Chapter 2 - Gaze

Minutes later, the ambulance came and took my father in. With us, the ambulance sped its way to the nearest hospital.

"Rogelio!" my mother's voice makes me hurt more than it is. I hugged her while she was crying about all these happenings.

Fear encircled my system. The only thing I could do was hug my mother, who continued to cry through all of this. My mother is so precious to me, and seeing her cry her heart now is making me break into pieces, too.

I don't know what is happening, father is not sick. That's what I know because if there was, my parents would have let me know it.

Until we got to the hospital, I continued to worry about what could be the reason for his sudden fainting earlier. I threw my body against the cold wall of the hospital when we arrived. I let myself think of that.

"D-doc, what happened?" Mother said with tears in her eyes.

The doctor just came out and he looks like he's in trouble, based on his expression.

"There are two reasons for his sudden relapse, it was combined. That's why its impact on him was so bad." I can't understand. Combined?

"His body is very tired and he is under too much stress." the doctor paused for a moment as if he didn't want to say the second reason.

“And I'm sorry to say, the patient has cancer. He is suffering from Stage 3, Cardiac Angiosarcoma. A rare type of cancerous tumor in the heart.” my mother cried, hearing the doctor's announcement. I just looked down at the floor, controlling and holding back my tears from falling.

"The tumor in his heart can grow quickly. Its growth rate will determine how it will affect the function of his right atrium and other heart systems. The thing is, it will affect the blood flow in his body. But don't worry, we assure you of proper medication and treatment.” my mother nodded, still crying. She held me out and hugged me. I hugged her, but I'm occupied with not letting myself cry right now, since I want to embrace my mother strongly.

I didn't hear anything else after that. Mother and the doctor talked a lot more, while I was just in the corner trying to regain my senses after what I heard from the doctor.

My father has cancer. Does he know that he is sick or is he not aware of it? If he knew, why didn't he tell us? Those questions keep repeating in my head and the answers have not been a clear crystal glass.

"W-how much are the fees?" these are the last words I heard from my mother talking to the doctor.

"It will cost about five hundred thousand if he stays for a month or more. This does not include what he will spend for his medication."

We all turned at the same time to see who is coming. It's Simoun. He is wearing black boots, jeans, and a white t-shirt, walking fast the distance between the corridors.

"Good day, Simoun." joy is evident in the doctor’s words.

Simoun glanced worriedly at my mother, and then, at my way. I just can't let him see how hard I try to stay calm.

"Good day, Doc and manang Sally. How is Mang Rogelio?" Simoun asked the doctor worriedly.

The doctor glanced at the hallway. "Let's talk inside, you have some papers to sign, Simoun."

Maybe my mother will speak and protest if it’s a different situation. But with our feelings, we better calm ourselves down.

It was a tragic year. The whole year, I spent my days at school every morning and in the afternoon at the Alvarez mansion as one of the maids. Sometimes I visited my father at the hospital.

It is too much to grasp though, Simoun will pay the bills and all of the treatment my father will undergo. He said that they are responsible for the healing of their constituents in their rice field. My mother assured me that she would pay Simoun somehow when we save up.

“It’s alright. Don’t worry about it Manang Sally, it’s our responsibility.”

But, I wonder if this is what his parents would do. Imagine spending his effort and money on this and everything. He would always visit to talk with the doctor and my mother regarding my father's progress. I can't help myself but think that this is too much.

The view of the interior of the house, the ceiling is full of beautiful paintings of cupids. The Alvarez family mansion is large and full of luxury. Every corner is lined with glittering furniture. There are two stairs that meet in the middle. In the middle of the meeting place, a picture of their family hangs. Governor Gerry Alvarez, the governor of this province. He is smiling in the picture, has an elegant body, and is in his fifties. Next to him is Madam Tessie Alvarez. Her eyes are bright and her body is slender. No one will notice that she has two children and she is also fifty years old. On the left side of the photo is their second son, Alonzo Alvarez, who’s not smiling.

On the right side of the picture is Simoun. Like his brother, he is also not smiling in the picture, but it is obvious that he is happy because his eyes are looking at the picture with enthusiasm. His body is full of elegance and his eyes seem to indicate authority and courage. He's very manly and handsome in his hard features. The way his hair is styled, it seems like he didn't work hard to do it. His black coat hugs his body strongly. His eyes, as always, are very deep, blue, and ruling my mind like waves. The color of his skin is brown and the way he stands can give me a heart attack. He looks confident, authoritative, and untamed. He has very different characteristics that I'm not used to... but that doesn't mean that I don't like it...

"Get out of the way!" shouted a maid who woke me from my thoughts.

I didn't realize that I had been looking up to their pictures, especially Simoun's. I didn't notice that the maids were already busy!

"Good day!" we said to the head maid of the house at the same time. She was old and had a stern look upon us.

This is my first day working here. In fact, they have a lot of newbies working here. Simoun is the one who recommended that we apply as maids. This is the tradition of their family, said the older helpers. Since their mansion is so colossal, they hire maids aged eighteen and above to clean different areas of the mansion. I'm just so thankful that I got the library, either way, I'm going to love what I do. Because I like books and I like to read, especially when I'm not doing anything.

"I am the head of the maids here, and you will get your wages from me every weekend. And I know that you are already oriented on how much your salary is." she started, stating the fact.

Actually, two thousand pesos per day is not bad. Because our shift is not regular, unlike the regular seven days a week of the regulars.

"The new maids, you will clean the second hallway today. The four of you, in the left room. The three of you on the right and the three of you in the library." she designated all where we were assigned.

The other maids quickly moved and went to their area. There are ten newbies here, and that's the only one who will clean today. There are no regulars, and the other newbies are drivers or personal assistants.

At the size of their mansion, I thought my amazement was over. But I was way even more amazed when I entered the library. The furniture shines and the large glass window in the library provides a beautiful view from outside of the house and the inside as well.

I immediately went to the window and looked around the back of the Alvarez family's house. The view from here of the sea seems to be specially designed to have glass doors. This is to have a faithful scenario of the ocean. The sea is inviting, the breeze is soothing, and the color of the sand is white and pink.

"Mang Neri, please put it there. Thank you." a husky voice woke me from my rumination.

I looked around and saw that Simoun had been watching me for a while! I didn't know he was there in the railings of the stairs. He seems to be amazed by what he sees. Amazed because I look like I'm out of a trance watching this? Embarrassed, I pretended to wipe the glass off the windows and never went to look at the sea again.

I don't know his reaction, but there was no trace of surprise on his face. It was only evident amazement that I glimpsed his unique emotion.

"Mang Neri, please just leave it here. I'll have dinner here later." I heard Simoun's voice.

Here I am on the side of the bookshelves, where the glass door is on the left side and I can't be seen anymore.

"You take care of conditioning the horses. I'll get back to that tomorrow afternoon." said an old man whose name is Neri, who seemed to be the manager of the stable.

"Alright, be careful." Simoun's calm voice made me nervous.

"Thank you, Simoun."

"Iha, please improve the cleaning of the books on the left side. There are many guests who want to stay to read here and sit there."

I almost hit the glass with Mayordoma's voice. What is wrong with me? Is it forbidden to look? He just looked at you, are you that nervous?!

"Yes!"

I looked at the glass door and saw Simoun, still looking in this direction. He's just staring there, and then he caught me. This time, I tried to remain calm and pretend to wipe the glass door. But I was surprised when he raised his eyebrows and slowly smiled at me.

I stopped what I'm doing and pretended to calmly move to the bookcases. I then started to wipe them whilst my heart was beating fast.