Chapter 42

​Aiah’s POV

​When I woke up, the sterile scent of bleach and isopropyl alcohol was the first thing that hit me. Slowly, my heavy eyelids fluttered open, greeted by the blinding white ceiling of a hospital room.

​Beside my bed, I could hear hushed, anxious voices. It was Mom and Dad talking besides me.

​But my brain didn’t care about them. The moment my consciousness fully returned, a wave of sheer panic crashed over me. Memory fragments of the accident flashed in my mind like a horror movie.

​Mikha!

​”Si Mikha? Nasaan si mikha?”

​Nawalan ako sa sarili. Bigla akong bumangon at marahas kong binunot ang suwero sa kamay ko kahit masakit. Nagulat sila Mama at Papa. Sinubukan kong ilapag ang mga paa ko para tumayo, pero nahawakan agad ako ni Papa sa magkabilang balikat.

​”Aiah, listen to me… Aiah, kumalma ka!” pakiusap ni Papa habang pinipigilan ako.

​”Pa, dalhin niyo ako kay Mikha! Gusto kong makita si Mikha!” sigaw ko habang tuluyang pumatak ang mga luha ko. Ang sikip sa dibdib, parang sasabog ang puso ko.

​”Oo, anak. Pupunta tayo kay Mikha… please, lakasan mo yung loob mo. Andito kami ng nanay mo sa tabi mo,” sabi ni habang hinahaplos ang buhok ko.

​Humagulgol ako nang husto. Ang sakit ng katawan ko ay walang-wala kumpara sa bigat na nararamdaman ko ngayon. Gusto ko siyang makita, Gusto kong malaman kung okay siya, kung gumising na ba siya. Para akong mababaliw.

​When I calmed down a bit, even though my knees were still shaking, Mom and Dad brought me to her room. The moment the door opened, the steady, robotic beeping of machines echoed in my ears.

​Nang pumasok ako, hindi ko na napansin sila Tito John at Gelo na nakatayo sa gilid. Napatakbo ako agad sa walang malay na si Mikha.

​Niyakap ko siya nang napakahigpit at umiyak ako na parang bata. Ang makita siyang ganoon kalagayan, parang gumuho ang buong mundo ko.

​”Babi, wake up! Wake up, please. I miss you so bad, I miss you,” pagmamakaawa ko habang isinusubsob ang mukha ko sa leeg niya.

​Hinawakan ni Tito John ang balikat ko para alalayan ako. Ang mga tuhod ko, tuluyan nang nanlambot. Buti na lang naalalayan agad ako ng tatay ni Mikha at pinaupo ako sa silya.

​”Aiah, anak… please be strong for Mikha,” bulong ni Tito John.

​Nakita ko ang mukha niya na problemadong-problemado rin.

Napasandal ang ulo ko sa kamay niya sa matinding bigat ng nararamdaman ko.

​”Dad… hindi ko po kayang makita na ganyan si Mikha. Please, wake her up,” pakiusap ko habang naiiyak.

​Pinilit ni Tito John na ngumiti at pinunasan ang luha niya.

“Aiah, anak… don’t worry. Malakas si Mikha. Hindi niya kayo iiwang mag-ina. Tinipon ko na ang lahat ng magagaling na doktor. I don’t care how much it will cost. Trust me, she’s going to be okay.”

​Maya-maya pa, pumasok ang doktor na may dalang medical chart.

​”Doc…” tawag ni Tito John.

​”Good day. I am Doctor Song from Asian Hospital and Medical Center, and I am with Doc John and Doc Sam,” pakilala ng doktor bago kami hinarap. “Based sa laboratory results, she’s going to be okay. Mabilis ang pag-recover ng katawan niya.”

​I held my breath, waiting for him to continue.

​”Right now, she is in a mild coma,” Doctor Song explained. “But there is a very high percentage that she will wake up soon. However… the bad news is that there is a severe trauma in her brain. We don’t know what complications it will cause yet, but we will see when she wakes up. Hopefully, everything will be okay.”

