Borrowed Time (completed)

35. care

Rj's anxiety over Meng's condition made him vomit again...thrice! He vomited when he arrived at the airport, on the airplane, and when he got to the hotel where Meng was billeted.

"...Uh hi! I'm Richard, Rj...Meng's boyfriend..." Rj as soon as the room door opened. He was pleasantly surprised to find out that Meng's friends were both girls.

"Hi! I'm Patrice or Ping...this is Bog..." Ping replied, whispering.

"Hi! I'm Jules, but they call me Bog..." Bog said, smiling.

"Hello...how is she?" Rj said as he peered into the room. They spoke in hushed voices to avoid waking Meng.

"She's sleeping now..." Ping replied, ushering Rj into the room. Meng sleeping was on one of the beds.

"...good...can I use the bathroom first?" Rj asked the girls.

"Sure...here o...the towels have been changed so they're new..." Bog explained.

"Thank you. I hope you don't mind but I booked another room down the hall...they're just cleaning it now..."

Bog and Ping look at each other.

"Why don't you use the bathroom first. Kami na bahala mag-ayos ng gamit ni Meng..." Bog said.

"...I have a slight problem though...I'm not allowed to lift heavy things..."

"Oh..."

"...heart patient..."

"Ah sige...kami nalang ang lilipat..." Ping replied.

"Super thank you!" Rj said as he entered the bathroom.

The girls fixed their things and waited for Rj to finish in the bathroom. A few minutes later, he came out, showered. He called the front desk to arrange for their transfer and stuck his head out into the hallway to make sure that the girls got inside the room before locking the door behind him.

When Rj turned to check on Meng, he noticed that she had curled up into a fetal position and had pulled the covers over her ears. He immediately went to her and felt that her she was burning up and was having the chills. He took the comforter from the other bed and wrapped it around her. He looked for the aircon switch and turned it off first. He removed his shirt and crawled under the covers to cuddle her as she shook. After a few minutes, Meng stopped shaking and whimpered.

"Shh...it's alright...you're going to be fine..." Rj reassured her while kissing her head as he stroked her arms and forehead.

"Ang sakit...owww..." she cried.

"Saan masakit?"