Present day, Monday night...
Maine was pacing back and forth outside Sebastian's room in the PICU of St. Luke's. She could see her son through the glass window of the room, tubes sticking out of him. Doctors told her that they had to put him on an induced coma due to the injury he sustained on his head when he hit the table at school. They wanted to run some tests, they said. Just to make sure that her baby boy would be all right.
She had been calling and texting her husband all afternoon and all night. It was currently 9:00PM and she had yet to hear from him. She knew that he wasn't at St. Luke's that day (St. Luke's being his home hospital) but at the other hospital where he also operates – the Asian Hospital and Medical Center.
She called him there but the nurses told her that he was making rounds with his patients and would just let him know that she called once he was done. She almost screamed and cursed at the nurses to tell them that she had a fucking emergency with their son and she needed her husband pronto. But of course, she also understood that her husband was a doctor and he was needed by his own patients as well. And since Sebastian was at St. Luke's, one of the best hospitals in the country and Dr. Faulkerson was well known here – he was given priority. So she took a deep breath and thanked them before ending the phone call.
Now she was back to pacing, not minding that she was crying in the middle of the hospital hallway outside her son's room. She had asked if she could go to him but doctors told her that since he was in ICU, they had to isolate him for the meantime just until they could find out what exactly was wrong with him.
That was how Richard found her, bawling her eyes out as she was pacing through the hallway, not knowing what to do.
"Maine," he all but shouted, walking briskly towards his wife.
She looked up when she heard her name and seeing her husband, she cried all the more, running towards him – meeting him halfway.
"Shhh..." Richard shushed upon reaching her, embracing her tightly, one hand in her hair, the other rubbing her back up and down even as she continued to sob. "I'm sorry I wasn't here kaagad. But I called earlier before coming here when I got your messages just to check on Baste's status. Sinabihan naman ako ni Sam that he's doing fine and that he already ordered the MRI to check on him."
Dr. Samuel Gogna, MD, was a fellow brain doctor, a Pediatric Neurologist and a classmate of Richard back when he was still in med school. He was also Richard's best friend since they were in high school.
Maine could not be consoled however. Still sobbing, she was incoherent and could not reply to her husband. One could say that she was over-reacting but no one can really blame her – her only baby boy was inside that ICU room, tubes in his mouth and arms and in an induced coma. Any mother would not want to see her child in the same condition as Baste was at that moment.
When she calmed down, they sat down on the chairs opposite Baste's room. After sipping some water, Maine took a deep breath and looked towards her husband, holding his hand. "They said he hit his head on a table at school. Sabi pa nila he blacked out lang all of a sudden. Walang sabi sabi, RJ. Basta he suddenly blacked out and now he's here," she said, calling Richard by his nickname, her breath hitching. "Sabi pa sa akin nung teacher niya – may kausap pa siyang mga classmates when it happened. Nag-panic pa nga daw yung mga kaklase kasi biglang bumulagta na lang si Baste tapos tumama pa yung ulo sa kanto ng mesa."
RJ knew most of these already – having called Baste's teacher late at night after he got Maine's messages. He still let her talk, knowing that she needed to let it out. He remained quiet, her hand in his, his thumb circling the top of her hand, showing comfort.
"There was blood everywhere daw, RJ. Although I know that's normal kasi sabi mo head wounds bleed a lot and they, most of the time, look worse than they really are," Maine continued, closing her eyes, her head on his shoulder. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out, trying to calm herself more. "Pero bakit kailangan siyang i-induce ng coma, love? Bakit yung simpleng pag-bagsak niya parang ang lala naman at biglaang nandito siya sa ICU? No one would really tell me anything. Si Sam ang sabi lang wag akong mag-alala dahil ok lang daw si Baste. Pero bakit siya nandun at tayo nandito sa labas at hindi natin siya pwedeng mapuntahan at bakit siya nasa ICU? RJ, bakit?" she started to repeat herself, a sign that she was getting stressed again. Opening her eyes, she turned to look at her husband, worry evident in her eyes.
"Sshhh..." RJ shushed her once more, caressing her face lovingly and kissing her forehead. "You're stressing again, love. They're doing this para mas maalagaan nila si Baste. Para mas malaman kung anong problema sa kanya. Para malaman kung bakit biglaan siyang nag-black out ng walang pasintabi. He's in an induced coma para hindi na mabulabog pa lalo ang kanyang brain to give it a chance to heal properly."
"Why? May problema na ba siya sa brain niya? It was one small hit, RJ. The worst he could get from it dapat is a contusion or sige – a concussion."
"I'll see to it personally, love, ok? Don't worry na," he replied, smiling at her reassuringly.
Maine didn't reply anymore but she held onto RJ's hand tighter, leaning her head back down on his shoulder and closing her eyes.
//
When Sam found them a little while later, they were still holding hands, with Maine drifting almost sleeping, eyes still closed and RJ, his brows together – looking towards his son inside the ICU room.
"Pare," Sam greeted RJ to which RJ simply nodded – his gaze still not leaving his son. "Can we talk?" he asked looking meaningfully at RJ then at Maine, indicating that he wanted to speak to him without her.
"Maine, love," RJ nudged her, trying to get her to sit up straight. She groaned and opened her red-rimmed eyes, peering at him. "Sam and I just need to look at something. I think Baste's MRI results are in. Will you be all right here?"
"Can I come?" Maine asked quietly, her voice small.
RJ's heart broke for his wife. But he knew that whatever it was that Sam needed to speak with him about wasn't something that Maine was ready to hear yet. "I'm sorry, love pero doctors lang kasi ang pwede dun sa MRI room. I'll let you know what I find out as soon as I can, ok?"
Maine simply nodded, looking down. RJ kissed her head once more before standing up. He looked back before he even started to walk with Sam and asked, "Will you be ok here by yourself, Meng?"
She looked up and smiled tiredly at him, her smile not really reaching her eyes. "I'll be ok RJ. Sige na, go with Sam na. Dito lang ako."
Once they were quite a ways away from Maine, RJ finally asked Sam, "What did you find out?"
Sam sighed. "It's not good, bro. Ikaw na ang tumingin para sa sarili mo."
RJ frowned, not liking what his friend just told him. This was still his son that they were talking about. And even if he should look at it from a doctor's perspective – Sebastian was his son, first and foremost. "Sam, tell me what your first findings are. Nalaman na ba kung bakit siya nag-black out for no reason at all?"
They reached the MRI room and entered it, images of Baste's brain were already up on the lighted wall. RJ's frown deepened when he first glanced at the images. Sam observed him, not speaking for those first few heartbeats, letting his friend take in all the information from seeing his own son's MRI images.
"Do you know if Baste's been having these fainting spells for a while now?" Sam asked RJ, carefully.
"I'm not really sure. Mas alam ni Maine yan. Alam mo naman ang trabaho ko dito sa ospital," he mumbled – still looking at the images in front of him, deciphering them in his mind. "Although sabi ni Maine, madalas na parang pagod palagi yang inaanak mo."
Sam didn't reply back, waiting for the moment that RJ reached the last two MRI images. He knew that he did when he heard the subtle intake of breath that his friend did.
"What's the meaning of this Sam? Are you sure these are Baste's?"
"Oo, pare. Lahat ito kay Baste. Nakita mo na ba yung gusto kong sabihin sayo?" Sam asked delicately.
"No. That can't be right, Sam. No. Hindi pwedeng mangyari ito."
