A Love To Remember

Chapter 39: Picture Perfect

Lea

"Babes, gising na.." dahan-dahan kong iminulat ang mga mata ko nang may yumugyog bigla sa balikat ko.

"Hmm?" I uttered while fixing my blurry sight-- at ng tuluyan na nga itong maayos, I was greeted by Aga who's standing right in front of me  then I remembered something, Chiara!

"Chiara!" I exclaimed at kaagad na napatayo mula sa pagkahiga ko sa couch as I look at the girl who's sleeping peacefully at her bed, hindi pa rin siya nagigising?

"Ilang oras na ah, still no progress?" I worriedly asked Aga, umiling naman ito.

"No. Pero babes, something happened to Alysse." he said at biglang bumilis naman ang pintig ng puso ko dahil dun, what happened to her?

"Anong nangyari?" I asked again, magsasalita pa sana siya when someone moaned kaya sabay naman kaming napalingon sa gawi ni Chiara who's now awake.

"Chia!" he exclaimed at tumungo sa direksyon ng kama nito, I followed him at tumayo sa tabi niya as he assist Chiara sa pag-upo.

"Okay ka na?" tanong ko rito, she looked at me and smiled a little. She just saved me for Pete's sake! 'Di niya na sana ginawa iyon, siya pa itong nasaktan tuloy and partially, it's my fault.

"My head is aching so bad but I'm pretty fine naman po.." she answered, napa-buntong hininga naman ako sa sinabi niya. I was worried at baka kung ano na ang nangyari sa kanya but thankfully, she's fine. May benda nga lang ang ulo niya dahil dinugo ito kanina.

"Thank you for saving me earlier but why did you do that? Sana hindi mo na lang ako tinulak." I said softly, ni hindi nga ako makatingin ng maayos sa kanya because seeing her in this situation, my guilt is killing me!

"Ayaw ko po kayong masaktan eh," wika niya, "Tsaka, consider it na po as my way of saying sorry sa lahat ng mga nagawa ko noon." dagdag pa niya, this time, napatingin na ako sa kanya at hinawakan ang kamay niya.

"Di ba, pinatawad na kita? It's okay, it's all in the past." sambit ko at ngumiti, she smiled back at me at tumango lang.

"Magpahinga ka Chia ah? Aalis muna kami ni Lea." sabi ni Aga na ikina-kunot ng noo ko, saan naman kami pupunta? We can't leave Chiara here, she's still not feeling well.

"Wait, where are we going?" tanong ko sa kanya.

"Nahulog sa hagdan si Alysse, her right foot was fractured." aniya na ikinanlaki ng mga mata ko. What the heck?

"Bakit hindi mo sinabi sa' kin kanina?" naiinis na tanong ko rito.

"I tried to but you're not listening!" he countered, oo nga pala! He told me earlier but Chiara woke up at the same time kaya nasi-walang bahala na iyon.

Mariin na lang akong napapikit as I massaged my temple, Alysse needs us pero hindi namang pwedeng maiwan lang dito si Chiara, but she's okay, right? Okay lang naman siguro kung aalis kami, besides, may mga katulong naman dito sa bahay. They can look after her.

"Is it okay kung aalis muna kami?" tanong ko sa kanya, natahimik siya pero unti-untiring tumango.

"Opo, puntahan niyo na si Alysse, I'll be fine." sagot niya, Aga kissed his daughter's forehead sabay hila sa' kin palabas after saying our goodbyes.

"Ano ba ang nangyari? Pano siya nahulog, at pano mo rin nalaman na nahulog nga siya?" I asked in a calm way.

"I don't know the reason why, Nari called me earlier saying na sumunod daw tayo sa ospital because Alysse is looking for us." he answered seriously pero halata naman na pati siya, nagalala.

I hope nothing serious happened to our daughter..

___

Chiara

When Dad and Lea finally left the room, inis kong tinapon ang ilang unan sa sahig as I sighed in frustration. Lecheng Alysse, she just ruined my plan! Great, just great!

I don't even know why pero kanina, when Dad told Lea na something happened to Alysse, I actually did pray na sana, huwag silang umalis. Na sana, they'll stay by my side. Na sana, ako naman ang piliin nila but they didn't.

