My Dearest Captain

Chapter 22

Desiccated

"Babe?"

"Is he awake? Bakit nakasandal lang siya sa dingding? Carry him to bed, Santiago."

I was in and out of consciousness at yan ang una kong narinig. I'm still out of it so I'm pretty sure everything will fade into black again.

Ang alam ko lang ay kasama namin sina Luca at Nikolai ngayon. Luca was the one reprimanding Axel.

"I'm sorry, hinanda ko pa kasi ang hihigaan niya. I want him to be comfortable." Sabi ni Axel habang dahan-dahang kinarga ulit ako.

Nagsisimula na namang mawala ang malay ko, Luca and Nikolai's voice became distant kahit alam ko na nakasunod lang sila kay Axel. I don't know what they're talking about but Luca sounded mad. 

My grip on reality slipped, and I felt myself sinking into a dark, heavy fog. There was a brief moment of panic, alam ko na my mind was fighting to stay awake. Axel's warmth pulled me under, and my body succumbed to the need for rest. 

Everything went black. The frightening and strangely comforting darkness became my temporary escape from the chaos of my emotions.

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆

"You could've stalked Serene's family, Lorien! Magaling ka naman jan diba? Di na dapat tayo nagpunta sa party na yun kung alam natin na kamag-anak niya ang gagong 'yun."

Bakit inaaway na ni Luca si Nikolai ngayon? What the fuck happened?

Pinakiramdaman ko ang paligid ko. Nakahiga ako ngayon sa malambot na higaaan, one thing is for sure, this isn't my bed. My bed has tons of pillows in it to the point na dikit na dikit na ako sa mga unan ko. This bed feels empty, I nuzzled my nose to the pillow. I'm in Axel's bed. So nasa dorm niya kami ngayon? How the hell did he managed to bring me all the way here?

My eyes are still closed right now, di pa rin kasi talaga maganda ang pakiramdam ko. I think this is another one of those moments where my consciousness resurfaced for a while.

I did try to open my eyes once, but I just saw Luca and Nikolai standing habang nag-aaway. I can't understand some of their words pero alam ko na sobra ang galit ngayon ni Luca at si Nikolai ang napagbuntungan niya.

I badly want to wake up and stop them. Ayokong nag-aaway sila. Matagal kasi silang magpansinan ulit kapag nag-away sila. Pataasan sila ng pride palagi and I hate to be the center of their argument.

But I'm tired and I'm numbed.

Pagod na pagod ako ngayon.

I can feel myself slowly slipping into unconsciousness again, para akong dahan-dahang nalulunod sa dagat. I no longer had the strength to fight it, and this time, I didn't want to. Gusto ko na lang talagang magpahinga.

The tension that had lingered in my body melted away completely, and I finally surrendered to the darkness. Kahit nag-aaway sina Luca at Nikolai ngayon, I know that I'm safe with them. I know that they'll protect me.

My last conscious thought was a fleeting, quiet, almost resigned acceptance of my vulnerability, paired with a profound sense of relief na hindi na nga talaga ako nag-iisa ngayon.

Then, everything faded to black, and I knew nothing more.

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆

Silenced.

Yan ang sumalubong sa akin when I finally regained consciousness. I felt two warm breaths sa magkabilang braso ko kaya minulat ko ang mga mata ko para matignan ito.