"Why don't you try taking that silly thing off? Parang si sister Berlin tuloy yung nanay mo," June tried to take Page's veil off.
"Ma—Mrs. Torres," Page backed her head away from her mother.
"I thought we're past that? Call me mom," June frowned.
"I should get going," Page held on to her veil and got up.
"Where are you going, anak? Why are you leaving so soon?" June stood and pushed her chair with the back of her legs.
"I'm just one of the sisters that visit you here, Mrs. Torres," Page lied.
June shook her head. "Tigilan moko. You're not a nun. You think porket nandito ako sa facility na toh, you can trick me? I know you, Page. I know the shape of your pupils, so the contacts don't work as your disguise. I know the shape of your face, even the line where the crook of your nose starts. I even know the shape of your eyebrows. Kaya yang mask mo? It's not enough to hide the real you, Page. I know that you slouch when your back hurts, we'll deal with that later. I also know how you drag your feet when you're tired. I know you blink too much when you're trying to stop yourself from crying and how your voice quivers when you want to be held. I know that you fiddle with your fingers when you're nervous or tense and that you tend to wear that crease on your brows more when you're dealing with a lot of stress. Your shoulders are droopy when your mood is gloomy. Your eyes are glassy when you're trying to focus but your mind is somewhere else. You breath heavily when you're fighting off the emotions that threaten to come out. You swallow a lot when things get too much. Anak kita, sweetheart. I know these things. I know because I feel it here," she pointed at her chest.
"You want me to hold you and not let go of you. You're fighting off tears so that I wouldn't know it's you. You changed the color of your skin, but you forgot our hearts beat the same rhythm. You tried to change the color of your eyes, but they're still that same window into your soul, and I see right through you. You badly want to run to me and get me out of here, but you know you can't. You want to curse out the rules, but you follow them anyway because you know it's what's best for me. On the outside, you're pretending to be a nun, but on the inside, you're a child who's longing for her mother. I know because I'm THAT mother. I know when my child cries for me. I hear it here," she pointed at her chest again.
"It's a certain beating—banging—inside my chest that lets me know that my child needs me. I felt it when Summer was dying. I felt it in my chest. I knew my daughter was crying out for me. I knew Summer needed me. She was crying for help. She knew she was fading, and she was crying for mama for help. That's what I feel whenever the place is silent. I can feel you calling for me, sweetheart. I feel it in every corner of this place. I feel it in the walls. I feel it ouside in the wind. I feel it in the swaying of the trees. I feel it in the birds when they chirp and sing. I feel it roaring in the waves. I feel it surrounding me while I'm here. You're my child, the child that wants me, the child that needs me. You've been calling for me, and mama hears it. Mama knows that you need me."
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Turn the Page 2: My Destiny
FanfictionTurn the Page Book 2: My Destiny Two broken people brought together by fate, that was true for June and Page. On a stormy night, their lives completely changed as their paths crossed on a bridge that brought them together when they thought it was...
