Borrowed Time (completed)

41. pursuit

He already felt it; the fluttering in his chest. Rj had not felt anything out of the ordinary since he had his ablation more than a year ago. He was advised to do some light exercises like walking to strengthen his heart. He was always aware if he was becoming tired so he would stop and rest. But after a while, he slowly forgot about the symptoms he would feel in relation to his heart condition.

He stopped and wiped his brow with the back of his hand.

"Boss! Okay lang kayo?" Jomar, his driver, looked up and saw Rj slightly turning pale and sweating heavily. He offered a cup of water which Rj declined. He bent down and continued working and Jomar squatted and concentrated on bundling together the wood that he had chopped. Rj asked Jomar to show him how to chop wood. He reasoned that he wasn't able to do 'panunuyo' before he got engaged to Meng so he's trying to catch up now. This particular weekend, he started by sweeping the picnic area where he had a picnic lunch set for him and Meng. Meng noticed that Rj was breathing 'oddly' in the afternoon and fell asleep almost as soon as he lay down in bed. They were still talking about work and how busy things were in the office when Meng only heard Rj's snoring in response to her stories.

"AAAH!" Rj screamed. Jomar quickly turned and saw Rj fall to the ground.

"Boss! TULONG! TULONG!" Jomar ran to Rj. They were in the clearing at the edge of the forest and near the rest house by the river. A while later, a few of the hacienda people were alerted and Yaya Beth came running along with Meng.

"Rj! Anong nangyari?" Meng rushed toward the unconscious Rj. "Rj! Rj!" Meng patted Rj's face as she shook him.

"Ricky! Susmaryosep!" Yaya Beth moved toward Rj's upper part and motioned for the other hacienda people to take Meng to the side first.

"Ayaw! Rj!" Meng protested but soon stood up and was hugged Nanay Teresa.

Yaya Beth remembered her first aid training and tried to listen to Rj's heartbeat. She decided to immediately do CPR on him. Luckily, Mama Rose had her attend a first aid and CPR refresher course just a month before this unfortunate incident.

Someone had already called for an ambulance so the EMT who arrived at the scene just as Rj regained consciousness. Yaya Beth accompanied Rj in the ambulance while Meng rode with Jomar in Rj's SUV.

---

"Ikkiiiiiiii!" Mama Rose wailed as soon as she heard about Rj's 'accident' at the hideaway. She dramatically slid down the wall while crying.

"Huy! Tumigil ka na dyan!" Papa Rico admonished Mama while talking on the telephone. A little while later, he turned to Mama who was now sitting on the bed, trying her best to stifle her cries.

"Ikki? Ikki-boy?" Mama looked up at Papa when she sensed him looking at her.

"...he'll stay sa ICU for observation. Ang sabi ni Miguel, over-fatigue daw ang cause nung pagka himatay nya kanina..."