"mag-oovertime ka ba mamaya?" elijah asked david while they were taking food from the cater.
the younger shook his head. "nope. may lakad kami ni mama. ikaw ba?"
eli nodded, "i have to."
"elijah, magpahinga ka rin ha."
"apat na taon na 'kong subsob sa hospital works. nasasanay na nga 'ko eh."
"i'm just saying, jah. isa pa, sinusuot mo ba yung salamin na nireseta ko sa'yo? 'di ko nakikita 'yun ah."
the two of them placed their trays on a table as eli chuckled. "sinusuot ko po, doc santos. reading glasses lang naman 'yun diba?"
"siguraduhin mong sinusuot mo ah. 'yang mata mo bantayan mo."
that made elijah laugh. this is what he likes the most about having david, an opthalmologist, as his best friend. he can get free eye check-ups, eyeglasses, and even free contact lenses.
"iniingatan ko po yung mata ko, doc." this time, dave chuckled.
the two doctors just kept on eating and catching up with each other. they haven't been able to hang out lately as for eli's constant overtimes at work piling up with the personal things that he has to deal with.
later on, a nurse suddenly came rushing to them.
"doc eli, excuse me po. si beverly po kasi, nags-seizure nanaman. they're taking her in the ER na po."
"okay, but we'll have to calm her down first." eli immediately stood up, bidding dave goodbye before rushing to the emergency room with the nurse.
"hey, beverly... beverly, si doc eli 'to... shh.. calm down... we're here, it's okay..." eli tried soothing beverly by talking to her and checking her vitals while the nurses continued running tests.
the poor kid's family was just standing by the side, shedding beads and beads of tears as they watch how their daughter was embraced with pain once again. not too long after that, beverly finally calmed down and immediately fell asleep.
"doc, ano na pong gagawin? m-mabubuhay pa naman po yung anak ko diba?" beverly's mother asked, her voice drowning in her tears.
"we have to go on with the surgery po. after this, she'll have little to no seizures at all."
beverly's family agreed and moments after that, the surgery started, putting the life of another patient on the hands of a surgeon, doctor elijah de dios.
elijah is a good surgeon—great, even. but in surgeries, there are only two options: you either survive or you die.
and the thought of destiny choosing the second option for the patient at hand always scares elijah the most. especially when he performs surgeries on children.
in a span of four years, he has watched patients of different ages die before his very eyes.
sometimes, it doesn't matter but most of the time, it tears him apart.
