While I Was Sleeping

Prologue

“Oh my God!” A female voice exclaimed, as I fluttered my eyes open. My eyelids felt heavy and thick, as if they were coated by some kind of glue or slime, as I tried to pry my eyelashes apart slowly, which felt sticky, as well. I could feel the frustration building up, as I tried to move but found that I couldn’t! My limbs felt like dead weights and my body seemed to have attached itself on the mattress that I’ve been lying on, since I could feel my back was hot and damp. My mind was still clouded and hazy but there’s a nagging feeling in me that was urging me to open my eyes and get up.

“Oh my God, she’s finally awake!”

“Honey! Oh, honey! You’re awake! Finally!”

“Oh, thank God, she’s woken up!”

“Finally! She’s awake!” 

 “Oh, God! Thank God, she’s awake now!”

 “My God, finally!”

“Calm down, calm down, everyone! Hahaha!”

“We’re sorry doctor, we’re just so happy and excited that she has finally woken up!”

“I know, I know, hehehe! But let her breathe, do not overcrowd her!”

“Okay, okay! Hahaha! Whatever you say, Dr. Martin!”

Through my frustration, voices appeared to have popped out of nowhere and seemed to have scattered all around me, which only heightened my irritation, as I groaned and struggled to lift my eyelids. Some were familiar, and some were not.

“Ummm”, I groaned. Alas, I glimpsed a shred of blinding white as I valiantly pried my eyelashes apart.

“Why hello there, Bobby Kate”, a bespectacled, thin face of a weary – looking man blocked my view of the blinding whiteness that first greeted me as I successfully opened my eyes. “It’s been twenty six weeks since you’ve fallen asleep! Six months to be exact! Hehehe!” The thin man with the eyeglasses laughed. “Why, isn’t it about time you get up, don’t you think, eh?” He grinned wide. “Welcome to the living world, again! Hahaha!”

Though I definitely did not share this strange man’s gleefulness as I find nothing to laugh about my situation, I couldn’t speak or voice out my opinion on the matter, either. My throat felt as rough as a sandpaper and I feared that all that I could muster to get out of my mouth was a mere meek of croak. So I kept my mouth shut and stared blankly at him.

“Bobby Kate, oh honey, I am so glad you have finally woken up!” Said a tearful female voice, and I turned to look at her beside the strange man. A longing I couldn’t specifically define, engulfed me so bad that I wanted to reach out and grasp the woman into a very tight embrace.

“Mom”, I whispered. Surprisingly though, my voice didn’t sound like a frog’s croak, rather, just a tiniest bit weaker than usual.

“Honey, oh how you worried us! Especially me!” She hugged me then, and for a moment, it felt like heaven on earth and I forgot about my sticky eyelashes, heavy limbs and weak voice. “We are so happy that you’re alive and healthy! We’re happy that you are now safe!” I thought I had never seen anything so lovely before, as she beamed at me with her perfect white teeth.

“But of course!” A gruff voice echoed behind Mom and out popped a head of a bearded man in a suit. “You’re gonna be safe, now, dear. Trust us. You’ll always be safe from now on.” It felt strange to miss his gruff voice and the sight of his beard that looked ill – matched with his immaculate suit.

“Dad”, I almost mouthed the word as my throat felt raspier than ever. Suddenly I had a very strong urge to cry out, for I somehow missed my parents so much, when a series of coughs consumed my entire being. In a blur of motion, several hands went out to reach me, some patted my back, others held on to my shoulders, some held my hands and everyone was talking animatedly, all at the same time! How did I not noticed that there were other people in my room beside my parents?

“Okay, okay! That’s enough, let her breathe, everyone! Let her breathe.” The bespectacled man intervened and that was the moment that I noticed that he wore a white overcoat. Dr. Martin, the name on his left breast pocket, read. “Let Bobby Kate catch her breath, everyone. Do not get too excited. We still need to observe her more, even though I know that all of you are relieved, now that she has woken up. Rest assured that she is still in good hands. We’ll take care of her for now. You may all go and visit her the next day.”

“Honey, we’ll be back soon, I promise!” Mom kissed my cheek and I noticed my Aunt Cecilia was behind her, beaming through her tears. She came forward and placed gentle hands on both of my numb cheeks. She is my mother’s older sister who never married even once, and who used to take care of me when I was little and both of my parents were busy with work. She stood as my second mom and ever since I passed my driver’s license, I saw less of her, though. Part of me still missed those days when she would take care of me, but I understood that I had to mature since I’m no longer a minor.

“My sweet, Bobby Kate”, Aunt Cecilia said, “Thank God you’ve finally woken up! Pretty soon, you’ll get to enjoy all your favorite dishes that I used to cook for you.” I smiled my thank you as I couldn’t speak out, yet. My throat was all sore after my fit of cough, earlier.

“We can’t wait to get you home, sweetcakes”, said Uncle Ronaldo, who came to stand beside Aunt Cecilia. He is their youngest brother. He patted my arm and I smiled at him.

Their eldest brother, Uncle Samuel came forward with his family, his wife, Aunt Josephine, and their three children, whose names I couldn’t remember. I just thought that they looked a little grown than the last time I saw them.

“Welcome back, Bobby Kate! We’re all happy that you’re finally awake, now!” Aunt Josephine said, as she lovingly glanced at her husband, and Uncle Samuel nodded and smiled at me.

