"7"

It was almost noon when the doctor finally came in to check on Vincent and she wasn't surprised to see Pauleen and Jet acting like a bunch of zombies as they performed their everyday routines.

Christian and Ziel wanted to switch shifts for a day so they could rest, pero sadyang matigas ang ulo ng magkaibigan at piniling ituloy ang Day shift nila. Karinna on the other hand was sleeping soundly next to Vincent. Nakayakap muli ang dalaga sa binata, habang nakapatong ang kanyang hita sa katawan ng binata. It portrays such sweetness, a vision that many would've liked to see.

"Tough night, huh?" Doc. Bastillas commented shortly with a sympathetic smile on her lips. She was holding a pad containing information about Vincent's vital signs. Everything was actually stable and he was healthy... But what she didn't understand is his unstable and unpredictable seizures and whatever triggers it. "Jet, can you please get his activity log for this month?"

Jet nodded and instantly followed the doctor's instructions. Si Pauleen naman eh patuloy ang pagchecheck ng medicine log kung saan naka record ang everyday list of medicines na kailangan ipainum o i-induce sa binata.

"Okay, so what happened before he started acting up again?" Tanong ni Doc sa nagbibisi-bisihang dalaga, her eyes still focused on her patient's record. "May nangyari bang masama, or masyado ba syang napagod?"

"Po?" Sagot ng bangag na Nurse, at sigurado na konting ihip nalang ng hangin at hampas nito sa harap nya eh babagsak na ito.

"I said, how was he doing before the seizure acted up again?"

"Ah." Napakamot sa ulo si Pauleen at pilit na inalala ang nangyari. "The usual routine lang naman po. Feeding, therapy before lunch and speech training before dinner. Pinakain po sya ni Ms. Karinna ng hapunan and then pinainom po namin sya ng sleeping pills na niriseta nyo."

Napataas ang kilay ng doktara kaya halos dumulas na ang suot na salamin pababa ng ilong nya. "That's it? Nothing happened that would've made him tired, stressed... nothing?"

Umiling si Pauleen. "Wala po naman Doc."

"Okay, let's just wait for Jet then. And please pakigising kay Mrs. Karinna for me. We have something to discuss."

"Ah... Ok po." Tinalikuran ni Pauleen ang doktora at nagsimulang naglakad papunta sa kama nina Vincent at Karinna. "Mrs. Karinna ka jan, break na sila. Wala silang Forever!" Mala ampalayang bulong ni Pauleen sa sarili.

*****

Pagkagising ni Karinna she didn't even have the chance to wash her face or brush her teeth. Pagkatayo nya mula sa kama Doctor Bastillas immediately grabbed her wrist and dragged the bewildered lady outside of the room hanggang makarating sila sa salas ni Vincent. The doctor strictly ordered the nurses not to follow them, that it's important to keep their conversation private.

When they reached the living room, Doc Bastillas gestured for Karinna to take a seat first, then she sat next to her.

"Kumusta po sya, Doc?" Mailap na tanong ng dalaga. Mejo wala parin sya sa wisho sa sobrang antok but nevertheless she tried her best to remain focused. "Any anomalies?"

"He's doing fine, don't worry too much about it. The drug helped him relax and he'll be sleeping for almost half the day." Doc Bastillas announced with much interest as she usually does. "And, as usual... His general health is not my top concern, but his epileptic shocks might be. It's not that life threatening naman, but if it happens too often, he needs to be hospitalized again."

Biglang nakaramdam ng lungkot si Karinna. Bakit to nangyari? Wala naman syang sinabi o masamang ginawa. Wala naman silang pinag-awayan, diba? "Doc... Please, there must be another way. Bakit po ito nangyayari sa kanya." Nanginginig na sinabi nito, na syang nakapagpa-halata na sobra ang pag-aalala ng dalaga.

"Don't worry, we'll make sure it won't happen again. But we need to strictly abide by his schedule. And of course there's the thing about the progress healing of his temporal lobe, it really makes me wonder. I need to order another CT scan. I just checked his last one and it makes me think twice regarding his situation. Let's call for hospital service as soon as possible."

Tumango si Karinna at tatayo na sana sya sa kinakaupuan para i-inform ang nurses but Doc Bastillas stopped her from doing so. "Don't worry, about. I'll just call for an ambulance. And besides, those two are so tired you can't tell them apart from the living dead. Baka mamaya eh hindi na pala Hospital ang matawagan nila."

