Her Best Friend's Birthmark

2. At the Hospital

Cairo did not have any luck with taxis. No cab would take him when he looked like that: heavily-injured with a bleeding forehead, bloodstained shirt, tattered clothes.

However, a tricycle driver took pity on him and gave him a free ride to the hospital.

Cairo insisted on paying the driver but the latter kept refusing to receive it.

"Thank you po, Manong," Cairo expressed his gratitude to the driver, who was way older than him to be addressed as an elder.

"No problem," bade the driver as he left. "Just be careful next time!"

"Opo," Cairo murmured. Yes, he meant.

Then he went inside the Emergency Room (ER).

***

Cairo was admitted as an in-patient under observation. He was assigned to a hospital ward and was laid on its bed.

The physician inspected his injuries. Afterwards, the attending nurses cleaned up Cairo's wounds and bruises.

The doctor asked him to narrate what happened.

Cairo told about just walking down that backstreet then hearing a stampeding honk and screech. Then excruciating pain from his back. And then, darkness.

"You passed out on the street," the doctor concluded. "Then, what happened next? How were you able to wake up? How long before you woke up?"

"I...," Cairo trailed off. "I don't know...really. I didn't notice how long I passed out. I was just awoken by my phone ringing."

"Uh huh," the doctor grunted as he took down notes. "You know what boy, with that accident and your injuries, it's a miracle you're alive. I'm glad you are."

"Oh," Cairo was having a hard time letting what the doctor said sink in. He could have died yet he was alive! Thank God!

The doctor continued to inspect Cairo's head. "You will need to undergo a Citi scan. Your head might have internal injuries."

Cairo winced.

"And an X-ray as well," the physician added. "I'm advising you to stay here for a week, at least, for observation. Call up your family so they can visit and accompany you. If you need anything, just press the button that'll call up the nurses."

"Yes, Doc. Thank you," Cairo nodded.

"Before I leave, do you have any more questions or concerns?"

It took Cairo a heartbeat to answer.

"Uhm, Doc...about my birthmark...you see it always has been shaped like a number 3...but after the accident, when I looked at it, it changed shaped, it looks like the number 2 already," Cairo explained unsurely as he held out his wrist for the doctor to see.

"Hmm, that sounds weird...and highly impossible," the doctor frowned. "You really need a Citi scan and a lot of rest. Perhaps, you'd want to consult the derma also..."

"Ah, no need, thank you," Cairo dismissed the idea of consulting the derma as it will cost him another big amount of money.

"Okay then, rest well," the doctor said before he turned to exit.

"Thanks, Dr. Nuñez," Cairo said.

Still wondering about his birthmark, Cairo peered at it.

It's really a number 2 now, he scratched his head in confusion.

"Ouch," he winced as he touched a sore spot.

Am I thinking what I am thinking? he pondered. He thought that the accident caused the change in the shape of his birthmark.

He survived a fatal accident. But, surprisingly, he was still alive.

Does this number 2 birthmark mean I can survive two more?

He thought that he really wouldn't want to tempt fate to know.