Glimpses of Yesterday (Isla Contejo #2)

Chapter 22

NAMUMUGTO ang mga mata ko nang magising ako kinabukasan. Sa pagkakaalala ko ay sa couch na ako nakatulog kagabi kaya ngayong nakahiga ako sa kama ay bahagyang nangunot ang noo ko sa pagtataka.

Napatingin ako sa pinto ng banyo nang marinig ko ang lagaslas ng tubig. Arsen probably carried me to lay me down here. I wondered what time did he come home last night.

I caressed my tummy when it made a sound. I just then remembered that I wasn't able to eat dinner last night because I couldn't stop crying. Hanggang sa makatulugan ko na lang.

Napakagat ako sa pang-ibabang labi ko upang magpigil ng luha nang maalala ko na naman si Daddy. Kumusta na kaya siya ngayon? Hindi na ulit tumawag si Mommy kagabi. Sana naman ay maayos na namo-monitor ng mga doktor si Daddy.

Sobrang sakit at hirap lang para sa akin dahil wala ako roon. Kung noon na sobrang kabado at takot ako para kay Dad, mas lalo naman ngayon. Triple ang takot at pag-aalala na nararamdaman ko dahil wala ako roon upang makita mismo ang sitwasyon ni Dad. It was already making me anxious. I didn't know if I could still make it to work today because my mind was just thinking about Dad's condition every minute.

Napaupo ako mula sa pagkakahiga at binalingan ang cellphone ni Arsen na nakapatong sa bedside table nang mag-beep ito. Napatingin ako sa nakasarang pinto ng banyo. Patuloy ko pa ring naririnig ang buhos ng shower kaya mukhang hindi pa tapos maligo si Arsen.

I didn't usually look at Arsen's phone because it really wasn't my thing. I trust him and I didn't feel or even think that he was hiding things on his phone, so there was no need for me to check it from time to time. Minsan ko lang tingnan ang phone niya kapag maisipan ko or kapag nagpi-picture ako roon. Never din namang naging issue sa kaniya kung may tingnan man ako sa cellphone niya. Wala rin siyang passcode.

Muli kong tiningnan ang nakasarang pinto ng banyo bago ko dinampot ang cellphone niya. I would check his phone not to look for any suspicious things because as I said, I trust him and I didn't want to think that he could fool me or what. I just wanted to see if there were any trace on his phone of where were he last night. That's all.

Alam kong galing siyang work at sabi nga niya'y may need siyang tapusin, pero malay ko kung may iba pa siyang pinuntahan. Ngayon lang naman ulit ako magtse-check ng phone niya.

I easily got to open his phone because there wasn't any passcode needed. I checked his messages. I took in a deep breath when I saw the sender of the recent text in there. It was sent last night, 10:35 PM.

Cyrene:
Ingat sa pag-uwi! Hope you enjoyed this night ;)

I bit my lower lip and tried not to overthink. This may not be a big deal, so I should not think of any indecent thoughts.

I trust Arsen... and he loves me.

But I couldn't help but to feel a little hurt thinking that he was probably with Cyrene last night when I just almost begged him to come home to me. I was sure he heard my sobs when we were talking on the phone and yet he didn't even bother asking me what was wrong.

What did the both of them do that he wasn't able to come home early? Kung kailan kailangang-kailangan ko siya, 'tsaka siya wala. Halos magmakaawa na akong umuwi na siya dahil kailangan ko ng masasandalan, 'tapos malalaman ko ngayon na kasama niya pala si Cyrene kagabi?

Tumingala ako upang pigilan sa pagbagsak ang mga luha. I composed myself for a while. I tried hard not to think a lot. Iniisip ko na nga ang lagay nina Mommy't Daddy, pati ba naman ito'y dadagdag pa sa iisipin ko?

Nagbuga ako ng mabigat na hininga bago ko muling tiningnan ang cellphone ni Arsen. I went to his Facebook. Mas lalo lang yatang bumigat ang nararamdaman ko nang makita kong naka-tag siya sa isang picture na in-upload ng isa sa mga kaopisina niya. They were in a diner and Cyrene was there. "Had a good time over dinner" was the caption of the one who posted.