Going home from the hospital, Sarah and Gerald rode together in his SUV. Gerald asked his PA and friend, Jalal, to drive Sarah’s car so that she wouldn’t have to leave it in the hospital. They were seated in the back seat while Gerald’s mother rode in front in the passenger seat, beside Kuya Vic, his driver.
“Ge, nakatanggap ako ng call from ate mo at mukhang kailangan ko agad bumalik sa atin sa Gen. San.”
“Bakit daw mommy?”
“Eh paano, bago yung kahera ko sa grocery natin at may milagrong nangyayari. Supervise ko muna sila doon...”
“Tita, kung okay lang po sa inyo, ako na po muna bahala kay Gerald since Community Medicine na yung rotation ko next so maluwang po ang schedule ko. In fact, dyan po ako malapit lang sa Payatas magro-rotate..” Singit ni Sarah.
“Naku, talaga anak? At least may maiiwanan ako dito sa baby ko.”
Gerald protested, “Baby?!! Di na ko baby ma! May babe na nga ako eh!” Tukso nito kay Sarah.
Tinapik ni Sarah si Gerald at pabulong na pinagalitan ito, “Huy, nahihiya na ‘ko!”
“Eh, bakit ka nahihiya?! Babe naman talaga kita eh!” Tawang tawa si Gerald sa kasintahan.
“Tita, pasensiya na po kayo ha? Pilyo talaga ito si Ge. Uhm...I actually don’t know if this is the right time to say it but since alam niyo na din naman siguro po na Gerald and I are trying to start over again...uhm...I guess, I just wanted to apologize po for hurting your son. ‘Di ko po talaga sinasadya and may katangahan po kasi ako that time...”
“Sarah, what’s between you and Gerald is between you and him. ‘Di ka na kailangan mag-sorry sa akin kasi malalaki na kayong dalawa. Ang akin lang siguro, sana ‘wag na kayong magkasakitan dalawa. I want to thank you for making him happy again. Right son?”
“Thanks mom..I love you.”
“It means a lot to me tita that you feel that way. I hope po I can prove myself to him and to you.” Sinabi ni Sarah habang tiningnan si Gerald. He looked at her with tenderness, touched by her determination to make it right this time around, and found himself kissing the top of her head.
Nagpahatid na din ang ina ni Gerald sa airport pagkahatid kay Gerald sa bahay. Tinulungan ni Sarah si Jalal to put away stuff while Gerald rested in his room. When the time came for her to fix his personal things, Jalal directed Sarah where Gerald’s room was in the 2nd floor of his house.
Sarah liked Gerald’s taste. It was masculine but not overly so that it seemed cold. Medyo zen ‘yung theme which reflected his easy personality. There were posters of his movies and teleseryes along the hallway leading to his room. She admitted that she really avoided watching him before because she feared she’d be impulsive and seek him. She recognized the first two teleseryes where he was paired with Jessy Medina, his loveteam from the start of his showbiz career and felt a tinge of jealousy as they shared a very intimate look in the poster. Sarah knocked softly at the 2nd door on the left side of the hall and after several attempts, she realized that Gerald may be sleeping soundly. She then opened the door quietly and peeked first. The bed was situated on the far side of the room and Gerald was sleeping soundly on his left side facing away from the door. Since it was early afternoon, there was ample natural light coming from the windows. She noticed that the walls were quite bare and saw a box on one side of the room. She made a mental note to ask Gerald where she can keep it so dust won’t gather on it.
On her right, opposite side of the bed was a sliding door which led to a walk in closet that connected to the bathroom. There were no doors separating the closet from the bathroom which made it appear spacious. There was a bath tub with a shower over it, and a counter with one sink. The counter was filled with perfume bottles and skin products. Sarah laughed to herself thinking that Gerald probably spent more time with her in front of the mirror. She opened his closet to put away his clothes and was not surprised to see it all organized by color and type of garment. Shirts first, done. Then, shorts, which included only a couple of basketball shorts. And finally...natawa na naman si Sarah. Wifey talaga ang peg ko ha! ...Gerald’s briefs and boxers. She was about to fold it but couldn’t help peeking at the size...Ay!!!! She told herself loudly, “Erase! Erase! Bad ‘yan!”
