I immediately get to mom's bed and wake her up as the tension between Angelo and me grows. The only thing that keeps me from venting my anger at him is having mom in one room.
I gently rock mom's shoulder to wake her up. "Mom, he's here; wake up."
Mom must be in deep sleep as she hasn't come back to her senses the third time I shake her arm.
"Angel, you can let your mom rest for a while. I can wait." Angelo says to me while I am desperately trying to wake mom up.
I can't. I refuse to voice it out. I snort at the thought of it. It looks like mom is seriously sleeping like a baby, so I had no choice but to sit opposite Angelo's couch. I throw him a swift glance when his eyes are on mo
I loosen my arms around mom and wipe my tears. Angelo stops stroking his hand on my back as he stands beside me. He leans close and raises a hand like he is about to incline his arm around my shoulder, but he halts himself. I don't want to humiliate him, so I ignore it."What do we do now? What did the doctor say? What options do we have?""Angel, I don't want you to expect too much of me getting back to full recovery."I lean over, gather mom's hands and hold them tightly."Mom, don't talk like there's no hope in your health. You'll gain back your strength, be back healthy, and we will spend many more years together. We will do everything we can."Mom shut her eyes whil
It's Monday, and I don't plan to go to school, for I want to be on my mom's side even if she's pushing me not to skip class. I told her I'd have a different learning mode if my teachers allow me, which mom seems not convinced about. I made up my mind, so the only thing left is to call my teacher Jerselle."Angel, are you sure about this mode of class you're telling me?""Yes, mom. Look, I'm calling my class adviser to ask her about it."I dialed teacher Jerselle's number and put it on speaker mode to have mom listen to our conversation. Ms. Jerselle picks up the call on the second ring."Hello, Ms. Jerselle, thanks for answering. I hope I'm not disturbing you at this time." Ms. Jerselle is probably on her way to sch
I adjust myself, and Maddox gathers my hand as I face him."You have to promise not to be mad at our friends and me with what I'm about to say."I pull my hands and cross them on my chest."I smell something fishy here. What exactly do you want to tell me? Say it now, no more buts and swearing." I commanded Maddox.Maddox's cheeks begin to blush, which rarely happens to him. I don't know if he's embarrassed or nervous about something he wants to confess."So?" I said impatiently."Baby, this is concerning our island vacation. There is someone who sponsored it, not me."
Precisely 7 pm, Angelo knocks on mom's door. It's not a surprise that he's here; I waited for Angelo not to confront him about the island vacation but to have an update with mom's doctor's appointment. As he told us the last time he visited, he wanted to help and arranged for the best team of doctors who could look into mom's condition."Come on in," I said as I nodded at him. "Have a seat."Before he sits on the couch, Angelo is watching mom sleeping. I sit opposite him."Thank you; I'm here to talk to you and your mom about my appointments with the best team of doctors for her in Singapore.""That's great news. Have you chosen which hospital you will be taking, mom?""
The sight of Angelo and mom holding hands is beautiful to see, especially since I am their daughter. They can be called a perfect couple of the year. Despite that, I know they can't be together in this lifetime, and it's a hard truth to swallow.I walked Angelo out of the room with a heavy heart after Angelo had things settled with mom."Once again, thank you so much for doing all of this for mom and me.""Angel, you've said that a thousand times. I only hope you don't abandon your studies while taking care of your mom. I'll make sure to send a private nurse tomorrow to help you.""Yes, I'll keep that in mind. I'm doing my best to fulfill my academic activities while in module class and online class when we transfer to Singapore.
I wake up by a knock on the door at 6 am. I barely had 4 hours of sleep as I assisted mom in having her dinner at 11 and waited until she fell asleep, which is nearly 2 am. I take a brief look at mom sleeping in her bed before I head on the door. I twist the doorknob slowly and pull it open, avoiding any noise."Hi""Hush," I said, putting my finger on my lips to stop the woman from speaking loudly."Oh, sorry," she whispered. The woman standing in front of me is probably in her mid-40s, wearing a pair of white uniforms. It's easy to identify her as a nurse."It's okay, let's talk in a low noise to avoid waking up, mom.""I understand. By the way, my name i
I sit with teacher Jerselle on the couch while Lucy gives mom her medicine. Having a bit of time with Ms. Jerselle is an opportunity I don't want to miss. She's one of those people I trust in the school, the reason that I kept on fighting in those times Cassandra and her friends bullied me."Ms. Jerselle, thanks for checking on mom. I really appreciate this.""Angel, I come here not just for your mom but also for you. I want to share something with you. Something personal that I don't want to talk about on the phone."Ms. Jerselle gets my heart pumping twice as fast as usual."Sure, what is it?""This actually involves your dad."
