"Thomas has dengue. We already ran tests with him for baseline information. He has high fever now but the worse is yet to come. When the fever goes down, so will his platelet count and we will closely monitor it to prevent hemorrhages," Dr. Joan said.
She is the Torres' family doctor and she will be taking care of Thomas' medical needs. We already transferred Thomas into a private room after he was checked in the ER.
"Thanks Jo, is there something that we should be concerned of? I mean, look at my son. He looks so weak," Tita Jane inquired.
"We will do our best to monitor him, Jane. We get a lot of dengue cases now since it's the rainy season and we have ways to prevent the serious complications," the doctor professionally said. "Don't worry he's my number one priority now."
"Thank you, Jo," Tito said
"Don't worry too much. When the tests come in, I will be back right away," the doctor said and then she left.
"Saan ba sumusuot tong si Thomas at nagkaka-dengue," I heard Tito said.
Thomas was sleeping on his hospital bed. He looks super sick, his skin is pale, his eyes are a little sunken. Haaay nakakaawa.
"Ara, hija, have you eaten?" I heard Tita Jane asked me.
"Ahhhh... Hindi pa po..." I answered. I haven't eaten anything since I didn't join the team dinner.
"Halika, kumain muna tayo. Si Tito mo na muna bahala kay Thomas. Pagkatapos nating kumain siya naman," Tita said.
"Ahh, mauna na lang po muna kayo. Ako na muna bahala dito," I said.
"It's okay, hija. Galing ka sa game at hindi ka pa kumakain," Tito said.
"Okay lang po. Hindi naman po ako gutom. Tatawagan ko po kayo kung bumalik na si Doc," I told them.
"Are you sure?" Tita asked again.
"Opo," I smiled.
They were hesitant at first but eventually left me with Thomas. I sat on the couch beside his bed. I just sat there and watch him breathe.
Abnormal tong taong to eh. Kinabahan ako ng sobra sa slight. Mas grabe pa yung kaba ko nung nakita kong inaakay siya pababa sa hagdan kesa nung sa game kanina. Sarap dagukan. Nakuuuu...
I eventually stopped cursing him silently and started fixing his messy hair. Wala akong mapagdiskitahan eh.
"Hay Thomas, siguraduhin mong aayos ka, makakaisa ka talaga sakin pag hindi pa bumuti yang sakit mo," I said while gently massaging his head.
"Violent," he suddenly said. He slowly opened his eyes. Gising pala.
"Sorry naggising ba kita?" I said and remove my hand from his head.
"No. Balik mo, relaxing eh," he requested. I obliged and started massaging his head again. He closed his eyes but smiled.
"Kamusta pakiramdam mo?" I asked eventually.
"Okay na po," he said without opening his eyes. "Nandito ka na eh."
"Asus," I deflected. "Bakit bigla-bigla ka na lang nagkakasakit ha? Saan ka ba nagpupunta? Maayos ka naman nung huli tayong nagkita ah."
