"Ninang!" Jamie escaped from the officer's embrace and ran towards Aika.
"Sweetie, wait! Can you stay there for me? Ninang will come over to you, okay?" Aika stopped Jamie, not wanting her to see Nat all bloody and fainted. Jamie nodded as she stood still.
"Ma'am, you need to get your own injury checked out as well..." The paramedics attending to Nat were worried about Aika's cut on the neck.
"Let me go get Jamie first..." Aika ignored the stinging pain in her neck and headed over to Jamie.
"Ninang...is Daddy okay?" Jamie tried to peek but Aika had blocked it with her body.
"Daddy's going to be okay, sweetie. Are you okay? Are you injured anywhere?" Aika assured Jamie as she checked Jamie's body for injuries. Thank goodness Jamie was fine except for the slight marks on her wrist and ankles from the ropes.
"Ninang...does your neck hurt?" Jamie pointed to the cut on Aika's neck worriedly.
"Ninang's okay sweetie. Ninang has to go with Daddy to the hospital so can you be a good girl and stay with Mummy? I'll call tita Tricia and tita Jill to come sit with you, okay?" Aika hugged Jamie tight and pressed a kiss on her forehead, just like Nat had done so before this.
"Can you tell Daddy that I love him?" Jamie looked at Aika with her moist eyes.
"You can tell that to him when he wakes up, sweetie." Aika wiped Jamie's tears away before handing her back to the officer.
"Ma'am, we need to clean your wound before it gets infected..." Aika felt the sting from the antiseptic touching her wound but ignored it...Nat was probably in much more pain.
"Magiging okay ba siya?" Aika managed to collect herself and ask the paramedic.
"The knife managed to avoid any of his vital organs and we've suppressed the bleeding for now. But he'll still need surgery and see what the doctor says..." The paramedic bit his lip.
~
"Ate!" Tricia and Jill hugged Aika, who had been pacing up and down outside the OR.
"Patty, is Nat going to be okay?" Aika grabbed Tricia's hand.
"As long as the vital organs aren't injured and the doctor manages to stop the bleeding, kuya should be fine..." Tricia had gotten a quick run-down from a nurse.
"Do you want to call kuya's family?" Jill offered Aika her phone. Jill and Tricia held Aika's hand as she broke the news to Alice and Kevin.
"What did they say?" Tricia asked after Aika ended the call.
"Auntie is booking the next flight. Uncle and Karine are most likely to follow suit..." Aika closed her eyes to stop herself from crying.
"Kuya magiging okay...He will be fine..." Jill hugged her Ate tight.
"Jamie...is she okay? What about Aly?" Aika was concerned.
"Jamie's okay for now. She fell asleep. Ate Aly is with her." Tricia and Jill had checked up on them before coming over. It was 3am in the morning and sleep was probably the best option for Jamie.
"How long more will it take, Patty?" Aika's tried to remain level-headed but worry clouded out the rationale thoughts.
"Hopefully less than 30 minutes..." Tricia assured her Ate.
"Family of Nathaniel Lee?" The doctor called out as he undid his mask.
"I'm his girlfriend. Okay siya ka ba, Doctor?" Aika held her breath.
YOU ARE READING
Beneath The Surface
RomanceAika Robredo was a poster child: with a Masters from Harvard, a respectable career trajectory and dependable eldest daughter of the Robredo family. Everyone was telling Aika that all she had left to do was finding her 'dream guy' to settle down with...
