Destination XYZ

Eight

Third Person

Irene has read all of Greggy's letters. She felt her heart flutter at how he poured out his soul into his letters.

He really did wait for her. But fate and its cruel subjects just wanted to complicate their story. There was that inner tug in her head, wanting to... start all over again.

Maybe they'll make it this time, right? Her thoughts faded away when Nina knocked on her door and opened it. She poked her head inside and smiled, "Doc, nandito na si Xab."

Irene nodded and fixed herself, "Sige papasukin niyo." Nina smiled and let Xab...and her uncle...? inside.

"Greggy!" She said in surprise. "Hello, Tita Riny! Tito Regy came with me because Mommy is in Tagaytagay!" Irene and Greggy both chuckled at her, "Tagaytay you mean, baby?" Irene bent down to level Xab's vision. She noticed that Xab got paler the last time she saw her.

"Ohhhh! Yes, that one." Xab giggled, Irene poked her nose with her finger and held her hand. "Are you ready for your check-up, baby?" She lifted Xab up to the bed for a check-up. "Ang gaan-gaan mo talaga sa mga bata, noh?" Greggy leaned on the wall.

Irene just smiled at him as she put the earpieces of her stethoscope on her ears. She held the stem and placed her index finger on the bell of the stethoscope. Tugging Xab's shirt, she placed the chest piece on her chest, instructing her to inhale and exhale.

She did this a couple of times on her chest and on her back before hanging the tubing of her stethoscope on her back. "Alright... How are you feeling, Xabby?" She smiled.

Xab smirked and placed a finger on her cheek, "Hmmmm........" She hummed making Irene giggle. "I'm feeling better because I saw Tita Riny!" She giggled and hugged Irene.

"Sus!" Irene hugged her back. "But Tita Irene? I feel very tired. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I get very very cold. And there are so many bruises, oh." She showed her arms and legs.

Irene frowned, not wanting to assume the worse, "What else, baby?" She left Xab sitting at the edge of the bed and went to pick up her notebook to note what Xab was feeling.

"Uhhhhh..." Xab thought. Greggy then walked towards Xab, "Rene. Nag no-nosebleed daw 'to..." Irene gulped and nodded, wanting to stay calm, "How frequent?"

Greggy looked at Xab, "How many times did you have nosebleed na, love?" Greggy stroked Xab's hand. "I don't know..." She shrugged, "Maybe 3 or 4 times?" She guessed.

Irene sighed, putting down her pen and notebook on her desk. "Greggy... Can we talk?" She bit the insides of her cheeks, she quickly opened her mini-fridge and gave Xab a lollipop, "You wait here, ha? You can lay down here..." She patted the empty bed.

Xab smiled and nodded, "Thank you, Tita Riny!" She said as she suck on the lollipop.

Greggy looked at Irene confusingly, not having any slight clue about what was happening to his niece. Irene guided him to her desk, her palm pressing onto his back.

"I don't want to jump to conclusions... I'm suspecting kasi early signs of... leukemia..." She calmly told Greggy, who was now surprised and worried. "Huh? Pano na yan? Ang bata-bata pa..." He frowned and looked at his niece.

Irene sighed, "I know... But I have to make sure pa... I'll take blood tests and run it over to my friend, Dra. Ibañez, a pediatric oncologist." She explained.

Greggy was now lost, "Irene... I may not have grasped all of what you said but, just... Do anything for her, please... She's the only sunshine in my life..." He looked at Xab.

Irene felt her heart warm from his action. She knew that Greggy was fond of kids, but she didn't know that he was this close to Xab.

"I'll try... For Xab." She smiled. Greggy nodded, they went back to the bed and Irene calmly told Xab that she will be drawing blood out from her. Which made Xab teary, afraid of the needle.