ACT II: What's Your Secret?

Chapter 31: Who is Iliana?

ALARIC

Everyone gasped when they heard the gunshot. I was shocked and dumbfounded. The next thing I knew, yakap yakap ko na si Iliana. She had blood gushing out from her mouth at unti unting nawawala ang lakas ng katawan nito.

"Iliana! Fuck!", mura ko habang unti unting umupo.

Everything seemed blurry, my eyes were wet and my palm was covered with Iliana's blood. Sa di kalayuan, tanaw ko ang pigura ni Ace Paul but he then vanished into the crowd .

"Call an ambulance!", tarantang sigaw ko habang tinatapik ang pisngi ni Iliana. She held my hand and squeezed them firmly. "Iliana, don't sleep okay?"

"Shhh", she smiled. "I'll be fine"

"Don't fool around! You're bleeding! Kailangan ka naming dalhin sa ospital!"

"Iliana! Iliana!", sumulpot naman ang tatlo at agad na naupo para pantayan kaming dalawa. "What the heck happened?!", alalang tanong ni Atlas.

"Shut up and help me! Dalhin natin sya sa ospital", pinagtulungan naman naming buhatin ang nanghihinang katawan ni Iliana. Atlas held her legs while I held her upper body. Nakabuntot naman samin si Morrigan at Memphis na panay ang tawag kay Iliana. She wasn't responding at tanging ngiti lang ang nagagawa nito.

"Iliana, don't sleep okay? Labanan mo ang antok mo", Memphis continued whispering to the almost unconscious body.

Nakarating kami sa ospital gamit ang van at agad namin syang inasikaso ng mga nurse at inilagay sa stretcher. We kept up habang hila hila ng nurse ang stretcher nya but we were stopped nung papasok na ito sa ICU.

"Sir, bawal po kayo dito, please wait in the lobby nalang po", usal ng nurse bago kami iniwan. I sighed in frustration at padabog na naupo sa isa sa mga bench, sumunod naman ang tatlo sakin at naupo sa tabi ko.

"Iliana will be fine...", bulong ni Memphis. Sumandal naman sya sa balikat ko at pinipigilan ang sariling humikbi. All of us had blood stains dahil sa pagbubuhat kay Iliana. A couple of minutes have passed pero hindi parin kami binabalikan ng nurse kaya tumayo ako at pumunta sa information booth.

"Our friend was sent to the ICU, can we atleast have an update?"

"Sir, I understand your frustration but we cannot disclose such information without the doctor's permission and your friend is fighting for her life sa loob ng ICU and I assure you the doctors are doing their best to save her, kaya kung ako sa inyo sir, I will not worry"

Seconds turned into minutes and minutes turned into hours. Ilang oras na kaming nakaabang sa labas ng ICU tyen finally a personnel came out. Sinalubong naman namin sya.

"Kayo ba ang relatives nung babaeng nabaril?", tanong nito.

"Kami ang mga kaibigan nya", Memphis muttered. Tumango ang doktor bago nagsalita.

"You're friend is in deep coma now but we somehow managed to take out the bullet..."

Coma? Fuck no.

"K-kailan sya magigising", Atlas asked.

"We are not sure yet....and I'm gonna be honest, we also don't know If she'll survive dahil sa naging tama nya"

Humagulgol naman si Memphis na agad pinatahan ng dalawa.

I tried to recall the incident. 

"Ric, alam mo, ang weird ng mundo ano?"

"What do you mean weird? The world has always been weird, wala nang bago don", I chuckled. Sumimangot naman sya at ininom ang kanina nya pang hawak na baso ng wine. It's our acquaintance party at nandito kami ngayon at nakukuntento na sa panonood ng ibang mga estudyante na nung elementary pa namin huling nakita. The night was perfect, the flowers, the lights, but something was wrong.