Her Best Friend's Birthmark

1. The Accident

"Aargh!"

A car screeched and a young man screamed somewhere in a backstreet.

***

Cairo De Dios was walking to his way home when he was hit by a car.

The car hit the young man so hard that he was tossed into the sidewalk.

The car raced to get away and left Cairo knocked out unconscious on the floor.

***

Cairo's favorite song was playing.

It turned out to be his cellphone ringing.

He opened his heavily-lidded eyes, sat up, and pulled out the phone from his pocket.

As the light from the phone shone on his left wrist, he noticed something strange.

His birthmark on that wrist somehow changed in shape!

Must be my eyes playing tricks on me, he thought as he answered the phone.

"Cai! How are you? Where are you?!" a frantic female voice started. It was Lyra, his best friend.

"Uh, I'm here at..." Cairo trailed off as he looked around him.

Where was he?

He was on the floor in a dark, narrow street. His head hurt and his thinking was slow in processing.

Last thing he remembered was the honk and screech of a car. And then blackout.

Something thick and hot trickled a bit from his forehead. He touched it with his left hand.

"Aaack!" he was startled. It was blood.

"Uhm, I'm....I'm kinda lost. I was hit by a car and..."

"You were what?!" Lyra exclaimed on the other end of the call.

"Uh, yeah, I think I met an accident...my forehead's bleeding, I think, but I'm...I'm alive," Cairo stammered.

"Do you know where you are exactly? I'll come and get you," Lyra said.

"No, I'm fine. I'll just go to the hospital...I can go there by myself," Cairo said. "So I can go there sooner," he added, so that Lyra would not disagree.

"Okay...update me afterwards. Let me know which hospital so I can visit you. Take care now," Lyra hung up.

***

Cairo looked at his left wrist again.

Something's...not right? he thought.

"What the...?" Cairo wondered at his birthmark.

It always used to be shaped like the number 3.

Actually, he always wondered if it was 3, or a curly E or M. Or a bird. He was always amazed at his birthmark. He liked it that way too.

But now, it's shaped like a 2.

"No way," Cairo marvelled at it.

Two, as in number 2? So it must have been really shaped like 3 all along.

"But why did it change all of a sudden?" he now thought aloud.

A droplet of blood fell on it.

I must be really seeing things. he thought to himself. I should really go to a hospital now.