Secretly Dating!

Secretly 24

Pagkatapos kong sabihin kay Miguel ang kalagayan ni Harry ay sinabayan ko siyang pumunta sa hospital. At hindi ko maiwasang magtaka kung bakit hindi siya pumasok sa kwarto ni Harry, nakontento muna siya na itanong sa nurse kung maayos ba ang kondisyon niya. He was recovering fast.

Nang sinabi ng nurse na natutulog pa si Harry, dun pa naisipan ni Miguel na pumasok sa kwarto. Gusto kong itanong kung iniiwasan ba niyang magpakita sa kapatid, pero hindi ko na magawa nang makita ko siyang emosyonal na nakatayo sa tabi ng kama.

"I'm sorry, Harry." Yun lang ang paulit-ulit na lumalabas sa kanyang bibig.

Ang kondisyon ng kanilang pamilya ay talagang hindi ko maintindihan. Nahihiya din naman akong magtanong kay Miguel dahil masyadong personal at kailangan kong lumugar sapagkat ako'y abogado ng kanyang kapatid.

"Don't worry, bro. Clarice will do her best para mapawalang-sala ka. She will help us." Narinig kong sabi niya at napalunok ako bigla.

Kinabahan tuloy ako sa bigat ng kanyang mga salita. Sure, I'll do my best. That's my profession, right? Pero paano kung hindi pa sapat ang aking pagsusumikap sa kaso ni Harry? Paano kung hindi ko maabot ang expectation ni Miguel? Would he still talk to me then?

But then again, what if we're all wrong. What if Harry really did the crime, that he's not innocent? Would I be able to cope up the consequences? Is it righteous in the eyes of God to defend the guilty?

Ang dami kong tanong sa isip ko ngayon. Pero higit sa lahat, para saan ba at gusto kong mapawalang sala si Harry? Is it because I believe he's innocent, or is it because that's what Miguel wants? Sino ba ang pinaglalaban ko, ang kaso ni Harry o ang makuha ang loob ni Miguel sa pamamagitan ng pagpanalo ng kaso? Oh Lord, hindi ko na alam. I was at the edge of freaking out with my own thoughts.

"Di ba, Clarice?" Miguel turned to look at me, which made me startle.

"Uh, oo." Shoot, I stuttered, now looking away. I couldn't look at him in the eye when I wasn't even certain about it myself.

Am I really going to win the case?

SABAY na kaming lumabas ni Miguel sa hospital. It was around lunch time at hindi pa rin gumugising si Harry when we left. Sabi ng kanyang doctor he was sedated, for a reason that he's wild when he's awake.

"He's too young for this." Komento ko habang naglalakad kami papunta sa kanyang naka-park na kotse. "Do you know what drove him into attempting suicide, Miguel?"

"I don't' know. We rarely talk. But the last time I check on him, he wasn't saying anything except how he loves Elaine. A night before he was arrested, he phoned me." He said in between his troubled gasps.

I stopped walking. Nag-angat ako ng mukha upang makita siya, ang hirap pala kapag masyadong mataas ang kausap mong tao. "What did he tell you then?" Curious kong tanong.

I saw him paused for awhile, then said to me, "That he broke up with Elaine. And end up regretting it." He sighed and walked away, leaving me speechless to where I stood.

I realized then how close they really were. Harry wouldn't tell Miguel about the breakup if they're not close brothers. And just like Miguel, Harry wasn't close with their father, too. Because if they were, Harry would tell his Dad first, and not his older brother.

"Hey, Clarry, how about I treat you lunch?" Nakangiti niyang tanong habang nakapatong ang kanyang braso sa ibabaw ng sasakyan. At that moment, I felt like I was the only person standing in front of him, the only person he was seeing. That everything around me didn't matter. Miguel made me feel that way, even though I wasn't at all special to him.