TADHANA

II

[Chris POV]

I'm Chris Alonte, bestfriend of Reena Allison Montes.

Let me get the facts straight. This is not a story about a brokenhearted woman who will soon discover that her best friend is inlove with her and realize that she's inlove too with her best friend, then they'll live happily ever after. Hindi yun ganun. Best friends lang talaga kami. Walang talo-talo. And I have a girlfriend, Isha, na kaibigan din ni Reena. 6 years na kami.

Hindi rin kami magkababata or naging magkaklase ni Reena nung nag-aaral pa kami. Schoolmate? Yes. Since high school. Nagkaroon lang kami ng common friends then lumipat kami near her place kaya sabay kami laging nauwi. Naging close pero hanggang dun lang sa best friends. So if you are thinking that this is the same cliché bff story, I'm sorry to disappoint you, because this isn't.

I have my own POV to introduce her because as her bestfriend, I know that she will never tell a glimpse of her life and she'll just leave a riddle inside your head.

Reena is allergic in sharing what she feels. Hindi dahil sa pabebe siya but because even if she's too talented, she doesn't have any skills in translating her feelings into words. So if she tells you about how she feels, please appreciate it because it took her a lot of effort and thinking to spill it over.

In fact, I only saw Reena cried once and that's when I forced her to do so. She had a boyfriend since 2nd yr college. Reena is an ideal woman, and so this guy. His name is Vincent Sakagami. He's cool, smart and talented. Parang counterpart ni Reena kung lalaki siya. Hahaha. Their relationship is perfect but like any other relationship, sh*t happened. Nope, there's no 3rd party involved.

From year 2005-2010, everything was really perfect. The world is so magical to them. As I've said, relationship goals talaga sila. 5 years silang okay nun. Kapag nga mainit ang ulo ng isa, hindi sinasabayan ng isa. Ni hindi nga sila nakikitang nag-aaway. Pero nung first quarter ng 2011, mga March ata yun, the disaster came.

Nasa pantry kami ng office that time when Reena recognized that there's something wrong sa balat ni Vince. There are small red and purple spots in it. Nag-aalala na si Reena sa boyfriend niya kahit bago pa yung pangyayaring yun kasi napapansin niya na lagi na lang nagkaka fever or night sweats si Vince. Mabilis na rin itong mapagod sa mga basketball and football games. Nangangayayat. Hindi na rin kasi ito gaano malakas kumain unlike before. Madalas na rin itong dumadaing ng sakit na nararamdaman niya sa buto and sa stomach. Pero tuwing tatanungin siya ni Reena, he keeps on saying na baka pagod lang at ipapahinga niya nga lang. Naniwala naman si Reena kasi madami ngang extra curricular ang boyfriend niya. Pero nung nakita niya ng may red and violet spots si Vince sa balat, nag-insist siya na samahan ito magpacheck-up. Ayaw naman ni Vince. Inis na inis si Reena nun. Sa tagal na din naming magkaibigan, that was the first time I saw her angry, not because masama talaga ang loob niya but because she was worried. Also, yun din ang first time that we saw her and Vince fight pero syempre kailangang may sumuko para matapos ang away. Vince raised the white flag, he went to the hospital with Reena.

After several tests, it was found out that Vince was suffering from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia a.k.a ALL, a cancer of the blood and the bone marrow. Kaya pala ganun ang nararanasan niya plus the petechiae in his skin.

Parang gumuho ang mundo ni Vince nun. Imagine a very outgoing and talented man na may malaking potential sa industry na biglang ganun ang kahihinatnan, susubukin lang ng cancer. I witnessed how the world became unfair to Vince, but the only thing that they can do at that time is to fight even if the chances of winning is so small.

Even during the diagnosis and several tests to cure cancer, Reena never left his side. I'd seen how Vince suffered in cancer. I'd seen him cried more than a hundred times, but I never saw Reena shed a tear at that time, a legit optimist during the process. She was the light of Vince even if the world seemed so dark.

