Under the same sky

Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Deal

Days passed without even both Lorenzo boys saw me. Hindi na kasi ako nag abala pang kausapin sila, halata namang wala silang balak kumausap sa akin lalo na si Wayne. I just stayed at the clinic like it was my own room.

May mga ibang dumarayo sa clinic para humingi ng gamot kaya para makatulong ay tinulungan ko nalang si nurse Katherine sa kanyang mga gawain.

Wala na akong balak tumakas dahil wala din naman akong pera para makauwi, ayuko din naman na humiram ng pera kay nurse Kath. I know it'll take a long process for me to come back home.

I tried to contact tita Amanda and Mikaela using nurse Kath's phone but none of them bothered to answer my calls. I have no any choice now but stay here until I can find ways to come home. Ayuko din naman na umalis ng may utang sa loob sa mga tao dito. Wayne and I has still our deal, hindi pa niya nasabi ang deal niya sa akin. I won't leave without doing it.

"O kain kapa Jean"

I came back to my senses when I saw nurse Kath put more foods on my plates. We were eating at the clinic for our lunch. Sa pagkahiya ay hindi ko na nagawang tumanggi, ngumiti nalang ako.

"How long have you been working here nurse Kath?"

I ask to at least break the silence from us. I have known her for days but I don't actually know how long she had been working here. Pagkatapos lunukin ang kinain ay uminon ito ng tubig.

"Uhmm..." she raised her head. "For almost 4 years now"

Napatango ako. 4 years? I'm just 14 that time, 18 na kasi ako ngayon.

"Hindi po ba mahirap maging nurse?"

When I was young, I really dreamed to be a nurse to save people just like my mom. She was a doctor, she saved a lot of people but when time comes that she's the one who needs help, no one dares to save her. Tragic, but that's the fact.

"Well, wala namang trabahong madali Jean. I even spent years learning in college just to get this job. But if you think of those people na umaasa sayo, you have no choice but to continue kahit pagod kana. Mahirap pero kakayanin, pagod pero ipagpapatuloy"

Nurse Kath's words melted my heart. She have come reaching it this far, I wonder how she even deal with the storms she already faced?

"Ang sipag mo naman po" I commented

This is why I liked talking to those people who's older than me kasi imbes na kalokolan ay mga life advice ang natatanggap ko.

"Bakit mo pala natanong iyon Jean? Do you plan to be a nurse someday?"

Tinapos ko na ang pagkain tsaka uminom ng tubig. Si nurse Kath naman ay tumayo na din para mangligpit ng kinainan.

"It was actually my dream to be a nurse, but to the fact that dad wants me to run his business someday made me neglect my own dreams"

Tumango si nurse Kath. Hindi na siya nagsalita at nagtungo nalang sa labas upang maghugas ng plato. I volunteered to wash the dishes but nurse Kath just declined my offer.

"Kunin mo nalang yung phone ko sa may lamesa, try to at least call back your relatives na makatutulong sa'yo"

Call back? But it seems like no one's interested to have me back to them. Ni isa nga sa pamilya at mga kaanak ko ay walang sumagot sa mga tawag ko.

"Call back? Wala naman pong sumasagot"

She sigh while continue washing the dishes.

"What about a friend? Or classmate?"