“Ano’ng bad?”
Naihagis ni Sarah ang salawal ni Gerald sa gulat, “Ay peklat!”
Tawang tawa na naman si Gerald habang pinulot ang briefs na naihagis ni Sarah. “Ikaw kasi kung ano ano ang iniisip mo eh..”
“Ano ka ba? Ginulat mo ako! Excuse me ‘no?! Tumutulong lang ako kasi di ba? Sabi ko sa mommy mo, ako muna ang bahala...sa susunod, wag ganyan, aatakihin ako sa ‘yo sa puso!” Tuloy tuloy si Sarah dahil sa hiya at nerbiyos combined.
“Seriously babe, just place it there, you don’t have to fix it. Si Manang Mosa na bahala dyan.....Pero natutuwa ako. Nai-imagine ko na married na tayo. Siguro kung...” Gerald’s voice trailed off.
Lumapit si Sarah at niyakap ang nobyo by the waist. “Sorry na..”
Gerald wrapped his arms around Sarah and said, “Pasensiya na, ayaw ko naman to bring up the past pero...promise, try ko na kalimutan na ‘yun.”
“I understand babe....”
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That day, Sarah decided to stay over for the weekend to help Gerald get settled. Someone needed to look over him especially because he has just been discharged. Sarah secretly hoped he would invite him over and prepared an overnight bag just in case. Buti na lang, libre ang mangarap at minsan, nagkakatsamba ang tadhana kaya dapat laging handa! She couldn’t help but feel excited at the thought of spending the weekend with her man. Her man. Ang sarap naman sabihin! There was never really anyone except for Gerald. And since she was going to be assigned at Payatas for the next month, Gerald convinced him to make his house her homebase for a while.
Gerald, on the otherhand, couldn’t help but thank his lucky stars for the unexpected twist of fate. Kung hindi siya naaksidente, he could never get back together with his Sarah. His spleen had to be sacrificed but it was something he could live without unlike Sarah. Truth be told, he was starting to question everything he had during the days leading to the accident. That may have been the reason why he broke up with Jessy. Sick of all the lies he kept telling himself, he decided to make at least one truthful decision for himself. When he broke up with Jessy, there was relief and hope at the same time. Nagpakatotoo ako, everyone be damned. He was sure there was no truth to rumors about Jessy’s alleged pregnancy because they haven’t been intimate for a year now. That was when he started to question the path he was trekking. And now, here he was, reunited once again with the greatest love of his life.
“Babe, use the guest room ha? It’s just across my room. Baka sabihin mo...” Gerald reminded Sarah.
“Woooshoo! Kunwari ka pa! ...Hinde...thank you Ge. I’ll just put away some of my stuff sa room ha? Teka, kunin ko lang sa kotse ko. Pahinga ka na muna. Holler if you need me.” Sarah placed a quick kiss on his lips.
As Sarah was about to leave, Gerald pulled her back and hugged her tightly. “Hmmmmmm!!! Nakakagigil ka!”
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It was past 9pm when Sarah finished fixing her things and showering. She was wearing a tank top and plaid pajama bottoms. She remembered that Gerald had to take a couple of pills before bedtime and decided to tackle that before she tried to hit her books. She softly padded across the hall and knocked softly on Gerald’s door, calling him, “Babe?”
She opened the door softly and saw that Gerald wasn’t in bed yet. She heard the shower in the bathroom and concluded where he was. Sarah decided to check on his bedtime meds which she placed earlier on the side table by the bed. Pain reliever na lang pala and an antibiotic for the next 3 days, she told herself. She noticed that the drawer was slightly ajar and became intrigued by what she saw. Sarah opened the drawer and took out the topmost contents. It was their pictures from Camp bundled together by a rubber band. Napaupo si Sarah by the bed, realizing how Gerald probably kept all of this despite his anger towards her. Iniisa isa niyang tingnan ang mga litrato at napaluha. After going through it all, she saw a box inside the drawer and opened it .....their wedding rings. Sinuot ni Sarah ang singsing na para sa kanya. She told herself, she didn’t need a piece of paper to know, deep in her heart, Gerald owned her body and soul. With a firm resolve, she intended to prove it to him soon.
