A Love After Marriage

Eighteen

The next day, Caitlin woke up an hour earlier than usual to prepare to work. Bel has taken her car yesterday and now she has to take a taxi to the hospital. Since Bea left last night, she had been crying in the room and she doesn't even remember when she fell asleep. When she woke up this morning, her eyes were swollen and red. She doesn't want Isabelle to see her like this. Or to be exact, she doesn't know how to answer her daughter on why her Dada was not at home already. She promised to send her to the hospital this morning and if Isabelle doesn't see her father, she will ask hundreds and thousands of questions, which she doesn't know how to answer.

So, she chose not to continue with her sleep and prepared to go to work earlier before Isabelle woke up. By the time she was ready to leave, Nay Belen has already arrived the apartment and without the need to ask, the older woman can sense something is wrong with her. Caitlin's eyes have showed everything.

"Good morning, Nay Belen." Caitlin greeted her with a weak smile.

"Good morning, Cait." Nay Belen smiled back and looked at her with a wary gaze. "Bakit ang aga mong nagising? 7 am palang, 8am ka nagigising diba?."

Caitlin averted her gaze to avoid her eyes and let out a soft, breathy sigh. "Kailangan ko pong magtaxi papuntang hospital. Mas maraming taong kasabay sa pila kapag normal na oras, mas magandang mas maaga ko."

"Taxi?" Nay Belen raised her brows. "Bakit kailangan mo magtaxi? Nasaan ang kotse mo?"

"Pinahiram ko po kay Bel." Caitlin paused, looking at Nay Belen's confused expression reminds her that she doesn't know about the incident last night. She let out another deep sigh. "Na admit po si Dad sa hospital kagabi dahil po sa minor stroke at Si Bea po ang naghatid sa amin kagabi and pinahiram ko po kay Bel yung kotse ko."

"Hmmm..." Nay Belen nodded as her eyes shifted to the leftover dishes on the dining table. She smiled. Bea did come back last night. "Mukhang napakasaya ni Isabelle Kagabi, Umuwi si Bea at nagcelebrate kayo."

"Opo Nay." Shin Hye forced a smile and quickly changed the subject. "Oo nga pala Nay Belen... Pwede niyo po bang ihatid si Isabelle sa school niya today?"

"Oo naman Cait, Walang problema anak.." Nanay Belen turned back and looked at Caitlin with a smile. "Wag kang mag-aalala, ako ng bahala sakanya."

Caitlin nodded as she held her head down, smile slowly vanished from her face. Nanay Belen immediately noticed her sad expression and took a step closer to her. "Caitlin, anak okay ka lang ba? May problema ba? Gusto mo bang pagusapan natin?"

Caitlin held the older woman's eyes and bit her lip at the same time. It must be very obvious if even Nanay Belen can sense it. "Okay lang po ako."

There was a moment of silence before Nanay Belen nodded her head slowly. She said she is fine. It means she is not ready to talk about it yet. She doesn't want to force her. "Hintayin mo ko, ipaggagawa kita ng makakakain mo para hindi ka malipasan ng gutom. Dapat healthy ka para marami ka pang matulungang bata."

"Salamat po." Caitlin let out a small smile of appreciation, appreciates her for not pushing her to talk further. She is really not in the mood to talk about last night now.

~~~~~

Thirty minutes after Caitlin left, Nanay Belen was Left at home continued to prepare breakfast and lunchbox for Isabelle before she wakes up later. At this moment, the sound of a door opened suddenly filled the silence. Nanay Belen quickly washed her hands and came out from the kitchen to check. She thought Caitlin left something and came back to take. But she was wrong.

"Bea?" Her eyes grew wide in surprise to see Bea walking into the living room. "Pa-... Paanong bumalik ka ng ganitong oras?"

Bea looked at the older woman as she cleared her throat, trying to sound cold and not showing any concern. "Pinahiram ni Caitlin yung kotse niya sa kaibigan niya and... I was around this area, I came back to send her to the hospital." She said and took a quick glance around the apartment before looking back at Nanay Belen. "Where is she? Still sleeping?"