"Hija, make sure to check Mr. Romulo's vitals every hour okay? I have a surgery coming up in an hour," madali na sabi sa akin ni doktora while looking at her watch.
"Yes maam," I immediately put the cup of coffee I was drinking down on the desk infront of me and stood up. "Good luck po on your surgery," I dont know if she heard that kasi she ran out of the lounge.
While walking up to the ward, iniisip ko kung ilang oras na ako gising, 'isang linggo na yata,' my dramatic ass thought. I shook my head and entered the ward. I did what I was told and came back every hour to check on Mr. Romulo again. He just had an open heart surgery and was recovering, hopefully all will be well.
"Mayumi bat nandito ka pa?" napatingin ako kay ate jing, ang nurse in duty ngayong araw, "Bakit po?" She laughed, "Tapos na shift mo." Nakahinga na din ako nang malalim nang nakaalis nung narinig ko ito, sumakit na yata ang ulo ko sa tagal nung duty kona yun. I reached for my phone and called Dr. Perez, I met her on my first day of internship here, and we eventually became friends,
"Moira gutom na ako," sabi ko at pumasok sa doctors lounge, kinuha ko na din ang wallet at cellphone ko sa drawer.
"Yumi gising, iba na schedule natin, our shifts end on different times na!"
Napatigil ako sa paglakad at nanlaki ang mga mata ko, I sighed, "So kakain ako magisa ganun?"
"Slow ka?"
"Gaga."
Narinig ko ang tawa nya, "I don't wanna do this either, just call someone else for today bub sorry,"
I nodded, "I guess I'd have to do that,"
"I'll go na, madami pa akong oxygen tank na bubuhatin,"
Natawa ako, "Serves you right, see you bub." at binaba ko na ang tawag.
I took my bag and removed my lab gown and hung it on the door, pinatay ko ang ilaw nang room k at lumabas. Busy nanaman ang ospital ngayon, dengue season kasi eh. I was gonna my mom for lunch, but I remembered na may important meeting pala sya today, so I dialed Jerome's number and he answered after a few rings.
"Can you come here, sabay tayong mageat," dineretso ko na sya,
"Basta libre mo!"
"Patay gutom ka talaga Je, yaman yaman eh!" Sura kong sabi.
"You're literally asking me for a favor Yumi," natatawang tanong nya.
"Whatever, Kung ayaw mo wag," bulong ko.
"Joke lang kasi doktora, eto naman."
"Meet me, Jollibee sa tapat namin ha, I'll be waiting there."
Nagbbye na kami sa isa't isa, "Kuya Lester, mamaya ko na po kukunin yung sasakyan ko ha!" paalam ko sa security guard namin, ngumiti ito at nag thumbs up. Machika yang si Kuya Lester at alam lahat nang chismis tungkol sa mga staff nang ospital, kaya lagi ko syang ka chokaran, char not char!
Nilakad ko nang ang jollibee at isang tumbling lang naman ang layo. Pagdating ko dun ay wala pa si Jerome kaya naman umorder na ako, C3 syempre.
Sa sobrang gutom ko ay naubos ko na yung meal bago pa dumating si Jerome. "Psst, Yumi!" I looked at him, "Hay nako, king of being late talaga," reklamo ko. Lumapit sya sa akin, napansin ko na may tinatago sya na paper bags sa likod nya.
"Ano nanamang paandar mo?" I scratched my head , "You never said kakain tayo sa Jollibee, sabi mo meet you there!" Sabi nya sa akin, di ko alam kung seryoso ba to or nang goo-good time lang. "Je, doctor ako, kung may problema ka pwede mo akong-" Nilabas nya ang hawak nya, paper bag nang mcdonalds amp.
"Ikaw na talaga Jerome."
"Stand up, baka pa alisin na tayo nang staff oh my gosh."
Kaya naman ay sa sasakyan nya nalang kami kumain. "And when I called him out for never closing my office door, he got mad at me," he said in disbelief, "the fuck?" I laughed, "Cut off the toxic people in your life bro." Madami pa syang nasabi tungkol sa mga co-workers nya, who all seem to be kinda problematic, the company he works for is actually owned by his family, yaman dibuh? We've known each other since grade 1, we studied abroad until napagdecisionan nang parents namin na mas maganda kung dito kami mag shs sa pinas, I went back to the states for uni, and he stayed here.
"Akin na yung basura mo," I reached my hand out and took his empty burger wrapper. I took a look on his face, getting ready to ask a risky question, "So," he looked at me, "do you wanna come with me? I'm visiting Gella tomorrow," I asked. He sighed and smiled slightly at me, I looked down, I should've just shut my mouth. "Sure," he said. I looked back at him, he was watching the people crossing the road.
He poked my side, "Eh ikaw? namimiss mo nanaman si captain no?" Binatukan ko sya, "Gago," bulong ko.
"nakalimutan ko na yun."
