Remembering Ice Abueva

Kabanata I

Daryll woke up with the same dream again. Napamulat siya at napapunas sa noo. She's sweating really hard and almost catching her breath. She sighed, para siyang tumakbo ng ilang kilometro kahit hindi naman. Her dreams make her exhausted and drain her remaining energy for this day.

"Doc Daryll, are you alright? Namumutla ka and you're sweating," one of her co-doctors said worriedly nang maabutan siya nito.

"Uhm, I'm fine, Doc Renz," she replied, smiling to ease her worries. She checked her wrist watch to check the time. It's already been an hour since her shifts ended. Ibig sabihin nakaidlip siya ng matagal. Napangiwi siya ng maalala ang sundo, sigurado kanina pa naghihintay ang pinsan niya.

"Mauna na ko Doc Renz," she said while fixing her stuff.

"Mag pacheck up ka kaya muna habang nandito ka pa sa hospital. You look really pale, Daryll." nag-aalalang tugon nito sakanya, nginitian n'ya lang ang kaibigan.

"Hindi na Renz, sa pagod lang 'to at isa pa kanina pa naghihintay sakin yung sundo ko." she said. Napa- iling lang ito at hindi na nagsalita so she bid her goodbye and excused herself bago nagmamadaling nagtungo sa parking lot to find the usual spot kung saan lagi ng paparking ang pinsan.

When she spotted a black Ford, ay agad siyang lumapit doon at kinatok ang window, and a few minutes later, bumukas iyon at bumungad sakanya ang kagigising lang na pinsan. Mukhang nakatulog rin ito sa kahihintay.

"You're late." saad ng pinsan niya, she smiled at her bago umikot sa shotgun seat at doon umupo. She put her bag on the back seat, then nilingon ang kanyang pinsan. "Nakatulog ako, sorry Santi."

Santi just shook her head and said, "It's okay, anyway, I drunk your coffee nung 5 minutes wala ka pa. Mag drive-thru nalang tayo sa Starbucks since you won't last a day without coffee on your system."

She just chuckled at her cousin, dahil kilalang kila talaga siya nito. On their way to the nearest Starbucks, nakatingin lang siya sa daan ng tawagin siya ni Santi.

"Pardon?" she asked ng hindi marinig ang sinasabi nito kanina.

"I'm asking, how's your day? At ngayon ko lang napansin, you look pale. Somethings happen at work?" tanong nito na may pag-alala.

"Wala naman, it's just a normal day, nagrounds and do check-ups sa mga walk-in patient today. And I'm okay." she reassured her.

"You sure? Wala kang migraine or something? " tanong nito na agad naman niya inilingan. Napabugtong hininga si Santi sakanya at nagpatuloy magdrive. " Maputla ka kasi talaga ngayon, I'm worried. Tell me if you're still having this series of migraines, Daryll. Baka mamaya n'yan, you're just ignoring it."