Friday afternoon, 3 days earlier...
"Hi, mommy," Sebastian tiredly said, as he came inside their house, after being dropped off by his school bus. The 9-year old took a banana from their fruit basket and started munching on it.
Maine turned around from her cooking, smiling but suddenly frowned when she saw her son's pale pallor. She put the stove burner on low where her pot of sinigang was boiling and walked over to where Sebastian was sitting by their kitchen counter.
She kissed his forehead before hugging him sideways. "What happened to soccer practice? Akala ko mamaya ka pa uuwi. Hindi naman tumawag ang school bus mo na maaga ka pala today."
"I'm tired, mom," the kid replied, smiling back at his mother, leaning on her shoulder all the while continuing on eating his banana. "Si daddy po, nasaan?"
"He's pulling a double-shift today. Plus alam ko may operation siya this afternoon so malamang mamayang gabi na 'yun uuwi," Maine answered as she started to rub Sebastian's arms. "You look pale, anak, parang mainit ka. You want to lie down muna? I'll have yaya call you pag ready na ang dinner."
"Anong operation ni dad, ma? Do you know?" Sebastian perked up a bit, ignoring the last part of Maine's suggestion. He had always been fascinated with his dad's line of work, always asking questions about what his dad did on operations, poring over some of his dad's old college medical books.
Maine simply smiled and shook her head at her son. "Hindi ko alam, Baste. Alam mo naman ang daddy mo – he wouldn't really tell since may patient privacy and all diba? Pero most likely, may tumor na naman na tatanggalin yun. You can ask him tomorrow, off naman niya."
"I wonder kung yung tumor ay cancerous. Atsaka kung anong part ng brain ang tatanggalan ng tumor. Madali daw po kung sa may bandang grey matter eh," the kid said, suddenly excited – his eyes sparkling a bit as he wondered about what his dad was currently doing at that moment.
Maine chuckled and ruffled her son's hair. "You can ask your dad that bukas, ok? For now, I suggest you rest for a bit in your room. Malapit na rin matapos itong sinigang na baboy na niluluto ko." She then felt for her son's forehead and frowned. "Baste, you're really quite warm. Go na, change clothes and lie down. I'll have yaya bring up some paracetamol for you."
Sebastian nodded, his shoulders suddenly sagging as he slowly dragged his feet up the stairs towards his room, head bowed. Maine frowned, quite concerned about the way her son was suddenly acting. He started to be this way only this week, just when school was only a month in.
"Yaya Pearl!" Maine called for their househelp, her own yaya from when she was still a child, who couldn't really leave her even up to now when she had a family of her own.
"Meng, bakit?" Yaya Pearl peeked from around the corner, her hands full with a potted plant in each. "Inaayos ko lang itong mga halaman mo sa labas. Nakalimutan mo itong mga ito na ilagay sa may arawan."
"I'm sorry Yaya, dami lang iniisip," Maine replied, smiling at her now quite old but still stern and jolly yaya. "Favor naman, pakidalhan si Baste ng paracetamol sa kwarto niya. Mukhang may sinat. Tsaka eto rin – paakyat na rin ng bag niya, yaya. Malapit na rin naman matapos itong niluluto ko."
"Hay naku, yang anak mo talaga," Yaya Pearl intoned. "Kahapon ko pa napansin na hindi maganda ang pakiramdam nyan. Sabi ko nga kaninang umaga nung ginising ko eh – wag na munang pumasok," she continued as she placed the potted plants on the floor close to the kitchen door leading to the backyard patio. "Pero makulit, ayaw papigil. May quiz daw siya sa science. Eh hindi na kita ginising dahil alam kong pagod ka galing dun sa isang birthday na nagpaluto sayo kahapon."
Maine was a full-time stay-at-home mom, working as a part-time party or event caterer. She graduated with a culinary degree but since being married to her husband and having Baste – she put that degree in the back burner, concentrating more on her family. She was fine with it since she loved her little family more than any career, plus she enjoyed staying at home, tending to the house, making sure her husband and son were eating properly with the occasional catering gigs here and there.
"Yaya naman, parang hindi mo kilala yang alaga mo. Basta science – kebs na," she chuckled in reply to her yaya who was currently rummaging through one of the kitchen cabinets looking for the paracetamol syrup for Baste.