​”Thank you, Doc Song. Please do everything you can,” Tito John replied.

​Nakahinga ako ng maluwag sa sinabi ng doktor, but I can’t help but to worry hanggang hindi pa siya nagigising.

​Lumapit ako sa tabi niya at hinawakan ang malamig niyang kamay. “Babi, I’m here. I will wait for you, okay? Hanggang magising ka, ako yung una mong makikita. I will not leave you. I love you so much.”

​Its been 3 days. Halos sa hospital na ako tumira, hindi ako umaalis sa tabi ni Mikha. Inaalagaan siya the best that I can.

​Buti na lang kahit papaano ay bumibisita sila Stacey at Jhoanna, pati na rin si Maloi sa hospital. Kahit papaano ay may nakakausap ako para mabawasan ang bigat sa dibdib ko.

​One afternoon, habang pinupunasan ko si Mikha gamit ang basang bimpo, her hand suddenly flinched.

​Natigilan ako. I stared intently at her face. Her eyes remained closed, but beneath her eyelids, I saw her pupils moving in her eye.

​Sa sobrang taranta ko, napasigaw ako ng doktor na agad namang pumunta sa kwarto, pati na rin si Jhoanna na andun sa oras na yun.

​I’m holding her hand, squeezing it, till her eyes slowly open.

​Nakatulala siya sa kisame nung una, her eyes blank and glassy, para bang kagagaling lang sa tulog. Well, she is. She blinked a few times, a deep frown forming on her forehead na para bang nagtataka what happened.

​”Hon!” I cried out, sabay napayakap sa kanya ng mahigpit. Sobrang saya ko. Sobrang miss na miss ko na si Mikha. I thank God, I really thank God.

​Then, a moment of silence. Slowly, she raised her arms, tapped my back, and hugged me back hesitantly.

​I was crying because I was so happy. I pulled away and look at her. Sobrang titig ko sa mukha niya, but Mikha was just looking at me with a confused expression. Napakamot pa siya sa ulo niya.

​”I’m sorry…” she said, her voice raspy.

​My heart melted. “Hon, please… don’t say sorry. I don’t care how hard it was nung nakaratay ka. I don’t care how hurt it is, kasi… kasi yung mahalaga gising ka, nagising ka Ghad, I miss you so much! Wag mo na akong takutin ng ganun ulit.” I said, reaching out to cup her face.

​”Ummm…” Mikha cleared her throat, looking extremely uncomfortable. “I mean… I’m sorry, pero wrong room yata kayo, Miss? But its okay, I understand. Maybe you’re just too tired, that’s why you hugged me. Hehe.” She smiled awkwardly while scratching her head.

​Para akong binuhusan ng malamig na tubig sa narinig ko. My smile vanished.

​Agad naman lumapit si Jhoanna samin. Seeing my shocked face, Jhoanna rushed to the bed.

​”Mikha! What are you saying? Hindi mo ba kami nakikilala?!” Jhoanna asked frantically.

​Mikha frowned, looking at Jhoanna.

“What? Of course, dude. I remember you. Hey, I can’t understand what’s happening. I don’t know why I’m here? I’m so confused.”

​”Naaksidente ka! Nabagsakan ka ng malaking puno at 3 days kang na-mild coma!” Jhoanna explained, pointing at me. “Pero dude, are you for real? You don’t remember Aiah?!”

​Mikha looked at me again. She scanned my face, her expression completely blank.

​Napakamot na naman siya ng ulo, then pinalapit niya si Jhoanna para bulungan. But it was loud enough for me to hear.

​”Dude, I’m for real. I really don’t remember this girl,” Mikha whispered, looking at me cautiously. “But damn… this kind of beauty? You know me, dude. I will never forget a face this gorgeous. But yeah… who is she again? Is she one of my… you know, when I’m drunk? Maybe I’m just drunk when I got hit by a tree, that’s why.”

​Nagkatingingan lang kami ni Jhoanna sa sobrang gulat sa naging reaksyon ni Mikha.

