BORROWED TIME

22

We all looked at the person who shouted.

"Wait! Saglit lang!"

Naghihingalong takbo nito palapit sa amin.

"Thirdy? Napadalaw ka?" tito Elmer asked him.

Thirdy stopped for a while and held his knees.

"Teka, where's your car?" kuya Loel asked.

We let him breath for a while bago siya magsalita.

"Hoooo! First of all, I am here kasi nabalitaan kong, Jho will go back to the Philippines na. And second, well, yung kotse ko nawalan ng hangin yung gulong maybe one kilometer away from here?" he scratched his hair.

Natawa naman sina tita Det sa kanya.

"Jhoana."

"Thirdy, ano yon?" he went near us.

"Hindi ka na ba talaga makukumbinsing mag-stay? For Bea?"

I shook my head. "Hindi na Thirdy. Maybe I'm not the right person to help Bea."

"Hmm okay. Ngayon ka na talaga aalis?" he asked once more.

"Yes." I shortly replied.

He only nodded. "Ahm, tito, tita? Can I come with you? Na ihatid si Jho sa airport? Pasensya na sa abala kasi ngayon pa nagka-problema yung kotse ko."

"It's okay, Thirds. Tara na. Sumakay na tayong lahat. Baka mahuli pa itong si Jho sa flight niya." tito Elmer said tsaka sila tuluyang pumasok lahat sa kotse.

Then off we go.

It was a one-hour drive from their house to the airport kaya I had a chance to sleep a little. Hindi kasi ako nakatulog ng maayos kagabi.

I remembered last night.

"Ged ano yon?! Bakit kailangan mong magbigay ng private informations kay Nico tungkol sa pasyente ko? Alam mong bawal yon diba?!" I asked him irritatingly.

"Jho, I know! Pero ano bang magagawa ko?! You know that your boyfriend is a powerful person. Lahat ng gustuhin niya, ipipilit niya." he explained through the other line.

Inirapan ko naman siya. "But Ged you know that those informations are confidential. Tell me, sinuhulan ka ba ni Nico?!" I gritted my teeth.

"Wala ka na ron Jho, okay? At kilala mo naman yang boyfriend mo diba? Bat tinatanong mo pa sakin?"

Napahilamos naman ako ng mukha. Leche! Ayaw pang umamin eh halata na nga!

"Nalaman man ni Nico or hindi, wala na akong kinalaman diyan okay? Ang mabuti pa, magconcentrate ka na lang diyan sa trabaho mo at sa pasyente mo. Wala ka naman nang magagawa kung malaman ni Nico lahat ng yun. Gawin mo na lang ang trabaho mo."

Then he ended the call.

Walanghiya! Siya pa talaga may ganang magbaba ng linya?!

I lied down my bed at sa sobrang inis ko, binaon ko ang mukha ko sa unan.

"Jho, wake up. Nandito na tayo." kuya Loel poked me in my shoulder kaya nagising rin agad ako.

We went out of the car at si Thirdy na ang nagbuhat ng mga bagahe ko.

"It's just 9:23 in the morning. You still have 37 more minutes before your flight, hindi na ba talaga magbabago ang isip mo?" Thirdy asked me.

"Hay nako Thirdy, wag mo nang pilitin yang isang yan dahil ginawa na namin lahat ng paraan para makumbinsi siyang wag munang umuwi. But guess what? Di nagpatinag. Kaya look at where we are now. We are in the airport and waiting for her departure." dire-diretsong sabi ni tito Elmer.