Met Him Again

c h a p t e r 1

"Good morning Ma'am Lia" bati nung guard sa may gate ng hospital, I smiled at him and said good morning as well. I went inside the hospital and went straight to the laboratory.

"Lia! Good morning sorry na kahapon huhuhu" "patawarin mo na ako please please" pagmamakaawa sakin nitong si Adi.

Adi, short for Adrianne Brealga, one of the few people that I can trust pero isa din sa mga tao na nagpapahirap ng buhay ko.

"Wag mo 'kong kausapin Adi, dahil sayo di ako nakaabot sa sale ng Uniqlo" pano ba naman kasi, nakalimutan ng babaeng to na may pasok pala siya, edi ang ending, ako yung sumalo ng shift niya at naging 16 hours yung duty ko, di tuloy ako nakapag shopping sa Uniqlo tss.

"Lia sorry naaa, libre kita milktea mamaya promise hehe," milktea? tinignan ko siya ng masama, "'yan pa talaga yung ililibre mo ano, yung totoo babawi ka ba o gaganti?" kaibigan ko ba talaga to?

"Gaga ka Adi, lactose intolerant yang si Lia, best friend mo pero di mo alam?" biglang nagsalita si Lorie sa may pintuan, kakadating niya lang.

"Goodmorning Li!" bati sakin ni Lorie, isa din sa mga pinagkakatiwalaan ko but unlike Adi, she makes life easier.

"Di alam agad? Di ba pwedeng nakalimutan lang? Epal mo talaga Lorie Eranda" Adi rolled her eyes at Lorie and sticked her tongue out.

"Atleast di binibigyan ng sakit ng ulo yung ibang tao" natatawang sagot ni Lorie.

I sighed and went to the locker room, placed my things inside the locker and wore my laboratory gown. I put on a surgical mask and clipped my I.D card in the pocket area of my labgown.

Malia Concepcion, RMT, I smiled while looking at my I.D card. I still feel kilig whenever I see that 3 big letters after my name even though it's been 2 years since I passed the board exam.

Still 2 years but here I am, tired of what I'm doing already. I'm sick of hearing sirens, crying babies, complaints of patients and sick of being inside the laboratory.

Being a Medical Technologist was my dream job but now? I don't know anymore. Maybe I should take a break? Hay.

"Li! Kita daw tayo ngayong sabado, uuwi si Jo, Christmas break na nila" I snapped out of my deep thoughts when Lorie talked to me.

Jolivia Ong, one of my bestfriends and we call her Jo. She took the same course but she chose to proceed to medschool than take the board exam. She's currently studying in CDU.

"Okay ka lang ba?" she asked.

"O-ookay, text niyo lang saan at kung ano oras" sabi ko habang sinasarado yung locker ko.

Lumabas na ako nang makita ko si Adi na nagseselfie dun sa may uri/para section, "buti pa yung pagseselfie di nakakalimutan pero yung responsibilidad, ewan ko nalang talaga lalalala" napatigil siya sa kanyang ginagawa at lumapit sakin, niyakap ako ng mahigpit sabay puppy eyes, yuck

"huy sorry na, promise di ko na yun uulitin hihi." tumango nalang ako at umalis papunta sa section ko.

Another day, another tusukan na naman. Sa hematology section ako naka assign this whole week kaya yung routine ko: ER, monitoring, processing then repeat. Walang kamatayang tusok tusok.

"Li!!! Lorie!!! ER in 5 mins." sigaw ni Adi habang hawak yung telepono.

"Ba't pati ako? Sa bacte ako na assign uy!" sagot naman ni Lorie.

"Madami daw eh, na aksidente ata. Samahan mo na si Li para mabilis lang matapos" Adi looked at me and winked, 'tong babaeng to, ibang tao yung ginamit para makabawi sakin hahaha baliw talaga.

I looked at my watch and sighed. Okay, you can do this Li! I prepared my phlebotomy kit and went to the ER immediately, Lorie was behind me.

"Ma'am Li! ito po unahin niyo, STAT!" sigaw nung nurse habang tinutulak yung stretcher paloob ng ER.

Nagmadali akong lumapit sa pasyente. "Sir? Ano po full name?" tanong ko sa pasyente habang nagsusuot ng gloves, nakita ko kasing conscious siya kaya tinanong ko na, alam niyo na, patient identification yung pinaka crucial na step ng venipuncture hehe.

"Caleb" Caleb. Ano daw? Caleb? Caleb?

"Caleb Cariaso" napahinto ako nung narinig ko siyang nagsalita ulit.

Nilingon ko yung pasyente.

Him. That guy. Caleb Cariaso.