​Ang bawat salita niya, parang kutsilyo na sumasaksak sa dibdib ko. Sobrang sakit. Naaalala niya si Jhoanna. She remembered her old, playgirl self. But me? She completely forgot me.

I just stood there at the side of the room, completely frozen, trying to process everything that I had just heard.

​The doctor was also shocked by her response, but he quickly composed himself and began to check on Mikha.
……

After an hour biglang bumukas yung pinto and pumasok si Kuya Gelo.

I saw how happy and relieved he was nang makita niyang gising na si Mikha. Dali-dali siyang lumapit sa kama at niyakap nang napakahigpit ang kapatid niya.

“Mikha! Thank God, sis! Tinakot mo kami!” sabi ni Kuya Gelo, medyo nanginginig pa yung boses niya sa emosyon.

Mikha hugged him back, wearing a small smile. “I don’t really know what’s happening Kuya, but I miss you. Thank you for coming, its been a while.”

Napa-sigh naman si Kuya Gelo habang nakatingin sa akin, tapos napasapo siya sa ulo niya. He looked so confused.

“Tell me totoo ba yung narinig ko Mikha, are you seriously telling us you don’t remember Aiah?”

Mikha looked at me shyly, she actually blushed while looking at me.

“Amm yeah… I really don’t,” sagot niya habang nagkakamot ng ulo sabay tawa nang konti. “Unless… sabihin mo sa akin na asawa ko siya? If she is, then I will accept it with all my heart.” She tried to joke around, trying to lighten up the heavy tension in the room.

Hindi tumawa si Kuya Gelo. Instead, his expression turned deadly serious. “Well, she actually is, Mikha. You already have a wife, and you even have a daughter. May pamilya ka na.”

Right after that, biglang sumeryoso yung mukha ni Mikha. She looked like she was thinking so hard.

“I have a wife and a daughter?…” she whispered to herself.

She held her temples, forcing herself to remember. Desperately, pilit niyang hinahanap sa utak niya yung mga alaala na hindi niya matandaan. She forced herself too much, trying to bridge the gap of those missing years. Pero maya-maya lang, she winced in extreme pain, na para bang binibiyak yung ulo niya.

“Aggghhhhhhhh…agghhhh!”

Napasigaw si Mikha sa tindi ng sakit habang hawak-hawak yung ulo niya. We all panicked inside the room. Napatakbo ako agad sa tabi niya.

“Mikha!”

The doctors and nurses rushed in to monitor and check her condition. Because she couldn’t calm down from the intense pain, they had to inject a sedative into her IV line. Within minutes, her body relaxed, and dahan-dahan siyang nakatulog ulit.

Dumating na rin yung Daddy ni Mikha an hour later. When our entire family was finally there, the doctor called us outside the room para ipaliwanag yung totoong sitwasyon.

“Again, I’m sorry this is happening, but the good news is she’s completely stable now. Physically, she is out of danger,” Doctor Song started, looking at all of us with a serious expression. “But unfortunately, because of the severe deceleration impact on her cranium, she is suffering from Retrograde Selective Amnesia secondary to Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Based on our clinical observation and neurological assessments, there is a distinct block in her long-term memory retrieval. She cannot recall the last four or five years of her life.”

The doctor sighed, adjusting his chart before giving us a strict reminder. “Right now, her brain is still healing from the cerebral contusion. That is why I want you to be extremely gentle with her. Do not attempt cognitive forcing or aggressive reality orientation. In layman’s terms, huwag niyo siyang pipilitin o kukulitin na maalala ang mga bagay na nawala sa kanya. Doing so will cause severe neurogenic stress and elevate her intracranial pressure, which can worsen her brain injury.”

He looked at me with sympathetic eyes. “For now, let her environment be low-stress. Just make her live her life with the memories she currently has intact until the neural pathways slowly recover. Our brain has its own way of healing through neuroplasticity. Who knows? Maybe someday, everything will just naturally come back.”

My heart completely sank. Four or five years. It means she can’t remember me. She can’t remember our daughter. At hindi niya rin naaalala na nagkaayos na sila ng Daddy niya.

