Soaked to Death

01: A Bat With an N

MARINA

I never did anything.

I don't have any friends, but the students here usually don't treat me shitty, which was very unlikely to the way they do right now. Hindi ko rin maintindihan kung bakit gano'n na lang sila kung makatingin sa akin habang naglalakad ako sa hallway ng university na para bang wala akong karapatang iapak ang mga paa ko rito.

Biglang sumakit ang aking ulo kaya napahawak ako sa bendaheng nakadikit dito. Tinatakpan nito ang sugat na natamo ko mula sa isang aksidente ilang linggo pa lang ang nakalilipas.

I got this when we came back from New Zealand after my grandfather died. Dahil masyadong nagluluksa ang pamilya namin sa pagkawala ni lolo ay napagpasyahan nina mom na pumunta muna ng beach pagbaba namin ng airport para makapag-relax at mag-unwind sa mga nangyari.

And then, we met with a tragedy.

Ang sinasakyan naming kotse ay bigla na lang binangga ng isang itim na truck kahit pa nasa tamang lane naman kami at napakalaki pa ng espasyo para malagpasan niya kami.

The driver intended to hit us, and up until now, my mind's blank behind the reason as to why the other person squeezed our vehicle.

But I know his intention.

He was trying to kill us. All of us who were in the car at that moment.

But why?

What did my family do to him?

I really didn't know what happened behind my back.

Ang tanging alam ko lang ay ako ang pinakanapuruhan sa kanila dahil nasa sulok ako ng kotse. Naipit ang aking katawan nang mayupi ang sinasakyan namin at dahil do'n ay naapektuhan ang ulo ko.

Then, I went through coma for three weeks.

After I woke up, everything changed.

I started to imagine things after that incident.

I hallucinate oftentimes.

My mind is making up stuff on its own, and it really confuses me even up until now.

I'm now having a struggle in dissecting reality from fiction.

Our family doctor said that I may be am suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder or anxiety because my brain was really affected by that accident.

Anyway, I shrug that thought off. I don't really think it is the best time to bother myself regarding that thing.

Pumasok ako sa elevator at pinindot ang number three sa pindutan. I don't want to use the stairs at this moment for two reasons: first, my doctor advised me to avoid exhausting myself so much. And second, I'm about to be late to my class.

Kalahati na ng pinto nito ang nakasarado nang biglang may isang kamay ang pumigil dito.

When the door opens again, a man appears in front of me with his curly hair that covers his forehead. He's also wearing a circular eyeglasses that has thick lenses. But he's still attractive despite of that. His right hand also has a blue sling cap and I noticed bandage on the back of his palm.