Morning Blushes

chapter thirteen

I woke up feeling neutral this morning. Like, nothing. Hindi ko na lang pinansin at pinilit na tumayo. I need to keep moving. The hope of the sun is hiding behind the clouds. Umakyat ako papunta sa rooftop with my Kindle. The glow of the horizon is blasting colors. I thought I would never be tired of this refreshing place. The environment I've been living in for the rest of my life, as well as the misery in me for the past five years. 

Will people get tired of me? Like Manang? Kuya Adriane? My freerunner friend? I can't help but think. I am tired even in this finest morning. Thinking about studying later, I already felt a hollow forming in my stomach. 

Natanaw ko si De Guzman. He's heading in my direction so I waited for him to come. Halos mapapikit na ako nang tumawid siya sa isang cliff. He'll surely be the death of me. Mas lalo akong kinabahan nang magkatinginan kami. Nginitian niya lang ako. 

He looks like he just went from practicing his thing. His hair is just the way it is. They're untidy but it's almost like a normal thing for me now. I still want his hair freshly cut clean, though. I haven't seen that.

Habang papalapit siya, I stood up. He's now standing at the edge of the rooftop. He's facing the dawn and blocked the crepuscular passing through. The wind brushes his hair and makes it more disheveled. And the shadows of the sun highlighted the brown of his hair.

Kinabahan ako lalo nang tumayo siya doon with just his foot. He's even doing little jumps! This man is insane... He knows I'm watching him that's why he's doing this!

"Can you please stop that?"

Nung humarap siya, parang nilayasan na ako ng puso ko. He can fall anytime!

"Good morning, miss."

I'm about to turn around and leave when I noticed wounds below his elbow. I got alarmed. Andami nang pumapasok sa utak ko na posibleng nangyari kung bakit siya nagkaroon ng ganyan. 

Bumalik ako sa nook ko at kinuha sa ilalim ng table ang first aid kit ko. I have this here now since my plants are hurting me sometimes with their sharp edges.

"De Guzman, come here."

Instead of giving me a response, he looked at me. I waited for him to come and he finally did. 

"Umupo ka d'yan," I pointed him to the bench. He just shrugged and sat down. 

I prepared the things I will be needing to clean his wounds. I sat down next to him and face him. I gently grabbed his arm and took care of his injury.

"This will be a little painful," I warned him. "Ano bang ginagawa mo sa sarili mo?"

He didn't speak. While I'm busy with my business, I still wait for him to at least spare further explanation. He's just staring somewhere else. Or nowhere. His eyes are angled away from me or his bruise. Is he afraid of blood? Or is it that painful? I am trying to be as gentle as possible.

"Anong nangyari dito?" I asked again. "Hey."

"Ha?" He glanced instantly and looked away again. "Ah, dumaplis sa... I don't know. Something sharp. It's not that deadly. This is normal."

He runs his fingers through his hair. He's not usually this extremely silent. It makes me want to jump off his thoughts. Everything is so messed up right now, obviously. Maybe he's still sleepy. 

Binilisan ko na because he seems really uncomfortable. I don't think it's painful for him since he's not even moving a bit. He's completely frozen in his seat.

"Ayos na. Wherever you got that wound, sana tinuluyan ka pa. And, clean that frequently."

When I let go of his arm to put the kit back, that's only when he moved.