Whispers of the War

Kabanata 28

warning: contains spoiler from the second installment (ITMOTW)

KABANATA 28.

Win

            APOLLO LOOKS WASTED the rest of the day. That’s the reason why we haven’t talked about it for the whole day. After I said those words, parang wala siya sa sarili niya. Parang humiwalay ang kaluluwa niya sa katawan niya.

Hindi ko alam kung matatawa  ba ako o maiinis kasi hindi kami nakapag-usap. The day ended but Apollo is still air head. Nakakainis pero ang cute niya. Mukha siyang batang nawawala.

The day after, I received a text from him.

Apollo:

What the fuck?

I laughed. Too bad the classes resumed right away. And he also became busy again with his on-going teleserye. Wala kaming time pero hindi nawala ang mga text niya. He’s just saying that we should talk. But I was the one who declined.

He’s busy. I’m busy. Hindi naman masama ang loob ko. Sa totoo lang ay gusto kong ipagpaliban dahil hindi sapat ang oras namin. We also can’t talk during Christmas holidays because I’m going to Canada with my parents and he’s going to spend his vacation with his family too.

We both don’t want to talk about it over the phone. Napagkasunduan nalang naming na magkita pagkatapos ng bagong taon, pagka-uwi ko. Gusto niya pa ngang sumunod saakin sa Canada for new year but he had a conflict in schedule.

Masyado siyang workaholic na pati pagsalubong ng new year ay nasa network parin siya para sa New Year’s Eve countdown. We greeted each other a happy new year even if there’s a difference in our timezones.

No I love you’s of course. We both want to say it personally, huh.

Palagi kaming nagf-facetime during Christmas vacation. Pinapa-inggit ko siya sa snow. Siya naman ay pinapa-inggit ako na kasama niya ang mga kaibigan naming. Walanghiya siya.

Nang oras na para umuwi ako sa Pilipinas ay kinabahan ako. Ang tapang-tapang kong mag I love you sakaniya pero ngayon ay may gana akong kabahan. I mean, how bad can this be? We’ll just talk. I guess.

But the moment I stepped my foot on the Philippine soil again, I knew something was coming. And it’s not about me and Apollo. It’s not about us. It’s about my friends.

And I was right. After a week, I received a call from Rafaela, she’s crying.

I HATE WHEN Rafaela self-destruct. Instead of calling me or any of our friends, she drowned herself on her school works and even working over time. When her body can’t take her exhaustion, she collapsed.

It was a week before the UAAP opening and I had to cut the training because the great Rafaela Revamonte collapsed because of over fatigue. She was admitted in UST hospital. Buti nalang ay nag-collapse siya during her class. Nadala agad siya sa hospital.

That girl! She’s really irritating me!

I know it, okay. She told us everything after crying so hard for a week. We stayed by her side until she can no longer tear up. But it irritates me that she’s just faking it for us to feel good.

Heck, that is freaking Rafaela! She’s our best friend and it’s okay if she lean on us. We’re in this together, tutulungan naman naming siya. But we can’t help her if she can’t even help herself.

“She can go home today but she has to rest for two more days. Eat healthy foods and get enough sleep, and…” the doctor gave us a receipt of the medicine and vitamins Rafaela has to take. “Let her drink the meds for a week and the vitamins every day,”