The Patient

7. EVERYWHERE

Mindy really missed life in the provinces. How different things were there from the hustle and bustle here in the city!
Out there, life seemed to almost come to a stand still at times... a place that gave her time to put things into perspective...
She remembered how their house was just a sprint away from the beach, and how the monotonous sound of the surf continouslly rushing to and ebbing from the shore lulls her to sleep each night.. She took a deep breath, and realized how she missed the tang of the salty air, which felt so good in her lungs. The smell of her home and childhood. It will make her so happy to be back in her home province .. Mindy felt so nostalgic for what she had lost. She closed her eyes and leaned back on the head board of her bed.
How fleeting life was, she thought, and how fragile! One day she was alive and free, the next she could have turned to dust, evaporating into afterlife !

Two weeks after she awoke from coma after the accident, boredom from forced inactivity for recuperation at home incited deep thoughts in her about life.
Mindy felt so small and insignificant, like she could exit this state of being, and no one would be the wiser of her existence here and now or ever...
So therefore she must exert an effort to try to make her mark , starting even in some small way...
She wanted to make a difference, not just for herself, but for those around her.
This line of thought led her to examine what she had gone through in life, beginning from when she and Weenie had left their province after their parents' funeral...

They've been working
non stop since then.
Weenie had been work hopping among malls in the city, even taking multiple jobs at the same time to earn more money for Mindy's college tuition. Mindy took part time jobs during her sophomore year, earning money to save until her internship when she must attend class and go on hospital duty at the same time.
Now as entry level nurse , she is earning as much as Weenie does, but still not enough to save for her sister's senior year tuition and board exams review classes.
They were planning to work one more year, before Weenie reentered her medical technology course.

But things have all changed now! Now her dream to make a difference could easily be within reach! Now that they have inherited their mother's share of the Morgarojo inheritance, properties, businesses and money in the bank!

Mindy and Weenie only learned about how wealthy their mother was during the reading of their Uncle Domingo Morgarojo's last will and testament, or rather their grandfather, Uldarico Morgarojo's will which was kept by their uncle Doming when their mother chose to elope and just live a frugal life with their father!

Mindy's musings must have been far too
deep, and she must have kept her pose far too long because the next thing she knew, her neck felt a crick when she was startled as Weenie poked her ribs.
" Mindy!" Weenie called her.
"Mmmn?" she murmured, her eyes still closed.
" Why dont we go on a trip? We have been working non stop since time immemorial, we deserve some time off! How about Boracay for a week or two? "
" We have to visit our ancestral house yet, and the Morgarojo Hospital, too.." Mindy reminded her elder sister.
"Yes, but we can do that later, before we meet and tete a tete with our long lost relatives in Negros, we must first proceed and take a month's vacation in Boracay, so you can heal fully and better. Keith can go with us, can't he?" Weenie insisted.
" He has arranged for two months vacation leave starting next week . I asked him to accompany us to Negros, and to see if he may want to work there, maybe open and manage a pharmacy in Morgarojo Hospital..."
" Ah, then its all right ! We stay a month in Bora, smoothen and finalize our plans there, meanwhile you regain your health, and then we proceed to Negros! Cool, isnt it?"
Wena declared triumphantly.

Mindy smiled, and gave in finally.
" Ah, ok , fine, Ate Weenie. Thats a really cool plan."
" Initially, my dear sister. We will expand and make more intricate plans as we go along! Who knows, how far we can reach if we put our minds and skills into it!" Weenie smirked.
" What do you mean, ate Weenie? Arent we just applying for jobs again in Negros, so you can finish your med tech course next year?"
" Oh, Mindy, we dont have to do that anymore! We have our educational funds now, remember ? I have requested that part of our trust funds be segregated for our education. I will be taking an online management course while looking for a suitable college to finish med tech. And then I will proceed to study medicine. I really want to be a surgeon someday..."
" Whoa! Thats a tough one to follow through! But its really a wonderful plan, ate! Good luck to you!"

Mindy hugged Weenie tightly. She was so glad that now her sister can pursue her own dreams without emotional, physical and financial hitches.
" And what about you, Mindy? Will you just be serving as a nurse in our hospital ?"
" We must see the place first, talk to people, learn of its history, present situation, and its possibilities..." Mindy mused. " How it can be of better service to people there, and look at all point of views, angles and perspectives on how it can be improved... EVERYWHERE ! "
(*£*)