“We missed you, Cuz!” Alona, a distant cousin of mine, kissed my cheek, as she lead forward a very old lady that I recognized as my grandmother, Lola Helena. Lola Helena is my mother’s aunt, who then stood as their second mother, when their parents passed away. Alona, a daughter of my Mom’s distant cousin, was the one who takes care of Lola Helena.

My mother is a Filipino with a blood of Spanish. They have a very big family and almost everyone still live in their province in Pangasinan. Their main source of living was their wide acres of land that housed mango trees. Uncle Samuel and his family still reside in my late grandparents’ old house. Aunt Cecilia lives nearby and Uncle Ronaldo is renting an apartment somewhere in Metro Manila, as he works in the city.

Mom met Dad when she herself went to live in the city when she studied business administration in college. According to their love story that they never get tired of telling me every now and then, they met when my mom went to work in a business firm where my dad was an investor. Dad is eight years her senior, but that didn’t get in the way of their blossoming love story, nor the difference of their culture or even the status of their living, as my dad was obviously wealthy and Mom was just starting to build her name in their industry.

Dad is an American who often goes to visit the Philippines because of his vast investments in different business companies. He was a hardworking man who used to party around girls until he met Mom. Cheesy, yeah. I know. But even though Dad still got his playful side, he never once looked at another woman, ever since Mom.

I grew up with my parents’ loving relationship and I’m pretty close with each side of the family. We live in California, where both of my parents run a furniture business, and my Dad’s relatives live nearby.

About six months ago, we decided to visit the Philippines and have my eighteenth birthday celebrated in my mom’s province, in the Mango farm, which Uncle Samuel and Aunt Josephine manage. It was a huge debut bash, where all of our relatives from my mom’s side came to visit. We even hired an event coordinator, there was a live band, endless rows of tables and chairs and a long array of different choices of food. Everyone was dressed in fancy, especially I. Mom even went as far as to get a well-known local designer to create my gown. Bouquets of pink roses adorned the entire place and there was a fancy ball at the beginning of the event, where eighteen men danced with me, with each one giving me a single stemmed rose. Everything was according to plan. We danced and partied all night long, Alona being my faithful companion the entire evening, for she is my closest friend in the country, and everyone was absolutely having a blast.

Until I got drunk. Until I had a row with my boyfriend, Ian. Ian James Vandom is half Irish, half American. We go to the same high school and we’ve been dating for three years, now. He came with us to the Philippines, since he was my escort at my debut party. I remembered fighting with him that night. We were arguing and it got so bad to the point that we were actually hitting each other, physically. I remembered a few people witnessed how we fought, but I couldn’t remember somehow, exactly what we were fighting about that night, now. I had lost my temper and got in my car while he shouted my name over and over. I saw him got into his own car as I sped past him, out of the Mango farm and onto the dark road. He was chasing after me. I remembered the blaring headlights of the truck ahead of me, Ian’s constant shouting, his angry tone going a notch higher as he panicked, his car swerving out from behind me and taking me over, and my own steering to the right until I collided with something I can’t figure out, now. And everything went black.

I blinked as Dad came into view and crouched just above my ear to whisper quite loudly, “Don’cha worry kid, after you’re discharged, we’ll enjoy a round of beer in the garden, just you and me, eh?”

“No!” Mom protested. “Seriously, Kevin! After all that happened? No more drinking!”

“Oh jeez, Marie”, Dad countered, “it will just be a few beers, just to let our darling daughter feel alive, after everything that had happened.”

“No. And that’s final.” Mom sternly said. She looked sharply over at Dad, who in turn, bowed his head down and winked at me while grinning.

“That’s enough”, the good ol’ doctor intervened once again, “and Mr. Wakefiled, your wife is quite right. It’ll be best to steer clear of beer or anything too strong to drink as of now, even when your daughter gets discharged, soon. I expect you’ll have her eating and drinking healthy food for a while, just so her body and immune system could get back in shape.” Dad nodded sheepishly and Mom huffed past him to the door. Dr. Martin waved at them as one by one, Mom, Aunt Cecilia, Uncle Ronaldo, a few relatives I haven’t seen before, went out of the room. Dad kissed me on my forehead before finally thanking the doctor and went out the door.

“You’re family’s quite a handful”, Dr. Martin sighed, “but a very happy handful, at that, I must say.” He chuckled as he started to check on my vital signs, with a petite nurse behind him. “You know, you are quite one lucky girl, I must say. You were in a coma for six months, after driving drunk past midnight of your eighteenth birthday. Lucky you survived, but with all the blood you lost and the bruises you’ve had, your family sure panicked and well, you can imagine what a scene they made as you’ve been rushed to the E.R. Hahaha! But you’re really lucky, Bobby Kate! And we are all happy that you finally woke up.”

“Wha – What a – a – about the um, uh, the… the other c – car that… that was be – hind me?” It was painful. As I rasped out each word that felt like hours had passed after I finished my sentence.

Dr. Martin’s grin suddenly faltered and he went a little pale. Or perhaps it was just my imagination? He signaled for the nurse to fetch him a glass of water. A moment has passed and he handed me the glass of water, while the nurse helped me up to sit. I gratefully drank the lukewarm water and felt a little better somehow.

“Please, tell me what happened to the other car.” It was good to know that my voice wasn’t rough anymore, but then I started to get uncomfortable, like as if waiting for something that I knew would never come.

I stared at Dr. Martin’s pool of dark eyes and my mind wandered back to what happened six months ago.