Last Hope (Completed)

Prologue

"Miss?! Miss!" the woman desperately called out as she tried to wake the badly injured woman laying in front of her. "Please, gumising ka naman oh," she said as she gently shook the woman's shoulder. She stopped herself from trembling too much. She ripped the left leg of her pants using the sharp wood she had found earlier. It took almost all of her strength before she finally cut a piece of of her pants out. She used it as a bandage to stop the other woman's head from bleeding.

She examined the woman laying in front of her. She had a nasty cut in her forehead. She was pretty banged up. Her face was full of cuts and bruises. The bleeding from her nose and from the cut on her lips has finally stopped. They were both injured. The woman who was awake had so much pain coming from her ribs, she figured she had probably broken it. Though she didn't have a mirror to look at herself, she knew her face was probably as messed up as the face of the unconscious woman because she felt pain even when she didn't touch it. She used part of the leg of her pants to tie a bandage around her own head. She was also bleeding when she woke up. She doesn't know how long she had been unconscious before she finally gained consciousness, but her body felt weak probably from all the blood that she had just lost. She was thirsty, too. Her lips were chapped from its dryness. The walls of her throat felt like they were stuck together whenever she tried to swallow. It hurt her like hell to move around, but the unconscious woman had a heartbeat and she was desperate to wake her up because she wanted company; she badly needed company.

A couple of hours had gone by, she checked on the woman's pulse again. It was stronger now, so she tried even harder to wake her up. "Miss, please gumising ka. Please," she said. She was crying now. She was scared to be alone. She looked around. She didn't know where she was. She didn't know what to do. She doesn't even know if the other woman would survive the night. She lifted her own shirt to check on her injuries. It hurt her just lifting her shirt, but she was right. She must have been broken a rib or two. The whole skin in her rib area and around her side and back was almost the color black. She struggled to pull her shirt back down. She felt like breathing was such a hard labor. She wanted to rest, but she was eager to wake the other woman up.

She hesitated at first but she wanted to check the other woman's injuries, so she lifted the woman's shirt, too. She shook her head at what she saw. The woman had a large and nasty bruise just like hers. She carefully pulled the woman's shirt back down and moved to her legs to check on them again. The other woman was wearing pants; parts of it were torn off. Earlier, she checked if the woman was bleeding anywhere else in her body so she could try and stop the bleeding. Luckily, all of her cuts had stopped bleeding on their own. She went over by the woman's face and patted it gently. "Miss? Miss," she said again. It took her a few attempts when the woman finally started to move her body. The other woman moaned in pain as she gained consciousness. She breathed fast, she was anxious to have the other woman awake.

A few more moans of pain, the woman finally opened her eyes. She squinted as she tried to see clearly. Everything was dark now, but she could still see the outline of the woman hovering over her. "Miss, okay ka lang ba?" She asked. "No," the other woman answered. "I know, I know. Sorry. Ano pangalan mo?" She asked again, hoping the other woman could still remember and that she didn't have an amnesia. "Remy," she answered faintly. "Remy, 'wag ka matutulog ulit ha. Hindi pwede. Kelangan kita, okay? Kelangan natin isa't isa. Mag-tutulongan tayo para makaalis tayo dito," she said. "Just leave me. Pabigat lang ako sayo. Umalis ka na, mag-hanap ka na ng tulong para sayo," Remy answered. "Remy, no. Hindi nga pwede diba? Hindi kita iiwan ng mag-isa lalo ganyan kalagayan mo. Tsaka hindi ko kaya toh ng mag-isa. Kaya please lang, tulongan mokong tulongan ka. Mag-tulongan tayo para makaalis tayo pareho dito," the woman said. "Can't you see? I'm injured. I probably can't get up, so just leave and find help for yourself. I can barely see you because it's dark, but it's clear to me that you look like crap, and no I don't mean you're ugly, though I can't really see much of you. I just mean that I know you're pretty injured too," Remy replied. "Remy, ilang oras kitang hinintay magising. Kung may balak akong iwan ka, edi sana kanina pa," the woman replied. "Alam mo ang kulit mo, why don't you just leave me alone? You do you, I do me. Deal?" Remy asked. "Kung hinayaan lang kita kanina, edi sana namatay ka na dahil naubosan ka na ng dugo. Kung iiwanan kita dito gaya ng gusto mo, mamamatay ka rin. Ni hindi ka nga makagalaw," the woman said. "Sana nga hinayaan mo na lang ako mamatay eh. Even if I die, that's none of your business, okay? If you die, konsensya ko pa kasi hinayaan kitang mag-stay dito instead na sana makahanap ka na ng tulong para sa sarili mo," Remy said. "Sa tingin mo hindi ako makokonsensya kung aalis ako dito at iiwan kita ng ganyan? Na nag-hanap ako ng tulong para ma-save sarili ko tapos ikaw iniwanan ko lang?" The woman reasoned. "Fine. Here's the deal, I. WANT. TO. DIE. So there's no reason para makonsensya ka, okay? No reason to feel guilty. So go on, you can leave now," Remy insisted. "Alam mo, makulit ka din eh. Hindi. Kita. Iiwan. Dito. Okay? Kung mamamatay ka, edi mamamatay din ako. Basta hindi kita iiwan ng mag-isa dito," the woman said. "Ugh. Damn it!" Remy said, frustrated. She tried to roll on her side and moaned in pain. She clutched her stomach. "Oh, ayan kasi. San masakit?" The woman asked as she helped Remy up. Remy grimaced in pain. She forced herself to get up even though the pain almost made her black out again. The woman continued to help her. Fuck!" Remy said in pain. "Huy! Bunganga neto," the woman scolded. "Hindi naman ikaw minura ko," Remy argued. "Maski na," the woman argued back. Remy shook her head as she continued to walk in a limp. She refused to be helped by the other woman. Then, Remy stumbled and fell to the ground. She was too weak to be standing around. The other woman stood there staring at her. The moon was hovering brightly over them by now. Remy's heart was beating fast. She tried to ignore the fact that her fall magnified her pain. Her head spinned. She looked up at the other woman who was staring down at her. The woman's face was indeed messed up from all her injuries, but it didn't stop Remy from seeing who she really was. Remy's breathing grew harder and faster. She shook her head before she stared at the woman again. Remy's breathing grew increasingly fast. She felt like she was hallucinating or maybe even dreaming. She stared at the woman's face once again. She could see clearly now because of the light coming from the moon. She could not believe her eyes, but she finally managed to say, "Ate Sarah? Sarah Geronimo?"