"Ay sya, puntahan ko muna yung batang yun. Baka nag lalaro na naman ng Nintendo yun imbes na mag-bihis." Yaya Pearl then grabbed Sebastian's bag and slung it over her shoulder. She walked towards the stairs and went up to Baste's room to check on the kid as Maine instructed.
Maine smiled, contented with the way her life was at the moment. She had a beautiful house, a loving and dedicated husband, a little business wherein she could control her schedule , a family that loved her and that she also loved back – pretty much everything in her opinion. She said a quiet prayer of thanks before she turned back towards the stove to check on her sinigang. She tasted it, making sure it wasn't too sour. Both her boys did not want their sinigang soup too sour. When she was finally satisfied with how it tasted, she turned off the stove and took a mug out of their kitchen cupboards to make some tea.
She then glanced at the clock as she was letting the water boil in a kettle for her tea.
5PM. Tapos na kaya ang operation niya?
She was pouring water in her mug and was about to put in her chamomile tea bag when her mobile phone rang on the counter. She smiled, recognizing the ringtone that was for her better-half.
"Hello Dr. Faulkerson," she answered, cradling the phone between her ear and shoulder. She dropped the tea bag in her mug and started to look for some calamansi in their fridge.
"Hello, Mrs. Faulkerson," a husky baritone voice answered on the other line.
She giggled in reply. Even after almost 12 years of marriage, him calling her that still gets her giddy every single time. "Kamusta ang operation?"
She heard him sigh. "It was... Tiring. Successful but tiring. The patient is in recovery na and will be transferred to his room later." She then heard some paper rustling and assumed that he was probably filing his paperwork on said operation. "7 hours, love. 7 hours. That's how long the operation took. Sobrang gutom na ako ngayon tapos I still have to stay for the next 4 hours to make my rounds before I could go home."
"I made sinigang so pag-uwi mo mamaya may food. So mga hanggang 9 ka pa diyan?"
"Yeah," he tiredly said, yawning at the end. "I can't wait to be home. Sarap pa man din ng sinigang mo. Si Baste, nandyan na?"
"Uh-huh. Umuwi ng maaga ang anak mo ngayon, hindi nag-soccer practice. 4:30 pa lang nandito na," she replied while sipping on her tea.
"Tingin mo mahihintay niyo pa ako para sabay sabay tayong mag-dinner?"
"Hmmm... I don't think so, love. Mga 9:30 ka na makaka-uwi, late na. Your son needs his rest. Kaya umuwi ng maaga at hindi nag-practice kasi hindi maganda ang pakiramdam."
"Baste is sick?" her husband on the other line asked, his tone suddenly changing to that of his usual doctor voice. "May lagnat? Masaki ang ulo? Anong symptoms? Pinainom mo ba ng gamot? Anong gamot pinainom mo?"
Maine chuckled at her husband's over-reaction. "Relax, doc. He's fine. Probably just a bit fatigued from school tsaka sa iba niya pang extra-curricular. Alam mo naman ang anak mo – mana sayo, overachiever din."
"Well as long as he's ok. May pinainom ka na ba?"
"I asked Yaya Pearl to give him some paracetamol lang and to give him perhaps a sponge bath. Nandun ngayon si Yaya sa kwarto niya, probably reading or playing with him."
She heard him sigh once again especially when she heard a faint intercom in the background calling her husband's name to check the nurses' station. "I gotta go, love. I gotta start making my rounds. Hopefully, I could finish quickly para makauwi na ako agad."
"All right, love. Ingat ka. Call me later bago ka umuwi. I love you."
"Love you, too. I'll see you later."
With that, they hung up the phone and Maine continued on sipping her now lukewarm tea, wondering what kind of patients her husband was making rounds for.
Dr. Richard Faulkerson, Jr., MD, FACS (or RJ to his family and close friends) was a very respectable and well-known neurosurgeon in the country. He specialized in General Neurosurgery, some minimal invasive spinal surgery and anything that had to do with operating and removal of brain tumors. He was also one of the youngest neurosurgeons around. It also didn't help that he was being tagged as one of the hottest doctors in the country (which Maine always teased him about) due to his killer dimpled-smile and angelic baby-face. Fortunately – he was also hers.
She checked on the clock again and checked the darkening sky outside. In an hour – she could call Yaya Pearl and Sebastian for dinner. Hopefully, RJ would be able to go home early so they could all have a little bit of quality time before Sebastian goes to bed.
Yes, Maine was content. She had everything life had to offer. Yes, life was good.
Until it wasn't.
