Rebound

14th REBOUND

14th REBOUND

Jeron was sitting on the bench, with his hands cupping his face in frustration. People in white robes began passing by him. That's when he noticed that he was in a hospital's hallway.

He stood up and saw his reflection in the glass window of a room. He also noticed that he became a child again. Probably in his 8th year of existence.

"A dream again?" He whispered to himself and rubbed his eyes skeptically, trying to wake himself up.

He blinked three times and found out that he's still in his dream. A few minutes later, he just gave up and looked left where he saw a slightly opened door and recognized, two familiar figures, the lady was sobbing, and the man was keeping himself calm but tears were threatening to fall from his chinky eyes.

He slowly headed to the door where he took a peak and realized that the couple was his Mom and Dad, at their early thirties.

"So you mean that Jeron doesn't have any chances of recovering at all?" Alvin asked with a frustated look on his face. His other arm, wrapped around Susan, while the other, is rubbing her back to ease her burden.

The Doctor heaved a deep breath, and then let out an audible sigh, he looked at the frustrated couple and closed his eyes, "I'll be honest with you," he started his statement, obviously finding it hard to tell them about Jeron's condition,

"Your son still has a couple more years to live." He plainly replied.

"How long?" Alvin asked, taking and gathering all the courage he had to ask that two-word question.

Susan, being a doctor as well, know what the answer might be. She gripped his husband's wrist and objected, "No."

Alvin held her hand tight and looked at her, "We have to know. We have to be prepared."

"His heart is getting weaker as days pass by, but this is not weak enough to restrict him from doing sports activities. Your son plays basketball right? It's okay, just let him. But keep in mind that whenever he is indulged in this kind of activity, please do consult his mentor or coach, to not let him play beyond 20-30 minutes. He has to rest from time to time." The Doctor told them.

"You haven't answered our question yet, Doc." Alvin replied.

"Well, Jeron is quite strong for his age. And I'm very happy with this. But apparently, he won't be able to reach his thirties. But who knows, what if a miracle will happen, or a compatible heart donor arrives at that time, maybe he'll surpass this one. We just have to keep praying. We just have to be strong for him." The doctor thoroughly replied.

With a dismayed look on his face, Jeron took a step backward, and covered his ears with both his hands, not wanting to hear anymore of his parents and the doctor's discussion.

He was about to run away when he saw a silhouette of a familiar girl in his peripheral vision. He looked left and saw his best friend, glued on her feet, with tears rushing down her rosy cheeks.

"Riri, she's here. And by the looks of it, she already knew about my condition." Jeron mentally said. And with that, she ran as fast as she could away from him and away from the hospital.

***

After a few hours of finding his childhood friend, he saw her at the back of the hospital near the cliff, her gestures telling him that she's finding something.

"Riri! Why are you here?" Jeron asked out of the blue,

Riri was startled and just stared at him blankly. She recomposed herself after and just smiled at him faintly,