Mary Grace

Four

Four

I woke up feeling dizzy. The first thing that I saw is a fluorecsent lamp pulsing faint light that is mounted to the white ceiling just above me. After a few seconds, I heard someone shouted.

"Ma, ningmata na siya!" (Ma, gising na po siya!). It's a voice of a young boy, but I didn't get to see him because he disappeared before I could adjust my eyes to the surroundings.

My throat feels dry as Sahara. My whole body feels weak as well. I lifted myself up despite the cry of my body and looked around my surroundings. I suppose I am inside some hospital's emergency room. There are three empty hospital beds that are situated next to me.

A tired-looking woman who seems to be in her late 40's appeared inside the room. Her eyes shone with delight when she saw me.

"Thank God, He finally answered my prayers. Gising ka na!" Lumapit siya sa akin at kaagad na hinawakan ang kamay ko. I flinched at the coldness of her frail hands.

"Nasaan ako?" Basag ang boses kong tanong.

"Davao Doctors Hospital." She immediately replied. "Niligtas mo si Julie, hindi ko alam kung paano kita pasasalamatan." Tears started to form in her eyes but she blinked it back and smiled at me. "Tapos nawalan ka ng malay nang makalabas na kayo. They said it was because of suffocation. Alalang-alala ako sa iyo."

I wrecked my brain for a long time, keeping my mouth shut. Yes, I remember. May sumabog sa loob ng mall while I was inside the grocery store. Nagsitakbuhan ang mga tao papalabas ng mall. I was about to do the same thing when I heard a little girl cried. She's lost and looking for her mother. I lifted her up without hesitation and did my best to escape the fire with her.

Then I lost my consciousness the moment I got out of the mall. But I swear, in the few moments before I closed my eyes, I saw the woman I had been looking for.

Mary Grace.

She looked just as terrible as I am. Nakatayo lang siya at nakatingin sa akin. I couldn't recognize the sudden change of her hair color and there are black lines dancing on the sleeve of her arms which suspiciously looks like a permanent tattoo to me. Even with her appearance, I know that it was her.

It was really her. I finally found her.

"Or did I?" I wondered out loud, earning a confused expression from the woman in front of me. I cleared my throat and offered her a tight smile. "Harry nga po pala ang pangalan ko."

She nodded her head. "Ako si Jane. This is my other kid, Julius. Si Julia naman ay nagpapahinga pa rin hanggang ngayon."

"How long had I been out?"

"Almost 16 hours." She said. Napatingin kaming dalawa sa screen ng TV. One of the nurse increased the volume and all eyes were focused on the footage of NCCC mall still on fire. Hindi pa rin nila napapatay ang sunog.

My heart sank inside of my chest.

"Hindi ka taga Davao, hijo?" She queried.

Marahan kong itinango ang ulo ko. "Taga Pampanga po ako. I went here to find...someone. My family is situated in Pampanga. Which reminds me..." nagpalinga-linga ako para hanapin ang bag ko. I know for a fact that it's still swung over my shoulders when I managed to get out of the mall.

Mukhang nahulaan ni Ms. Jane ang hinahanap ko. Binitawan niya ang kamay ko at tumayo. I watched her open the drawer on the bedside table and pulled out my bag. I sighed in relief.

Iniabot niya ito sa akin. I immediately fished out my phone and found 70 miss calls from my sister, 2 text messages from my Dad, and 20 missed calls from Roxanne.