looks like mom is seriously sleeping like a baby, so I had no choice but to sit opposite Angelo's couch. I throw him a swift glance when his eyes are on mo
I loosen my arms around mom and wipe my tears. Angelo stops stroking his hand on my back as he stands beside me. He leans close and raises a hand like he is about to incline his arm around my shoulder, but he halts himself. I don't want to humiliate him, so I ignore it."What do we do now? What did the doctor say? What options do we have?""Angel, I don't want you to expect too much of me getting back to full recovery."I lean over, gather mom's hands and hold them tightly."Mom, don't talk like there's no hope in your health. You'll gain back your strength, be back healthy, and we will spend many more years together. We will do everything we can."Mom shut her eyes whil
It's Monday, and I don't plan to go to school, for I want to be on my mom's side even if she's pushing me not to skip class. I told her I'd have a different learning mode if my teachers allow me, which mom seems not convinced about. I made up my mind, so the only thing left is to call my teacher Jerselle."Angel, are you sure about this mode of class you're telling me?""Yes, mom. Look, I'm calling my class adviser to ask her about it."I dialed teacher Jerselle's number and put it on speaker mode to have mom listen to our conversation. Ms. Jerselle picks up the call on the second ring."Hello, Ms. Jerselle, thanks for answering. I hope I'm not disturbing you at this time." Ms. Jerselle is probably on her way to sch
I adjust myself, and Maddox gathers my hand as I face him."You have to promise not to be mad at our friends and me with what I'm about to say."I pull my hands and cross them on my chest."I smell something fishy here. What exactly do you want to tell me? Say it now, no more buts and swearing." I commanded Maddox.Maddox's cheeks begin to blush, which rarely happens to him. I don't know if he's embarrassed or nervous about something he wants to confess."So?" I said impatiently."Baby, this is concerning our island vacation. There is someone who sponsored it, not me."
Precisely 7 pm, Angelo knocks on mom's door. It's not a surprise that he's here; I waited for Angelo not to confront him about the island vacation but to have an update with mom's doctor's appointment. As he told us the last time he visited, he wanted to help and arranged for the best team of doctors who could look into mom's condition."Come on in," I said as I nodded at him. "Have a seat."Before he sits on the couch, Angelo is watching mom sleeping. I sit opposite him."Thank you; I'm here to talk to you and your mom about my appointments with the best team of doctors for her in Singapore.""That's great news. Have you chosen which hospital you will be taking, mom?""
The sight of Angelo and mom holding hands is beautiful to see, especially since I am their daughter. They can be called a perfect couple of the year. Despite that, I know they can't be together in this lifetime, and it's a hard truth to swallow.I walked Angelo out of the room with a heavy heart after Angelo had things settled with mom."Once again, thank you so much for doing all of this for mom and me.""Angel, you've said that a thousand times. I only hope you don't abandon your studies while taking care of your mom. I'll make sure to send a private nurse tomorrow to help you.""Yes, I'll keep that in mind. I'm doing my best to fulfill my academic activities while in module class and online class when we transfer to Singapore.
I wake up by a knock on the door at 6 am. I barely had 4 hours of sleep as I assisted mom in having her dinner at 11 and waited until she fell asleep, which is nearly 2 am. I take a brief look at mom sleeping in her bed before I head on the door. I twist the doorknob slowly and pull it open, avoiding any noise."Hi""Hush," I said, putting my finger on my lips to stop the woman from speaking loudly."Oh, sorry," she whispered. The woman standing in front of me is probably in her mid-40s, wearing a pair of white uniforms. It's easy to identify her as a nurse."It's okay, let's talk in a low noise to avoid waking up, mom.""I understand. By the way, my name i
I sit with teacher Jerselle on the couch while Lucy gives mom her medicine. Having a bit of time with Ms. Jerselle is an opportunity I don't want to miss. She's one of those people I trust in the school, the reason that I kept on fighting in those times Cassandra and her friends bullied me."Ms. Jerselle, thanks for checking on mom. I really appreciate this.""Angel, I come here not just for your mom but also for you. I want to share something with you. Something personal that I don't want to talk about on the phone."Ms. Jerselle gets my heart pumping twice as fast as usual."Sure, what is it?""This actually involves your dad."