We have three different sites for rescuing dogs and puppies for Maddox’s shelter. Lea and Glenn join Maddox and me in a car. Cassandra and her friends are in one car, and the third car is Sam and Luke.“Angel, why did you allow those bitches to join us rescuing dogs? You know who they are. And I am sure they will do what they did before,” Lea told me. She talks with so much anger in her voice, crossing her arms on her chest.“Lea, you know I can’t let mommy know about what happened during our first rescuing activities. She will doubt our relationship with Cassy and her friends. I already told mom they are one of us, our friends from Harper School. From then, she will dig deeper, and I can’t allow that to happen. It’s not good for mom to be stressed. Mom’s health is declining already, so I will hide anything that w
“Mad?”Maddox pulls me close to him and wraps his arms around me. My hands voluntarily wrap around Maddox’s body. He is warm, unlike the Christmas weather. My heart is pounding in my chest like the beat of a drum as we keep our bodies close to each other even more.We are both speechless until I hear Maddox cry. I feel so bad for causing so much pain to him. I hate and blame myself for every hurt Maddox is bearing. I gently pat Maddox’s back.“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, Mad.”“It’s okay.” Maddox loosens his arms around me. I glance up at Maddox, trying to make eye contact with him.I can't
It’s December 24, the loneliest Christmas in my life without mom. This is the only yuletide season that I don't like celebrating. I've never felt like having Christmas since mom was in her bad condition.Dad asked me yesterday if I’d want to have an out-of-town vacation with my friends but I declined. I don’t want to leave the city as it seems like leaving mom. I know dad couldn’t ask me to join them for Christmas since his wife would be against it. So, I told him I'm staying in my condo.I'm having instant food for breakfast as I am starving already. If mom was here, she'll surely prepare something nutritious for me, she won't settle for instant breakfast.The doorbell rings while I'm eating my morning oatmeal. I wonder who would want to visit me as
On my first day without mom, I visited our old apartment in the hope of reminiscing about those times with mom in our nest. I fix the things mom left as well as my room for me to stay in. Everything is in chaos.There are spider webs on the ceiling, and dust on the sofa and on the floor. The apartment smells like an old building that hasn't been used for years. I can’t believe how much dirt it accumulated during the short time we’ve been staying in Singapore and at my mom's funeral.I start cleaning the small living room, the kitchen, and the dining area. It took me almost an hour to finish even in just a small area. Next is my room before cleaning my mom’s room. My room is just as messy as the living area. I have to put some of the papers in the trash to make space for my school materials.
Time stops…I don’t even know where Cassy and her minions get the nerve to visit mom’s funeral. The audacity they have is incomparable.“Hey, what do you guys think you’re doing here? Seriously? This is not a show.” Lea asks Cassandra as she gets close to mom’s coffin.Cassandra snorts. “We come here with good intentions. I know this is hard for Angel to lose everything, right? Not just her mom but also Maddox.” Cassy says the latter with a hint of tease. "That's why we're here to ease her pain. I know how it feels to be left alone."“Cassandra…”I can’t be wrong, I know exactly
Lea comes to us in mom’s room. Lucy is on the left side of the bed as she was trying to help mom make it comfortable and probably breathe easily. Mommy is like running out of breath which is worse than usual.“Mommy…” I hop on the right side of the bed.Mom only moves her teary eyes. She looks at me, her lips parting like she wants to speak up but is unable to because of the shortness of breath.“Mom it's okay, I’m here. You don’t have to say anything, mommy.”“Angel, is Aunt Athena normally like this when she wakes up?” Lea asks, her voice trembling in fear.“No Lea, this is the worst one but mom will be
It’s another day in Singapore and our last day to be exact. With a heavy heart, I pack mom’s stuff to prepare for our flight.“Mom, are you sure about this?”“Angel, this is the best decision I know. Let’s not argue about this anymore. We will have more time together in the Philippines.”Dad didn’t disagree with mom last night. I don't know why. Dad probably only wants to give whatever mom wishes. He immediately booked tickets for all of us. Although it is hard for him as well. I saw it in his eyes last night, he was sad.I knock on dad’s door to check on him. He let me in. Dad's luggage is open while his clothes scattering on his bed. "Dad, let me help you," I volunteer as I
“What is happening here? Ms. Lucy? Candace?”They both look back at me while helping mom on the bed. I see mom is having difficulty breathing.“Mommy, I’m here.” I walk over to mom’s bed and sit on the edge of it.“I already gave her the medicine Angel. Athena will be fine in a few minutes.” Candace says.“Thank you guys, but you should have told me earlier.”Mom holds my arm. “Angel…” Mom says between breathing heavily. “I told them not to…” She pauses for another heavy breath. 'I’ll be fine, don’t worry.” It’s hard for mom to utter a sentence.
Around 11 in the morning when mom wakes up. Mom’s eyes look tired, the dark circles have been getting bigger and bigger for the past few days.“Angel?” Mom smiles lazily as she looks at me.I smile back at her as I walk over to the bed. “Mommy, I’ll help you sit on the bed.”Mom is so light that I think I could carry her like a baby. She loses too much weight while battling cancer. I sit mom in the bed and put a pillow at her back to make it comfortable.“Mom, what do you wanna have for breakfast? I’ll cook it for you.”“Angel, what’s wrong?”
It’s 9 in the morning and I’m here in the bathroom, looking at myself in the mirror. The dark circles in my eyes are getting bigger. I wash my face with water hoping it will help me awake as I only slept for at least 3 hours.It was hard to watch mom in pain last night. I was helpless thinking and knowing there was nothing I could do to ease her pain. Angelo and I were with mom until she was able to sleep.Mom is still sleeping when I walk out of the bathroom so I head to the kitchen to drink some water and check on Candace, Lucy and Angelo.“Good morning, guys. Were you able to sleep?” Candace and Lucy turn back as I grab a glass to pour some water.“Good morning, Angel.” They greet me in unis