"Mr. Natanauan."
Inalis ang tingin sa akin, bumaling si Kyle kay Granny.
"Doña Milagros."
"It's an honor to be visited by such a busy man as you are."
"All for you, Granny."
Hans scoffed at him. Sir Greg was looking at me, worried. Gretchen was obviously surprised like me.
Kyle looked at me. Di ko alam kung bakit parang may lungkot sa pagtingin niya. Ayoko ring alamin.
"What are you doing here, Sir Kyle?"
It took him a few seconds before answering my question.
"Tito Harry called me. I needed to go back right away to Manila, and thought I'd offer Hans a ride. So he can already be with the rest of you."
"Wow, so you just wanted to get rid of me as fast as you could, huh? Well thank you very much for doing me a favor."
Granny scolded Hans right away for talking that way to Kyle.
"Hey, mister. Haven't we talked about this? Haven't you learned your lesson when I scolded you after Gregorio took Sandy home? No one disrespects anyone who visits me."
Napatingin ako kay Sir Greg na lumingon sa akin at bumulong.
"Nung nagdinner tayo?"
Tumango lang ako. Nakita kong nagulat si Sir Greg sa nalaman niya. Di niya siguro inakalang ginawa un ni Grany pagkaalis niya.
Di naman ako umimik pa dahil nararamdaman ko rin ang tingin ni Kyle. Saglit ko rin siyang tiningnan. Iniiwas ko agad ang tingin ko nang magtagpo ang mga mata namin. I could see that he's a little bit annoyed, but I don't know the reason why.
Kanina lang, ang lungkot ng mga mata niya. Ngayon naman, para siyang inis.
Honestly, this is too much for me. Hindi ko pa rin maintindihan kung bakit siya nandito. What bothers me more is how Granny initially acknowledged Kyle formally, but after a few seconds, they talk like 5 years hasn't passed since they last saw each other.
I don't know what to think or do.
Habang pinapagalitan ni Granny si Hans, nagpaalam ako sa kanila.
"Excuse me. Cr lang ako."
Naglakad ako diretso sa pintuan at binuksan ito para makalabas na sa kwarto ni Granny. Di ko saulado ang pasikot sikot dito sa ospital na ito, kaya naglakad nalang ako hanggang makarating ko sa kabilang dulo ng hallway, mga 8 hanggang 10 kwarto ang layo kung nasaan sila.
I sighed after I sat on the bench. I looked out the window and stared at the clouds slowly moving.
"Should've used a better excuse to get out of the room."
Napalingon ako sa nagsalita at nakitang umuupo si Gretch sa tabi ko.
"May cr sa loob ng kwarto ni Granny."
Napakunot ang noo sa sinabi niya, pero pagkatapos ng ilang segundo ay tsaka ko lang naintindihan ang ibig niyang sabihin.
"You wanna talk about what's the problem?"
Napatingin ako sa sahig. Di ko siya maharap nang ayos dahil hiyang-hiya ako. I have never been this vulnerable in front of my family after what happened to our parents.
"Sandy, you know that I'm just always here for you, right?"
I sighed.
"Thanks, cous. But honestly, I don't know myself why I'm like this. I just know I can't stay in Granny's room while Kyle's there."
