Sitio Maravillas

Sa Muling Pagmulat

Lying on the bed, her eyes fluttered, and her vision blurred as she was greeted by a bright light - the ceiling light. She tried to get a sense of her environment, her senses still quite feeble and numb from the impact of the car crash. Her ears were ringing, she could faintly hear arguments over the room. There were sobs, cries, screams, and hints of anger, grief, and frustration.

"Matteo, please, huminahon ka."

"Paano ako hihinahon, Giselle?! Sabihin mo sa akin kung paano ako kakalma?! OUR SON IS DEAD!"

Unti-unti nang nagkakaroon ng malay si Maddison. She began to regain her senses, yet she remained silent. Nahihirapan rin siyang magkumilos dahil sa mga injuries niya mula sa aksidente.

"I JUST LOST MY SON! Paano mo ba natitiis yon, ha?!"

Matteo was throwing a fit, punching the wall, and flipping the objects on the table, causing Giselle to flinch. And yet still, pinilit niyang magpakatatag and she stood her ground.

"I lost my son too. Hindi porke't hindi ako umiiyak at nagwawala ay hindi ko siya mahal. Mahal ko si William."

Wala na si William? Maddie thought. No, it can't be. Hindi pwede- paano?! She was the one who fell into the pit. Bakit siya ang nabuhay?!

She was shocked, tears began to form in her eye. She didn't know how to react. Iiyak ba siya? Sisigaw? Magwawala? Even if she wanted to, she didn't have the strength to. But while she lay paralysed on her bed, the news definitely broke her. William, her brother, her bestfriend, her defender, her soulmate. When William died, a part of Maddie died too and she would never be the same again. She would not smile the same way again. She would not laugh the same way again. She would not live the same way again. Though her voice could not crack at the moment, her heart definitely did.

"Ang sa akin lang, may isa pa tayong anak na kailangang asikasuhin. Si Maddison. We need to stay calm and collected for her too-" Giselle struggled to keep her composure and repress her voice from breaking only for Matteo to interrupt her sound advice.

"No! Hindi ko 'yan anak! Wala akong anak na suwail at bastada! Ano bang pakialam ko sa ampon na yun?!"

"Matteo!"

And another one bites the dust. As if one heartbreak was not enough, she just had to take another jab to the heart. Ampon. Ampon lang siya? She was never loved. She never belonged. She was never seen nor heard. She tried so hard and she was never the one. It's as though she was stabbed through the heart again and again and again.

That was the final straw. A tear fell down her eye as her spirit fell down too. She doesn't have love anymore. Only grief. Let it be grief then. And perhaps stricken with grief, her stifled sobs were alien sounds her parents -- oops -- Giselle and Matteo did not anticipate to hear any sooner.

Giselle turned quickly to confirm whose voice it was, and to her dread, and relief, Maddison was awake. It was quite the oxymoron, yes. It brought her heart joy to see her baby girl alive and awake. Though she was not hers biologically, Maddison was Giselle's delight. She only wished Maddie had awaken a little bit later when she and Matteo had figured out how to deal with all this.

They were only to break the news of William's death, which in itself was devastating enough, and now, she accidentally found out she did not belong to the family she knew all her life. Giselle felt her pain. Her eyes were filled with horror as she hurriedly approached her daughter in bed and brought her close to her, safely tucked in her warm, loving embrace. 

"Oh, baby, no. No. I'm so sorry," mangiyak-ngiyak na sabi ni Giselle habang hinahagod ang likod ng umiiyak na si Maddison.

"W-William? S-Si Kuya? Mom... Si Kuya William.." Maddie struggled to form a coherent thought. Gulong gulo siya. Ano bang sasabihin niya? Yung pagkawala ng kapatid niya? O yung pagkaampon niya? Even then, she loved her brother more than she loved herself.