Tito John admitted that on his part, it would be easy to reconcile and rebuild his relationship with Mikha since magkasama naman sila. But for me? He says sobrang nag aalala siya, sobrang bigat, ang sakit-sakit. Still, we all decided to give her time. Hihintayin ko na lang yung araw na maalala niya ako at ang anak naming si Janna. I am willing to do anything for her safety.

Later on, the doctors talked to Mikha about her case. They told her that she could still live her life normally, but they gave her the same strict reminder: never force herself to remember the things she couldn’t.

Sinabihan na rin namin sila Jhoanna and the rest of our friends who planned to visit about her condition. We strictly told them na huwag na muna kaming babanggitin kay Mikha. As painful as it was for me, alam kong ito yung mas makakabuti sa kalusugan niya.

Kuya Gelo even had to fabricate things. Pumasok siya ulit sa kwarto ni Mikha to tell her na we were just joking around about the whole wife and child thing para lang asarin siya. We had to do it, because ever since nabanggit yun sa kanya, palagi na siyang natutulala, pilit na binabalikan yung alaala niya na laging nagiging sanhi ng matinding sakit ng ulo niya.

Her second life is already a huge blessing for me. Pero hindi ko pa rin maiwasang masaktan inside knowing na hindi niya ako kilala. But it doesn’t matter anymore. Naniniwala ako na babalik din ang mga alaala niya balang araw.

When she was finally discharged from the hospital, Mikha went back to live at the Rancho. Pero hindi siya sa bahay tumira. Instead, she stayed in the guest house right beside our house just to be safe at mas mapanatag ang kaisipan niya.

Si Jannaiah naman, mabuti na lang at super maka-lola. I miss my daughter so much, but I decided to extend her vacation muna kina Mama and sometimes sa kinukuha siya ng lolo niya Daddy ni Mikha. I didn’t want her to come home and feel the heartbreaking rejection I’m feeling right now. Sinasabi ko na lang sa sarili ko na maybe this week, next week, or after one month, everything will go back to normal.

Before Mikha settled into the guest house, nilinis ko muna yung buong lugar. With a heavy heart, inalis ko muna lahat ng mga litrato na kasama namin si Mikha-our wedding photos and our family portraits.

Itinago ko muna sa closet ang lahat, just in case na mapasyal siya rito habang nagpapagaling, para wala siyang makikitang pwedeng mag-trigger ng another painful attack. I am completely fine becoming a stranger in her eyes for now, basta maging ligtas lang siya.

……

Mikha’s POV

I’m still completely clueless about what’s been happening to my life lately. Sabi nila, naaksidente raw ako when a huge tree fell on me, which explains why I’ve been feeling so weird and sore.

The doctor strictly told me not to force myself to remember things, so I’m trying my best not to stress about it.

But honestly? I guess the best thing that came out of this whole mess is that my father and I finally reconciled after years of being distant. I’m just so incredibly happy about that. Plus, nakasama ko na naman si Kuya Gelo. As usual, ginagawa niya pa irritability akong bata. He literally babies me ever since the incident happened, which is annoying but secretly comforting.

And then… that prank? Ghad.That was absolutely epic and hilarious! Muntik na akong maniwala na may asawa at anak na ako. Like, hello? Me? Settled down? Sila Kuya Gelo talaga, kahit kailan napaka-gago mag-isip ng biro. Good thing he cleared it up immediately and told me they were just teasing me.

I guess I will not overthink anything anymore because it seems like everything is working out for the best. I just want to live my best life now. Staying here at the Rancho is actually not bad at all. In fact, it’s super refreshing. The fresh air, the open space-I feel like I’ve been given a fresh start at life.

It’s just that… sometimes, I can’t shake off this weird feeling. Like there’s a missing puzzle piece inside me. Like my heart is looking for something-or someone-that my brain just can’t remember…

…….

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Hi guys! I don’t know if this chapter is actually published yet because I’m having some issues with my device. Can you please comment or vote? I can’t see the view count, even though it says ‘published’ on my end

Thank youu 😘♥️