Just Live

Chapter 16

They all knew it wasn't going to be easy, but everyone put an effort into constantly making Sarah feel that they were there through the good days and through the bad days. Her parents were always in the hospital with her, and her siblings took turns in spending time with her. Matteo, on the other hand, spent days and nights with her in the hospital, along with Gelli and Ariel.

It was two in the morning when Matteo woke up and found Sarah awake in bed. She didn't notice he had woken up so he decided to watch her quietly from the couch while Gelli slept in the recliner.

Sarah was pre-occupied with something on her laptop and whatever it was, he knew it something special to her. She had a smile on her face and her eyes were moist. Matteo made subtle movements to try and take a peek at her screen and saw that it was a video of her and her friends. The camera was on her while she drove and was singing with friends so he thought it must be one of their adventures. He was right and wrong at the same time; clips of Sarah and her teammates in the locker room came on and as he watched the video from the couch, he realized it was one of her swimming competitions.

Just after Sarah was congratulated by her coaches in the video, she paused it and leaned her head back on the pillow, closing her eyes as tears fell from them. She quickly wiped them off before anybody saw her and checked to see if her mom was asleep; she was, but her boyfriend wasn't. The light from her laptop illuminated her face, making her tears visible to him.

"Love," she said as she lifted her head off the pillow and quickly wiped her tears. "Did I wake you up?"

Matteo stood up and shook his head while he walked over to her. "No, love," he answered softly as he sat beside her and took her in his arms, giving her a sweet kiss on the forehead. "What are you watching?"

Sarah rested her head on his chest and wrapped her arm around him, her eyes darting back to the screen.

"Just going through some random videos, love. This one was from a swim meet, mga few months before ako na-diagnose. Papunta kami sa isang event nun. Alam mo, bub, isa yun sa pinaka-importanteng events para sa isang swimmer. Hindi lahat nabibigyan ng ganung chance."

Matteo lovingly held her in his arms while he listened to her story, encouraging her to share her thoughts and feelings with him.

"Kasama ko yung iba kong teammates when we competed for a slot to represent Canada in the FINA."

"FINA?"

"'Mhm. FINA. It's the world championships for aquatics, kasama na swimming dun." Sarah paused before talking again in a quiet voice. "I got in, bubba. I made it to the Canadian team."

She nestled her head on his chest and wrapped her arm tighter around him, wiping her tears while replaying the video.

"You know, love," Matteo said softly after the video ended. "Even if we didn't know each other then, sobrang proud ako sayo. Sobra pa sa sobra."

Sarah looked up and mouthed a "thank you" with a smile.

Matteo wiped her tears and kissed her cheeks. "You're so good, bubba. I'm so so very proud of you," he said while caressing her cheeks.

"Thank you," she replied quietly. "Kaso, wala na bub, eh. Yung once in a lifetime opportunity na yun, wala na. I won't be competing at the world championships tomorrow. Instead, nandito ako doing therapy kasi hindi pa rin ako makalakad on my own. Kung eto nga ang hirap na, love, pano pa kaya ako makakabalik sa pool?"

"Love..."

"Sorry, love, nagdadrama lang. Bukas na kasi yung competition and hindi ko maiwasang hindi madisappoint kasi I'm supposed to be swimming tomorrow."