Be Mine

19

Carlos just finished his meeting with the client. It took a lot of convincing and charm for the proposal to get approved. He shook the hands of the client and let them leave before heading to his car. He checked the time and saw it was already past ten in the evening. He wants to go home to La Union and visit his family tomorrow. He was about to exit the dining hall of the hotel, when he confirmed to himself that he wasn't hallucinating when he arrived. It's really her. There, sitting in the bar area, drinking alone. He got near the bar and took the seat next to her.

"Lia?", he called her name. She didn't move when he called her and just finished the drink in her glass. He doesn't know why, but his heart is telling him that he should stay. He called the bartender and ordered a drink for himself, too. When his drink arrived, Carlos can't help but to look at her again, hold her hand and ask her again, "Lia? Are you okay?". Lia finally faced him and then he saw a tear fall from her eye, then another, until she broke down and covered her face with her hands and started to sob. "Lia..", he called again and out of the blue, he stood up and enveloped her in his arms.

Gary is in Clara's room waiting for her to wake up. She has been unconscious for more than two hours already and it's making him worry. He recalled how he got there and sighed how this night turned into something he didn't expect.

Gary was on his way to meet Lianna. He was about to send a message to Lia when an unknown number started calling him. He doesn't want to pick it up but thought that it might be a client.

"Hello? Who's this?", he answers.

"Good evening, Sir! Is this Mr. Gerardo Jimenez?"

"Yes. How may I help you?", he asks politely.

"Sir, this is from St. Mary's Hospital. Your wife, Clara Jimenez, is being treated at the emergency room."

Gary furrowed his brows and as he can't comprehend on what he just heard, "ER? Anong nangyari?"

"Sir, mas mabuti pa po na dito na namin ipapaliwanag."

Gary sighs and was left with no choice. "Okay. Sige. Papunta na ako.", was all he can say back.

He saw that he was just 5 minutes away from where Lianna is but at that moment, all he can do is to make a u-turn. "I'm so sorry, Lianna", he says as if Lianna can hear him. He tried calling Lianna but she isn't picking up. "Shit, Lia.. please pick up!", he mumbles. After how many attempts, he just sent a message and drove as fast as he can to the hospital.

He arrived at the emergency room after 30 minutes. He looked for Clara and found her in one of the beds. "Clara..", he calls her as if trying to wake her up. He saw that Clara has rashes all over, her face inflammed, and unconscious on the bed. The doctor approached him to discuss what happened.

"Mr. Jimenez?"

He faced the doctor and immediately asked, "Doc, is she okay?"

"She is stable now, Sir. However, she has an allergic reaction to the drugs kaya namamaga ang mukha niya at may rashes siya."

"Drugs? She doesn't take any drugs.", he defends his wife.

"Based on what her friends said a while ago, looks like a stranger spiked her drink with drugs. Mukhang marami ang nilagay dahil unconscious pa siya. They said na your wife complained about getting dizzy, then she couldn't breathe. Buti na lang dinala siya agad dito bago nagsara ang airway niya."

Gary is overwhelmed with what he is hearing. He can't believe that an innocent woman like Clara had to experience something like that. He looked at Clara again then back at the doctor, "Nasaan yung mga kaibigan niya?"