The Fortunate

49

THIRD PERSON

Joaquin heaved a deep sigh after they successfully transferred his wife to their hospital. He had never seen any of her friends interrupt or stop him from doing it. He doesn't know why, but he doesn't care.

Maybe they got tired, or they really need his help but their egos are too high to admit it. As what Derick told him, they struggled to put her  in proper medication, they are not financially stable to provide her needs.

"You will be fine here," he whispered to her as he pat her head.

His employees had been contacting him for so long, ang tagal na nitong hindi nagpakita sa opisina matapos niyang makitang muli si Sula. He can't even step back, ayaw niyang may ma-miss na naman.

He just asked his associates to lead while he is not there, but some papers need his approval. His life almost revolved around work, fortunately he found Sula again.

Umayos ito ng upo at saka huminga nang malalim. "She can still hear me, right?" He asked their personal doctor.

"She won't respond but she might still be able to pick up sounds," Vlad replied, he nodded.

"Someone told me that she had lost her hearing a week before it happened," Joaquin muttered.

"Suddenly?" He asked.

"She asked her friends why are they mute, she wants them to answer but she can't hear anything, is that possible?" Joaquin asked him back.

"You can only lose your hearing if your ear is damaged by injury, or the flow of the blood in your ear is not circulating well," Dr. Vlad responded.

"Then why can't she hear sounds that time?" Joaquin asked out of curiosity.

"When was that happened anyway? During her pregnancy? While you're not around?" He asked.

Joaquin shrugged his shoulders, "Probably,"

"Then it's either she got it from injury or she is stressed,"

"When your body responds to stress, the overproduction of adrenaline reduces blood flow to the ears, and it really affects the hearing senses of a person," he added.

"Maybe she is really drowning that time, Quin. To be buried alive while carrying a child inside, how unfortunate," komento nito.

Joaquin looked down, napakapit ito nang mahigpit sa kaniyang binti dahil sa pagsisisi. He should have been the one suffering, not his wife. He hates how karma ruined Sula and he completely blames himself for all the unfortunate events happened to his wife.

"It might be so severe that it put her into coma after her delivery. Just, how can the world be so cruel to her?" Panggagatong pa ni Vlad.

"I am so sorry," he muttered, hoping that Sula could hear him.

Napatingin ang kaibigan niya sa kaniya,"Don't blame yourself, you should--"

"Who will I blame then? Her? Should I blame Sula for all the things she had gone through because of me!?" He suddenly raised his voice out of frustration.

"Chill," he tried to calm his friend down.

But Joaquin is far from being chill, "I can't! She should've been living her damn life if she is not engaged with me. I should have prevented it from happening!"

"It always come at last, fucking guilt!" Marahas nitong sinabunutan ang sarili.

Dr. Vlad heaved a deep sigh, "Quin, you know I suck at comforting people--"