I'm Yours to Keep

Chapter 31

I woke up in a good mood. Hindi man kami okay ni Gerard, I'm happy that I get to wake up in my parents' home. Masarap pala sa pakiramdam. All those years of longing, finally napupunan na. Someone knocked on my door kaya nilingon 'yon. Mom peeped and smiled at me. "Breakfast is ready."

Ngumiti ako at hinaplos ang kumot sa hita ko. "Susunod po ako. I'll just call Xyline to check up on yesterday's event."

Nabawasan ang lawak ng ngiti niya at binuksan nang maigi ang pinto. "Today's your first breakfast here, we'd love to have you at the table."

I chuckled at sumuko na rin. Tumayo na ako palapit sa kaniya at hinalikan siya sa pisngi. We headed downstairs at dumiretso sa garden. Mas napangiti ako nang makitang tila pangpiyesta ang nakahanda sa lamesa. May pagkaing pang-heavy meal at mayroon ding bacon and pancakes.

"Jesus. Are we celebrating a birthday or something?"

Ngumiti sila sa 'kin habang hinihintay akong makaupo. I expected that we will seat in our usual arrangement pero imbes na sa isa pang dulo ng lamesa, naupo si Mom sa tabi ko. She smiled at me and tucked my hair behind my ear. We enjoyed breakfast habang pinag-uusapan ang darating na competition ni Hannah.

She looked at me and smiled. "By the way, my classmates found an old video of yours, Ate."

I shrugged as I cut the pancake with a knife. "Really? What video?"

"It's on Youtube. Your sand art competition."

Napangiti ako at marahang tumango. "Good old days."

She smiled at me. "You know I love art too, right? And I loved it even more because my sister is so good at it."

I chuckled and gave her a reassuring smile. "You will be better than me."

Xander stared at me like I'm some problem that he needs to solve so I smiled at him too. "You good?"

"How did you grow so tall?"

Natawa ako at itinuro ko ang plato niya gamit ang hawak kong tinidor. "Eat vegetables."

Naunang matapos kumain sina Hannah at Xander dahil may klase pa sila. Maya-maya, Mom smiled at me, but I can sense her worry. "What's wrong?"

Bumuntonghininga siya at pinunasan ang bibig. "Something happened..." Lumingon siya saglit kay Dad na marahan namang tumango.

He placed his elbows on the table and sighed. "In your event yesterday, four cameramen met an accident."

Mabilis kong naibaba ang hawak kong kubiyertos at pinunasan ang bibig ko. "What do you mean?"

"They said that some wires were in poor insulation so its sparked and caused fire... and... electric shock."

Bumagsak ang balikat ko habang nakatitig sa kaniya. "That's impossible, I've checked..." Natahimik ako nang mapagtantong hindi ako maililigtas ng anumang dahilan ko. Tumayo ako agad at tipid na ngumiti sa kanila. "I'll... get back to work."

Mom stood up and gently held my hand. "But you just came back from the hospital."

"I'll be fine." I smiled at her and headed upstairs. Kinuha ko agad ang cellphone ko at binuksan ang laptop. Nagtungo ako sa balcony para mahanginan dahil nangangatog ako sa kaba. Emails flooded my notifications, so I read them one by one.

It was our OM who sent me an email explaining exactly what happened. The victims were Kuya Andy, Kuya Marc, Kuya Syd at Sir Randy. Nangilid ang luha ko habang pinakakalma ang sarili. They were all fathers. May pamilya silang binubuhay. What have I done? They're still unconscious in the hospital and their families called for compensation... and my work termination.