Karinna smiled and quietly sat down next to the doctor again. "What's causing the shocks po ba? Tinanong ko sina Jet and sabi nila it's been months since the last one, may nangyari po bang masama? Will he start regressing?"

"No. I mean, no, because we still don't know the reason behind it. However, his motor control and brain activity is slowly going back to normal. It may not be the same as he was born with but it's still good nonetheless. Ang tibay nga nya eh, para syang kalabaw." Biro ng doktora kaya napatawa silang dalawa, but reverted back to being serious in a snap of a finger.

"I've checked everything, and he's really physically healing. Right side of his body is beginning to pick up as the left gets stronger. He's really motivated." Napangiti si Karinna sa narinig nya. Vince is really such a fighter, hindi sumusuko. Parang nung araw lang na muntik ng maging silang dalawa.

"The only thing that baffles me is that memory of his. Salazar and I talked about his condition. We predicted that he'll have problems regarding speech and control, but we didn't expect him to forget that much about his life. It's really odd. There was little damage to his temporal lobe but it's not healing and progressing as I'd predicted. I'm not saying that he wasn't supposed to have amnesia, but why just forget three years of his life? It's such a mystery. Maunti lang ang taong nagkakaganito. They're classified as special cases, ika nga"

Napabuntong hininga si Karinna. "So ano po ang pwede nating solution? Siguro po naman may paraan para mapabalik ang dating Vince, ang dating sya."

"You know there is this amazing hospital that is based in Switzerland. Their main focus is to know the truth behind amnesia and what's causing it. Doctor Aughstein is the leading Neurologist and they've studied a few cases here and there. And then they published this theory after running a series of tests on their patients... That whenever someone has amnesia, there's always a trigger, a way to bring the memories back... slowly but surely."

"And what is that?" Karinna asked with much interest. "Anong triggers po yun?"

"An event. A word. An object..." Tumigil sa pag-sasalita momentarily ang doktora at tumingin kay Karinna. "...or a person, a loved one... Ika nga nila. It's just a theory but I think he's starting to remember things again and I think it's because you keep triggering his memories back. Well, mainly because you were a big part of the accident. I don't care or don't know of your past relationship with my patient, all I know is you're an important part of his life for him to remember you. Tuwing speech training namin kung hindi magulang nya, or mga kapatid nya ang mukhang bibig... Ikaw."

"What... what do you mean?" Kabadong tanong ng dalaga. Hindi nya alam kung dapat ba syang matakot o matuwa. "May mga... Sinabi po ba sya tungkol saming dalawa?"

Ngumiti muli ang doktora sa dalaga. She completely understands where Karinna is coming from. Hindi madali ang situation nila, lalo na for Vincent's family who were all willing to compromise just for the sake of the unkabogable star. It wasn't an easy step for them, but they abided and agreed with it. Hindi dahil sa… they were out of options, it was merely an act of desperation. "As I've said, I have nothing to do with your personal ties with Mr. Visencio." Confidently na sagot ng doktora.

Tumango lang ang dalaga at nagpasyang tumahik at hinayaang magpaliwanag ang doktora.

"What I mean to say is we can't wait until he gets his motor reflexes back. It'll take too long for that. This is our chance, kailangan na nating gawin ito para mas mapabilis ang improvement nya. We have to be a little bit more aggressive this time." Seryosong nilitanya ng doctor kay Karinna na hanggang ngayon ay nalilito parin at nananahimik. "Pauleen told me na paulit-ulit si Vincent na sumisigaw, asking for help and he was crying, he kept asking for you, or if you're safe."

"So meron po talaga syang naaalala from the incident, other experts suggested that his memory improvement was almost impossible,diba? Kelan babalik ang Memories nya?"

"Hindi lahat ng sinasabi ng mga experto ay tama. I still don't know, but there's one thing that we can do to help him remember. Fact is there's this part of him that remembers what happened before the accident, before he got shot. The only problem is that the memories connecting the two events of his past and the present is missing." Doctor Bastillas gave Karinna a confident smile. She placed her hand on top of Karinna and gave it an encouraging squeeze. "And I need you to be there for him. As much as possible, as frequently as you can."