Turn the Page 2: My Destiny

Chapter 1

A few hours ago

"Excuse me, what?" June asked the woman in front of her. The woman's name was Julia. "Ako po—ako po yung nurse nyo nung pinapanganak nyo si Cielo," Julia managed to say.

June dropped the duffel bag by her side. Everything seemed hazy. "Mama?" The familiar voice echoed in her head. She slowly turned her gaze towards Page. Her heart was beating a mile a minute. "Mama," Page repeated. She looked at her mother worriedly while she stood frozen just a few feet away from her. June stared at Page for a while. This woman—this bright, beautiful, young woman, extremely scarred by life, the one she welcomed so lovingly and openly into her home—was the daughter she mourned for for so long. A tear escaped from her eyes. "Cielo," she whispered. Then she fell to the floor.

"Ma!" Page hurried towards June. "Page!" Keeper hurried towards his girlfriend. "June?!" May and July rushed towards them, too. "Ma, anong nangyari sayo?!" Page asked frantically while she and Keeper tried to help her up. "What happened???" May and July helped, too.

"Don't let that woman get away!" June said desperately while she motioned for her friends and Keeper to grab Julia. They immediately held on to the woman. "Hindi po ako aalis," Julia assured them all, but Keeper, May, and July continued to hold on to her just in case she thinks of escaping.

"Ate???" April said as she, Mike, and Louie ran towards all of them. "Anong nangyayari???" April asked while she and her brother watched Page steady her own mother.

A few seconds later, the guards approached them. "May problema ho ba dito?" they asked. June tried to get herself together. She swallowed. She still felt like the world was spinning, but she laid out a hand in front of her while she held on to her head. "No, nothing. I just got—dizzy," she half-lied. "Sigurado ho ba kayo?" The guards asked. She nodded.

"Ma, ba't nahilo ka?" Page couldn't help but worry. "Sweetheart," June was overflowing with emotions. "Ma, you're shaking," Page pointed out while she held her mother's hand. "I am, I am," June couldn't hide the fact that she was indeed shaking while she held her daughter's face. She stared at her long and hard. "Ma, ano ba? Ano ba talagang nangyayari?" Page asked nervously. It's been a while since she has seen her mother so pale and distraught.

June swallowed. Then she took a deep breath. Her lungs felt like it was on fire. Her throat felt drier than a desert. She looked at the people surrounding her. Then her eyes were glued to Julia. "Everything—everything is okay," she tried to convince herself more than she was trying to convince everyone else especially the guards. "Sure po kayo, ma'am?" One of them had to ask to which June answered a firm "yes" to.

After seeing that everything was fine, the guards finally left them.

Page, Keeper, and the rest of June's friends looked at June as if they were waiting for an answer. June looked at all of them. Then she looked at Page. Her eyes softened. She tried to opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Finally, she looked at her friends. "I'm sorry," she told all of them. "Just—just give me and this woman a minute. Please," she pleaded with them all.

Page looked from June to Julia. Everyone was confused. "Everything will hopefully make sense for everyone, just—please—please give me and this woman some time alone," June begged everyone again.

April nodded to the rest of them. She held Page and Louie's hands to direct them to the side, but Page signaled for her and everyone else to go on ahead.

Page went towards her mother. "Ma," she held her mother's face. Tears escaped from June's eyes as she closed them. "You're crying," Page whispered. June held both her daughter's hands. Then she kissed each one of them. "Give me time," June whispered back. The two of them gazed into each other's eyes. "Give me time," June repeated softly. "I'm worried," Page could barely utter. June shook her head. "Everything's going to be okay, sweetheart. I promise. Hayaan mo muna kaming mag-usap," she told her. Page looked into her mother's eyes one more time before she finally let her go.