Love and Resilience

Unspoken Heart

Serena's POV

I sat on my hospital bed, staring at the ceiling, the irony of my situation not lost on me. Here I was, back in the Philippines, at the hospital where Jovana worked. The same Jovana I had walked away from a year ago, thinking I was protecting her. And now? Now, she was the one tasked with saving my life. The universe had a twisted sense of humor.

The door creaked open, pulling me from my thoughts, and I looked up. My heart sank as I saw David, walking in with a bright smile on his face, holding a basket of fresh fruit in one hand and, predictably, a bouquet of red roses in the other. I forced a smile, but inside, disappointment gnawed at me. How many times had I told him pink tulips were my favorite? Red roses felt wrong, so off-base.

David was sweet, I’ll give him that. I met him in the US during my treatments. He was kind and thoughtful, but that’s where it ended. He could never replace Jovana. There was a warmth, a depth that Jovana had, something no one else could match. David admitted to having feelings for me not long after we met, and now he was courting me despite me repeatedly telling him not to.

As we talked, David reached for my hand, holding it gently. I froze, caught off guard. I didn’t pull away immediately, and in that moment, the door swung open.

My heart skipped a beat. Jovana stood there, her eyes locking on our hands. I saw a flicker of something in her eyes pain, maybe, or anger but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared.

“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice professional but distant. “Am I interrupting something? I can come back later.”

Before I could respond, she left. The door clicked shut behind her, and I found myself staring at it, my mind racing. What had she seen? Why did I care so much? There was something in her eyes, but I couldn’t quite place it. Guilt? Sadness? I shook the thought away, but it lingered, gnawing at me even as David continued to talk.

After a while, David left, and I placed the roses in a vase beside me. They looked out of place. Tulips would’ve been better.

---

The Next Morning

I woke up feeling heavy, my body and my mind both exhausted. Today was another chemotherapy session, and I was dreading it. But what I was really waiting for was Jovana. She always handled the sessions with care, making it just a bit more bearable.

Footsteps approached, and I looked up, expecting to see her. Instead, a different doctor entered a woman I hadn’t seen before.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Cassandra Cuevas,” she said with a smile. “I’ll be handling your treatment today. Dr. Rommer is on leave. She wasn’t feeling well.”

Jovana wasn’t feeling well? The news caught me off guard, and a small knot of concern formed in my stomach. I nodded, hiding my disappointment.

As the chemotherapy session began, Dr. Cassandra struck up a conversation, her voice casual but curious. “I heard you and Dr. Rommer know each other from before?”

I blinked, surprised by the question. “Yeah, we do,” I replied carefully.

She smiled, but there was something more in her eyes a hint of something unspoken. "Jovana’s a good doctor I always admired her."

There was a pause, and then, out of nowhere, she added, “You know, I’ve had feelings for Jovana for a while now. But she never gave me a chance.”

I stayed silent, not sure how to respond. This was unexpected.

Cassandra continued, her voice tinged with a mix of frustration and longing. “She’s in love with someone from her past even though that girl left her like a toy that she doesn’t want to play with. That’s why she never let me get close.”

Her words hung in the air, and my heart clenched. It didn’t take much to guess who that ‘someone’ was. Me. I swallowed hard, unsure of how to feel. Hearing this from someone else only made things more complicated. I had pushed Jovana away to protect her, but in doing so, had I only caused more pain?

I looked away, my mind swimming with guilt and confusion as the chemotherapy drugs dripped into my veins.