Stitches and Scars

Chapter 26

"What's interesting about the human body is that it literally begins to heal itself the moment it's injured. We're born with an immune system that can help us recover from most wounds, and the body heals itself from the inside out. But some wounds run deeper. These aren't the kind that can be mended with a bandage or a few stitches. These are the wounds that leave us vulnerable, the ones that take the longest to truly heal."

Karylle sits cross-legged on the dusty wooden floor, rummaging through old boxes filled with her mother's belongings. The light filters in from the small garage window, casting a soft glow on the faded photographs in her hands.

She pulls out an old photo—her mother in a surgeon's scrubs, standing almost confidently before her first solo surgery. Karylle smiles faintly, imagining her mom in that moment. But she's not there just for nostalgia.

One by one, she thumbed through more photos, most of them hospital scenes, faces of people she didn't recognise. She was beginning to lose hope when her hand paused over a particular photograph. Her heart clenched as she pulled it out and studied it closely.

It was a group photo, likely taken during a celebration. The same young version of her mother stood at the center, smiling broadly. But it wasn't her mother's smile that caught Karylle's eye—it was the man standing beside her, a man she recognised all too well.

The Chief.

Albert looked younger, but there was no mistaking his face. And then she saw it—their hands, intertwined. It was subtle, easily overlooked if you weren't looking for it. But Karylle was looking, and what she saw knocked the breath from her lungs. The photo trembled slightly in her hand as her suspicions—those nagging doubts she'd tried to push aside—were confirmed.

They had a past. Her mother and Albert.

And if they had a past — Karylle swallowed hard, her mind racing toward the conclusion she'd been too afraid to admit. Is Albert her—?

Before she could finish the thought, a loud thud sounded from the kitchen, followed by quick, light footsteps.

"See? I told you she's still here," Angel's voice broke through the silence.

Karylle snapped her head up just as Anne and Angel burst into the garage. She quickly shoved the photo back into the box, her movements rushed but careful enough to avoid suspicion. She stood, dusting off her jeans, forcing a smile.

"K, you've been here forever. Don't tell me hindi ka pa tapos dito?" Anne teased, her eyes dancing. "Were you planning on leaving all the grocery shopping to us?"

"I, uh —" Karylle fumbled, still reeling from the photo, but she managed to pull herself together. "No, of course not. I just got — caught up looking through all this."

Anne grabbed Karylle's arm playfully. "Come on, we have to hurry. The store closes soon, and you promised na ikaw ang magluluto ng dinner tonight."

Karylle nodded mechanically, her mind still swirling with the weight of her discovery. The truth, long buried beneath years of silence, was now glaring at her, undeniable. But this wasn't the time to confront it.

For now, she forced a smile and followed them to the car already parked outside, her heart heavy with the secret she would carry just a little longer.

~•~•~•~

The bright lights overhead hummed softly as Anne squinted at a crumpled grocery list in her hand, trying to match the items with the shelves. Angel, pushing the cart with one hand and scrolling on her phone with the other, walked lazily beside her, clearly uninterested in the task.