Sindak

KABANATA 43

To run after a person who has seriously lost his mind is definitely one of the most back-breaking experiences I ever had.  Doble ang hirap kapag nasa kamay pa nito ang isang taong mahalaga at pinakakaingat-ingatan ko.  I can't be too edgy...John might smell my fear. I can't be too smug either...Jasmine might think I don't care much. I can only be in my discomfort zone at this point. Similar to a hot air balloon. I float and is certainly going somewhere, yet with no power to dictate where.

John is wise. He initially avoided the highway to avoid being caught in a possible traffic jam. Kung saan-saan ito lumiko with an undeniable malice aforethought to misguide me on the road. But then when he failed to lose me, nag-exit din ito towards an unknown highway.

I'm not sure if I'm still breathing as I drove past my usual speed limit. I sussed that I somehow have forgotten to do so before the spasmodic cognizance of my existence prompts me that I'm still alive--and must stay so. My whole being is definitely in uncontrollable havoc and has dragged me out-of-sync for the very first time in my life. But I must hold on. I must stay alert and vigorous for Jasmine's sake.

"Anak ng--" I thought I'm going to have a cardiac arrest after John overtook a car in front of him, while a dump truck is head-on, on the other side of the road. Naka-iwas ang dump truck sa kotse ni John, but the truck swerved off the road which caused it to hit a residential house as it precipitated a concurrent domino effect on the vehicles behind. "What kind of a f*cktard have you become, John?!" Bulong ko habang dinaraanan ko ang napakahabang aksidente sa kabilang kalye. I cautiously overtake the same car John overtook before I stepped on the gas again.  

Copyright ⓒ DyslexicParanoia (Angela Atienza), 2014, All rights reserved.  

"Jeff!"

I can't hear her, pero sa pagbuka pa lang ng bibig ni Jasmine alam kong pangalan ko ang tinatawag n'ya. John and I are still in the middle of our uneventful chase nang magkamalay si Jasmine at agad na sumilip sa likod ng sasakyan ni John.

Pilit itong inaabot at pinatatahimik ni John habang nagmamaneho.

"Jeff!" Her palms rested on the windshield, crying. But John's right arm stretched backward as his strong hand succeeded to pull her hair and forcefully smash her head on the backrest of the front passenger seat. Jasmine dropped unconscious and became out of sight again.

I cussed. Brooding about my helplessness and Jasmine's pain. "I swear to GOD, John...I'm going to kill you. I'm going to catch you...and hurt you...you'll see..." I thrummed repeatedly. I stepped on the gas again. But this time, became more aggressive. I jolted in his rear, and after I calculated that the other side of the road is clear, I raced with him side by side as I lurched the right side of my car to his left.

He rolled down his windshield after I shook him with a huge hit, "Putang ina mo, Jeff!"  Sigaw n'ya, na tila ba ako pa ang may malaking atraso sa kanya.

I grinned and hit him sideways again. Lalo s'yang nagalit.  Pinaharurot nito ang kotse n'ya and took advantage of the approaching vehicles head-on from the other side of the road. Akala siguro n'ya, I'll slow down to give way since he had always known me as a defensive safe driver; but I didn't. I guess he doesn't really know how I am when I am desperate. I bumped him sideways again and did not stop until his car went off the road. His car flipped upside down before it sequentially crashed into a sturdy road sign, then the traffic barriers, and then an old tree.

***

"Doc, kumusta na po ang girlfriend ko?" Salubong ko sa emergency physician na nag-attend kay Jasmine. I have been waiting for two hours since I rushed her there.

"She suffered a severe concussion, a neck injury and a broken rib. She's still unconscious and we still need to do some tests and x-rays."

"H-how long will those tests take."

"It depends. I can't really give you a definite time span at this point. But be rest assured that our medical team is doing the best we could to provide her the best care she needs."

"H-how about my frie...the guy?"

Her brows furrowed. "What guy?"

"'Yung kasama n'ya sa kotse?"

"Oh, him?"

I nodded. Partly hoping he's dead.

"He's ok. It's quite surprising na superficial lang ang lahat mga injuries n'ya."

"What?" I said in my mind. "Where is he then?!"

"He already left." May dinukot itong puting sobre sa bulsa at ibinigay ito sa akin. "He actually asked me to give this to you."

Halos punitin ko na ang sobre para mabasa ko lang agad ang laman. On the piece of white paper he wrote: 

...Maybe not today but tomorrow is another day. 

[ITUTULOY]