Sabagay, sino ba naman ako? Why would Lea choose me over her daughter? I'm just my father's daughter from a woman who left him for her own dream years ago and now came back to have him again in her arms. Nakakainis lang 'di ba?

Napangiwi ako ng biglang kumirot ang ulo ko, isa pa 'to! I mean, hindi naman kalakihan ang paso na ako mismo ang nagutos na ihulog sa' kin pero duh, masakit pa rin kaya! Ano pa kaya kung malaking paso iyon, edi bingi na sana ako ngayon!

Instead of having my monologue here, I decided to go to Dad's room, wala naman sila rito eh so I guess it's okay. And, who knows? Maybe I can find something useful out there regarding about my plans.

Habang naglalakad ako sa mahabang pasilyo patungo sa kwarto niya, nahagip ng tingin ko ang isang pasa sa kanang braso ko. Wait, kailan pa ako nagkapasa? Parang impossible naman na nagka-pasa ako ng hindi ko alam, and it's more impossible kung dahil 'to sa nangyari kanina, ulo ko lang iyong natamaan eh! But, why am I even making a big deal out of this? Ugh, Chiara!

Nang marating ko na ang kwarto ni Daddy, tinignan ko muna kung may mga katulong na nakamasid around this area but fortunately, wala. Tuluyan na akong pumasok sa loob and my face lightened up upon seeing a familiar cellphone on top of Daddy's bed.

That's Lea's phone! Tanga-tanga rin iyon, ni hindi man lang dinala ang cellphone niya but that's less of my worries!

Maya-maya pa, I found myself sitting at the edge of Dad's bed while holding her phone. I don't know why but something's pushing me to open it so did I, I turned it on and I was greeted by Alysse's smiling face on her lock screen. Napairap na lang because of the pic and because there's a password.

0914, ewan ko but my own phone's password crossed my mind so I ended up typing it at kung sinuswerte nga naman, pareho pala kami ng password! I mean, that's my exact date of birth, August 14, 2000 at oo nga pala, Sabel--- Alysse and I have the same birthday.

And when I finally realized her home screen, I was surprised upon seeing our picture. She was holding the camera while I'm at the middle smiling widely and Dad's beside me. This was taken noong nasa Tagaytay kami pero bakit ito ang home screen niya? Weird..

Again, I should stop making a big fuss about small things.

I opened her photos and as usual, marami siyang pictures. Most of them were pictures of Alysse and Dad or either the three of them, edi sila na masaya! I scroll throughout her albums not until one album caught my attention. All caps, SABEL, was written on it.

Because of curiosity I clicked it, old pictures of Lea in a hospital bed with a baby in her hands, it's Alysse. I clicked one of the pics and zoom in the picture of the infant, aww, she's so small! Ang liit-liit pala ni Alysse and mind you, magkamukha pala kami noon if you base with my own baby pictures but wait...

Biglang bumilis ang tibok ng puso ko and my hands, well their trembling while holding Lea's phone. I mean, the baby looks exactly like me when I'm in that stage, should I compare my own pictures with this? Why am I having this uneasy feeling? Bakit.. bakit, sa tingin ko ako ang nasa picture?

Well, that's impossible! Paano ako mapupunta kay Lea, ano, siya pala ang totoo kong Ina? How ridiculous! Maybe it's just pure coincidence, magkamukha lang talaga kami ni Alysse noon, period! We're siblings after all!

I put down Lea's phone at kaagad na lumabas ng kwarto ni Daddy at tumakbo papunta sa kwarto ko, locking the door behind.

Kinuha ko ang isang box ng clutter mula sa ilalim ng kama ko as I grab this certain photo album which consists of my photos when I was young.

Kinakabahan ako na ewan, I opened the first page as I gasped in air upon seeing my own baby picture, I look exactly like Alysse! How did that happen? Is it coincidence dahil magkapatid kami or.. there's really something explainable behind this?

No, no! I closed the photo album at kaagad na binalik kung saan ko ito kinuha. I am my Mother's daughter, I am Mommy's only child.

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