Just Live

Chapter 29

Marge opened the door to her son's room and just stood at the entrance, her hand tightly holding on to the knob. She took a deep breath before making her way to the chair beside his bed and sat down while carefully placing her hand on his arm.

"Anak, Sarah opened her eyes today," she said quietly. "She's in and out of consciousness but she looked at all of us and I know she was looking for you."

Matteo's father followed closely behind his wife and put a hand on her shoulder before sitting down by their son's thigh.

"Ikaw lang ang wala dun, anak, kaya bumawi ka na para mapuntahan mo si Sarah." Marge took a deep breath again and gently ran her fingers across his forehead.

"Matt, anak, the doctors are very hopeful for Sarah that she'll come around. Sabi nila, they're gonna continue treating her aggressively and hopefully they can try weaning her off of the ventilator in the next few days kung kakayanin na nya. Sabi din nila, she's not out of the woods yet but the fact that she regained consciousness is a good sign. You know what that means, son? She's fighting. Ikaw din, okay? You fight like Sarah's doing. Lumaban lang kayong dalawa, mga anak."

Marge swallowed the lump in her throat and stood up to leave a kiss on Matteo's forehead.

It has been days since Matteo last sat beside Sarah but he never left the hospital. He has always been under the same roof as her, just in a different room where he lay sleeping; she was in the ICU while he was in the medicine department.

Days before Sarah caught a respiratory infection, Matteo found out that his previously treated ruptured aneurysm has had a recurrence, requiring treatment to prevent it from rupturing again. Both families knew about it except for Sarah because he couldn't find the right timing to tell her in the midst of her chemotherapy. Sarah needed a reason to fight, not a reason to doubt fighting if both their health were compromised. At least, that's how Matteo saw the situation and he feared telling her of the findings.

The reality was, there was no right timing. He knew he just had to tell her but the day never came. With the recent changes in Sarah's health condition, he hasn't had a chance to tell her yet. Getting him to proceed with the procedure while Sarah lay unconscious in the ICU was a challenge that both the Geronimo and Guidicelli couples played a part in convincing him.

"Mom, I'm still going to have the treatment done but can't I just wait for Sarah to wake up? Mom, Dad, I want to be there when she finally wakes up." Matteo reasoned with his parents but was countered with health concerns.

"Anak, wag naman sana, pero kapag may nangyari sayo dahil pinostpone mo yung procedure, mas hindi matutuwa si Sarah. Two days lang, Matt. Two days tapos balikan mo si Sarah."

It was Ariel who was able to talk Matteo into getting the procedure done on the scheduled day. What should have been two days of not staying beside Sarah's side turned into four, and still counting.

Being in a state of hemodynamic instability from a bleeding complication post the procedure has left Matteo in a vulnerable state, and left everyone else even more devastated. They were not only worried about Sarah now, they were also worried about Matteo, though they were trying to be positive that both were still fighting against all odds.

"Kuya," Bella sat beside her brother while he slept. "If you're awake, just pretend you're asleep, okay?"

Matteo wasn't in a state of comatose, but he was very weak and unstable, leaving him asleep most of the time.

"Did Mom and Dad tell you about ate Sarah yet? They probably did. She woke up yesterday and I saw her eyes scanning everyone, looking for you. I actually looked for you too, even though I knew exactly where you were," his sister said while swallowing the lump in her throat.