In the Afterglow

PROLOGUE

Prologue

"Hello, who is this?"

"Hello po, Ma'am. LBC delivery for Miss Ravine Esquivel po. Nandito po ako sa lobby ng tower."

I shifted from my seat, my brows were furrowed. "Po? Sigurado po kayong sa akin nakapangalan? Wala po akong ine-expect na delivery."

"Opo, galing po kay..." the delivery rider went on a pause as if he was reading the waybill. "Rashid Hidalgo."

My muscles relaxed and I almost dropped my phone. I immediately felt the office's cold air, which didn't seem to exist for me earlier, crawling up from my knees to my hands. Why would he send me something?

I told him to never get in touch with me again.

"Pakilagay nalang po sa mail, 9103," lumamig ang kaninang magana kong boses. I hung the call up even before the rider replied to me.

I have a lot of things on my table waiting to be accomplished, but I was preoccupied after the call. I even had to check my messages if Rashid left anything, or just a heads up, that he has a mail for me. Hinanap ko pa iyon hanggang sa pinakadulo ng inbox ko dahil baka natabunan lang, pero wala talaga. I really have zero ideas about whatever he has to give.

A very random but possible thought came to my mind but before it even devours me, I kicked it away. I received a call from a resident a short while after.

"Doc, may TBI from traffic accident case right now sa ER. Kailangan namin ng neurologist."

"Okay, will be there in a minute. How's the vitals?" I stood up and grabbed my white coat from the rack just beside my table. I put it on while briskly walking.

"Pulse is 180 and blood pressure is 70/50. It keeps on dropping as well as the oxygen. It's now down to 60. We suspect internal bleeding," the resident recited continuously.

It was a toxic shift after that emergency call because it turns out there was a bus accident and a lot of passengers, including the driver, were injured. My schedule immediately became full after surgery bookings. Hence, I felt so drained the moment I was about to go home. Pasakay palang ako sa elevator nang maalala kong may delivery nga pala ako sa mailbox.

I didn't want to give time to be bothered about it as I'm already so tired, but I found myself staring at the parcel the moment I opened the mailbox. I expected it to be a regular shape of a parcel, but it is not. The parcel is flat as if it is a document.

Pagdating ko sa unit, hindi na ako nagbihis muna o kung ano pa. Umupo agad ako sa sofa, kumuha ng cutter, at maingat na ginamit iyon para buksan ang parcel. I was right; it really must be a document. Isang brown envelope ang bumungad sa akin pagtanggal ko ng mail pouch.

A weird, scary feeling crept into me, but nevertheless, I opened the envelope. A white smaller envelope was inside, along with a piece of paper folded into two that I immediately disregarded for a while. I just noticed that it is something handwritten with a pen because I could see the ink peeking from the back.