The Irony

Chapter 19

Maine hissed as she felt the needle make its way through her bone to her bone marrow and RJ felt her grip tighten in his hand. 

It has been days since RJ brought her to the hospital with a new onset of fever. Maine decided to push through with the biopsy and aspiration to rule out other diagnoses but they had to wait several days since Maine was taking medications that could potentiate bleeding complications from the procedure. 

"Love." RJ stood closer to her right side to rub her upper back since she was lying flat on her stomach for the procedure. He felt so helpless just standing there as he felt Maine wince in pain. 

"Anak." Mary Ann came closer and stroked her daughter's hair. 

"Nay, dun na lang po kayo sa labas." 

"Anak naman, nahihiya ka pa rin sakin. Hirap na hirap ka na nga dyan yun pa rin naiisip mo." She gently rubbed Maine's shoulders. If she could just take all of what her daughter is going through, she is more than willing to put herself in Maine's shoes to spare her daughter from all of this. But, there was nothing she could do except to be there for her. 

"Ow.." Maine bit her lip as she shut her eyes and tucked her face under the pillow. 

"I know, Maine, I know." The doctor said with empathy. "Breathe, Maine. Don't hold your breath, makakasama sayo yan. Take a deep breath." 

Maine followed her instructions and tried to calm herself by taking deep breaths. "Nay, paglabas ko dito beach tayo." 

"Basta payagan ka ni doc, anak, kahit san mo gusto."

"Eh, Tita, ako?" RJ jumped in. They were trying to distract Maine from the procedure. 

"Eh, syempre. Parte ka na rin ng pamilya, hijo. Tsaka di naman papayag si Maine na di ka kasama." 

"Uyy, love narinig mo? Parte na rin daw ako ng pamilya. Pakasal na tayo?" RJ kissed the top of Maine's head. 

"Love, wag ako. Mapurok ako. Baka bigla kitang kaladkarin sa simbahan pagtayo ko dito mamaya." Maine replied, making everyone in the room laugh. 

"Kami, pwede sumama?" The doctor joined in while continuing with her work. 

"Di pwede doc, ang sakit sakit nyang ginagawa nyo tapos sasama pa kayo sa beach." Maine said, making everyone laugh again.

RJ heard another hiss from Maine. "Doc, alam ko ayaw nyo talaga sumama sa beach. Ramdam ko sa buto ko. Mas masakit yan." Maine said as a joke but her eyes were tearing up. 

"Oww.." Maine was face down on the pillow and RJ could tell her body was becoming tensed. 

"Breathe, Maine. Take a deep breath. We're almost done." 

RJ could only swallow the lump in his throat as he stroked Maine's upper back and held her hand tighter. 

The rest of the procedure went well and Maine was wheeled back to her room since her lower back was still sore from the bone marrow biopsy and aspiration. 

"RJ, anak, umuwi ka muna para makapagpahinga. Ilang araw na kayo dito ni Maine. Pupunta naman ang Tito Teddy mo mamaya." Mary Ann said as she helped Maine with her food. 

"Ok lang ako, Tita. Samahan ko po kayo dito." 

"Love, baka ikaw naman magkasakit nyan. Ayokong napapabayaan mo sarili mo dahil sakin." Maine looked at RJ as he approached her. 

"Ok lang ako, love. Uuwi naman ako pag pagod ako eh." 

"Love, napagusapan na natin yan." 

RJ didn't want to argue with Maine and he knew she was also worried about his well-being. "Sige, uwi muna ako sa bahay pero babalik rin agad ako bukas." 

RJ said goodbye to Maine and her mom and dropped by the condo unit to get Maine's laptop to bring to the hospital with him the next day. He walked over to her desk and saw a checklist pinned on her cork board. Her bucket list, he said to himself. He read the first few items on the list.

Study in the States. Check. Be an editor. Check.Write a novel. In progress. Go to Pagudpud. Visit Vigan. Explore the Philippines. Publish my poems. Ride a hot air balloon. Attend a lantern festival. And the list had a couple more items on it. RJ recalled his conversation with Maine at EK when he said his bucket list is to put a check mark beside each item on hers. RJ took a photo of the list, took Maine's laptop and made his way to their house. 

"Anak, ang lalim ng iniisip mo." His Dad sat beside him on the patio. "Si Maine ba? Kamusta na sya?" 

RJ looked at his Dad and nodded. "Ok naman, Dad, wala na syang lagnat tsaka nag undergo sya ng diagnostic procedure kanina." 

Richard gave RJ a pat on the shoulder and faced him. "Matatag na bata si Maine anak. She's a strong person, but even the strongest warriors need help sometimes. Kailangan ka nya, anak. Kailangan mong magpakatatag para sa kanya." 

Suddenly, RJ's tears were falling from his eyes. "Ang hirap po. Ang sakit. Pano mo nagawa yun kay Mommy, Dad?" 

"Mahirap talaga, RJ. Pero alam kong kumukuha din sakin ng lakas ang Mommy mo nun kaya nagpakatatag ako. Iparamdam mo sa kanya na nag-aalala ka lang at inaalagaan mo sya dahil gusto mo pa syang makasama ng matagal, pero at the same time, iparamdam mong sya pa rin yung dating Maine. Her sickness does not define her whole being, anak. Yun ang ayaw nyang makita ng mga tao sa kanya. Sya pa rin si Maine na may mga pangarap at gustong gawin." 

RJ wiped his tears and nodded as he listened to his father. "Thank you, Dad." 

"Pahinga ka na anak, hindi magugustuhan ni Maine na ikaw naman magkasakit dahil hindi ka nagpapahinga." Richard said as he left RJ to give him some time alone. 

RJ went to bed after half an hour and he must have been so tired that he fell asleep immediately and he could barely see his way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. He was about to go back to sleep when he checked his phone and saw missed calls from Coleen, a few other ones from Dean, and a couple of text messages. It was 4 in the morning. He didn't even get to see all the notifications when RJ felt his blood shot up his head and his heart pounding as he dialed Coleen's number. 

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Note: I used a bit of info from my knowledge and I also did a bit of research but I am not a medical expert so I apologize if there are inconsistencies with the literature. Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts and thank you to those of you who continue to read and vote for the chapters!