Vince was able to recover from cancer but after two months of killing all the cancer cells, relapse happened. Immature white blood cells or lymphoblasts build up in the bone marrow, which makes lesser room for healthy white blood cells (WBC), red blood cells (RBC) and platelets. These abnormal cells are unable to fight off infection. Vince needed at least 8 bags of RBC everyday, not to mention all the tests na pinagdaanan niya pero hindi lang kami aware o hindi lang naikwento sa akin ni Reena. Hospital bills piled up because they have to spend at least 20k and up per day. Kahit nga yung sweldo ni Reena ginagamit niya to save her boyfriend. One thing is sure, Vince suffered...a lot...and Reena saw it with her own eyes, torn her heart like it won't end forever, but still, she managed to live stronger for Vince as if this nightmare never existed.

I've seen how they tried to fight even if the situation seems so impossible. The process alone is depressing. Seriously. Pero lahat naman ng sakit at hirap natatapos. Lahat ng umpisa may katapusan, at yung istorya ni Vince at ni Reena nangailangan ding matapos...ng maaga.

Marahang hinalikan ni Reena si Vince sa noo. Hindi pa rin ito nagmumulat. Ngumiti si Reena and he talked to Vince as if Vince can hear him, "Mahal, sabi ko dati tuwing napapagod ka...na kapag napagod ka, magpahinga ka lang...pero huwag kang huminto," huminga siya ng malalim. "Sabi mo nga diba hindi ka hihinto because you are born a fighter." Ngumiti siya pero halata ang pait dito. "Ngayon, mahal...pwede na. Minsan...okay lang pala. Okay lang palang huminto. Pero mahal, hindi ka hihinto kasi hindi ka lumaban. Sobrang tapang mo, mahal. Ginawa naman natin ang lahat pero sobra na ang pagod mo. Pwede ka na huminto, mahal. Pwede ka na huminto para hindi ka na mapagod. Mas masakit pala sa pusong makita na napapagod ka. Okay lang, mahal. Okay na...malaya ka na" She smiled again, hold his hand tighter and kissed him on his cheeks like it would be the last time she can kiss him. To let go of a person that you know would want to keep you if only fate gave you both a chance is indeed one of the hardest thing to do.

After half an hour, Vince was declared dead. Sinamahan ko si Reena sa yugtong yun ng buhay niya. Idk kung emotionally constipated lang ba siya or what pero hindi ko talaga siya nakitang umiyak. Ni hindi rin namaga yung mga mata niya. Gusto ko siyang tuktukan ng mga panahong yun dahil alam kong hindi siya okay. Sinong magiging okay sa ganoong sitwasyon diba? Seeing her na ganoong kalakas makes me more worried. Nababaliw na ba siya?

After ng libing, Reena disappeared. She left a note saying, "I'll be out for seven days or more. Don't worry about me, I'm perfectly okay. Time to travel yeyyy! Will post photo para inggitin ka Hahahahaha." Para siyang ewan because when I checked her social media accounts, she deactivated from all of it. I can't even contact her sa phone. No one knows her whereabouts. Gumawa pa ako ng kwento sa parents niya kung saan ang itinerary niya and how she badly needed to travel. Pagkacheck ko ng leave niya, one month siyang naka-leave, not 7 days. Yun ba yung okay?

I checked all the possible places na gusto niyang puntahan. Tama nga ang hinala ko na hindi lang siya 7 days na mawawala. Napagod ako maghanap sa taong ayaw magpahanap...hanggang sa aksidente ko siyang nakita sa Sagada nung nag-work travel ako. Doon ko lang pala siya makikita, kung saan saan pa ko pumunta. Napansin kong pumayat siya. Nakapikit lang siya habang nakasandal sa bench na kinauupuan niya, she looks calm. I sat beside her and of course she felt that someone's sitting beside her. When she opened her eyes, kitang-kita ko na gulat na gulat siya. I smiled at her...

"Hey, Ms. Stubborn, how's life?"