It's #SoulmatesMaybeTakeFour! Thank you for waiting.
And the story is about to get a little exciting.
Enjoy dabarkads! :))
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"Sometimes it takes only one look for someone to fall in love, one word for a relationship to end, one moment for a person to realize his purpose, and one day for a life to unexpectedly change."
***
It was raining hard. But RJ doesn't care about the heavy down pour, he's on the highway speeding away, he stares down at the road and all he's wishing is if the road could shrink shorter, or if his car could go any faster, all he wants is to get there as soon as possible, he needs to be there, he doesn't care if the road is slippery, if the road visibility is really shitty and if it's almost impossible to pass by some of the roads because it was flooded, he doesn't care about the world, or himself right now, all he wants is to get there, where she is.
After fifteen minutes or so, he arrives at his destination. He shuts off the car engine, he takes a heavy breath, his heart was beating so fast, his whole body was shaking, he looks at his hands and then to the rear view mirror, he sees himself, all wet and tired and scared. He pushes the car door open and takes himself out of the car, it was still raining and he's getting even wetter, he looks up to the front of the building where he reads the name "St. Luke's Medical Center".
He was at a commercial shoot in Pampanga at the time they called him up about her. He was in the middle of a scene when Mama Ten, entered and walked up to RJ. He ran immediately to his car and with no looking back he drove off. He wanted to cry, he wanted to shout inside the car, he wanted to text her, call her, to really prove if it's true, he wanted to hear her voice, he wanted to look at her face, her eyes, her smile, he doesn't want it to be true, yet he's driving there, to the hospital, where they took her.
He runs inside the white walled building, filled with nurses, doctors, wheelchairs, and oxygen tanks, he found himself at the front counter, he paused and looked around a bit, there were three nurses behind the counter, one guy nurse and two girl nurses, he then sees a long hallway, deserted and at the end of it was an arrow sign that reads EMERGENCY ROOM. As soon as he reads it there was an immediate sting on his chest, still shaking he then brought his sight back to the people in the counter, he slowly walked up to them, paused again for awhile, he doesn't want to say it, to say her name, yet he needs to, so he balled up his hands to a fist and finally said it. "Nicomaine Mendoza? She was brought here almost an hour ago, car accident?" And without even looking down, the nurse said that she's in the emergency room.
RJ then sprinted straight to that deserted hallway. He turned to the right and a few steps from the corner where he was standing, were Nicomaine's family, her mom and dad sitting on one of those green plastic chairs at the far end of the hall, while Nico was standing against the door of the room, Nicolette and Coleen were hugging each other, consoling each other, patting each others back trying to make each other stop crying, they were three chairs away from their mom and dad, and then there was Dean, he was the farthest from the room, he was standing against the wall, at the very end of the line of chairs. RJ sees all of them, and notices one common thing, they all have their heads down, maybe praying or crying, or both, he will never know.
He starts to walk slowly, trying not to disturb the awful and dreading silence that surrounds the area, but with only four steps away from Dean, the whole Mendoza family looks up and sees him, and that's where he saw it, how severe the reality of the situation is, he saw Nicomaine's mom and Coleen was crying uncontrollably, Nico and Tito Teddy's eyes was swollen and red, Dean was the saddest, he's face was indescribable, Ate Nicolette was the one that stood up and walked towards him.
"RJ"
"So..asan siya?"
"Emergency room pa rin. Under operation."
"Paano?..Bakit ba...?..Uhm magiging okay ba.."
"Sana, RJ."
RJ ruffles his hair looking up at the ceiling, trying to stop his tears from falling but it was no use, that word "Sana" echoed in his head, and the next thing he knew, his eyes were wet from all the tears, there's a pang in his chest, his body shaking uncontrollably, he can hardly breathe, his whole body was aching, it's in pain, but not in a physical pain that can be cure by medicine but a pain inside, a pain from the uncertainty of the situation, from all the what ifs, from all the "Sana" and from all the mental images he has been having ever since the words "Nicomaine" and "car accident" were put into the same sentence. He then realize that this pain was there because he's scared. He's scared to lose her. He's scared to imagine a life without her presence. He's scared to grow old and wake up next to someone else that is not Nicomaine.
RJ slowly crumbled down, sitting on the hospital floor with his back slumped against the wall, he's still crying, quietly crying, no sound, just warm tears slowly falling down on his cheek, he wanted to stop crying but he can't, he just can't bring himself to that point yet. He rests his head against the wall now and whispers "Please. God." to himself. He repeats this prayer over and over with tears streaming down from his eyes.
"Iyakin" that's what Nicomaine would say if she sees him now, she'd bully him until he stops crying, that's how she actually gets him to stop crying, and RJ smiles a little after remembering this random thought, he was smiling yet his tears came falling even faster than before, "Para ka ng tanga RJ.." he tells himself as he wipes his face with his hand but the tears just kept on rolling down his cheek, getting warmer by every drop. He's not sitting on the floor anymore, he's facing the emergency door, he can't see anything or hear anything but this was the closest he could get to her, and that's okay for now. He leans forward with his forehead touching the door, he then whispers.
"Baby, kapit ka lang ha. Wag kang bibitaw. Di ka pwedeng bumitaw kasi kailangan pa kita. Kailangan pa kita."
And with every word he said there were tears, heavier tears than before, and the pain in his chest is crushing all his insides, he felt like he's needs to throw up yet he can feel that his throat is closing up a little. He remembers the last time he felt this kind of numbing pain, and it was when his mom died, he was fifteen. He remembers coming home from his mom's funeral, locking himself in a the bathroom of his room and crying till the wee hours. He thought he'd never had to feel this way again, he promised himself he'll never cry this hard again, yet here he is, here he is again, crying. And all he wants is to stop, yet he can't find the courage to pull back the tears, because she is in the next room. He's on his knees now, fighting for breath, fighting the pang in his chest, fighting the thoughts in his head and he's crumbling to pieces and only Nicomaine could pick her up right now, only her.
It's been seven hours since he arrived, there's a lot of people in the hallway now, His dad and sister was there, Kuya Wally, Kuya Jose, Ate Pat, Mama Ten, Tita Ruby and even Tita Helen was there. Some of the dabarkads also went for a brief visit, few hours ago, Bossing and Pauleen came, Kuya Pao, Direk Mike, Direk Joyce, Ate Ai, Valeen with Jerald all came by to check up on Nicomaine's status and so did many others friends and co-workers, but RJ was still slumped against the door, he hasn't moved since, and to be honest he doesn't want to move, he doesn't want to move even an inch farther from where he is, from where she is, he wants to get close to her, as much as he can, he wants to be with her, and this is the only damn way to do that, and it hurts. And yes he hasn't stop crying too.
His sister walks up to him and sits beside his Kuya, she leans and puts her head on his kuya's shoulder.
"Oh ano na?"
"Putcha ang hirap huminga."
"Kuya, magiging okay si Ate."
"Paano kung hindi? Paano kung.."
He cuts himself off, more tears stream down, he's sobbing.
"Natatakot ako baka..."
At that same moment before he could finish his sentence, the door on his side opens, a tall guy in white coat walks out and he looks at RJ and Rizza. They both stoop up, Rizza held RJ's arms, he was shaking, and still crying. He looks at the guy in white, the guy looks back at him and then to Nicomaine's family, that has quickly gathered around, eager to hear what the guy's about to say.
"Nicomaine is in a coma."
