Fragments of Us

38: Jema

I couldn't describe exactly how I felt from booking the ticket to getting on the plane and now stepping my foot back on Siargao. Chills crawled over my spine as nostalgia came flooding all over me. I never thought I'd be seeing this place again. It's been two years, and I never dared look back.

It's ironic, isn't it? I left, running away from the love that broke me, but now I went back, chasing after the person who made me realize I'm still capable of loving again, and of course, my family.

I dashed to the hospital, and I was almost out of breath as soon as I stepped foot in it. I inquired at the reception and was immediately accommodated, and then I saw Ella kneeling in front of my younger sister.

Fuck, she has definitely grown in just two years.

I stood there frozen from afar, feeling numb, as reality brutally hit me. Ella placed her forehead on Mafe as they were just about to kiss.

My sister's her lover. I used every last strand of my strength to walk away from where I stood. Maybe I'll just wait for them to be gone before I check on my dad.

And that's what I did. Ella had fallen asleep in the corridors, obviously also tired from her travels from Manila. I tried to hold myself back with all my might not to hug and kiss her, although her touch breathes life into me because she's my sister's girlfriend. A tear just dropped from my eye. I practically cried for almost an hour, and I'm running out of them.

Her face was so peaceful, as if she hadn't frantically rushed here from Manila.

I wish I could just snatch her back to Manila and pretend I didn't see anything. Better yet, I should have stayed there so I wouldn't know anything about her or my sister.

Fuck, is it so wrong that I have fallen so hard for my sister's girl?

I silently went inside my father's room. He didn't change much, except his hair went a bit gray from the last time I saw him.

I held his hand and placed it on my face as my tears started to fall from my eyes again. A pang of guilt started to surge all over me.

What if he didn't survive? What if that was the last time I saw him two years ago? What if he died, not knowing that I had already forgiven him and that I love him and Mafe more than anything in this life?

I felt his hand twitching, and just as he was about to wake up, I immediately stormed out of his room, not knowing where to go.