FAITHFULLY YOURS ( Tears Series 1 )

CHAPTER 4 : A DISCOVERY OF TRUTH

RAINA POV'S

"Where am I?" tanong ko sa'king sarili ng magising. Bumungad kasi sakin ang maputing kwarto, walang kagamitan hanggang sa may naamoy akong ng kakaiba. Hospital!

To make sure na namali lang ako ng akala. Napaangat ako ng aking kamay at sa pag-angat bigla kong naramdaman ang lamig ng karayom ng dextrose na nakatusok sa'king kamay.

I let out a deep breath then slightly close my eyes and tried to remember what happened. Forcing myself to concentrate until all the memories came back. How I pass out and the last person I saw before I lost consciousness na ikinamulat ko ulit.

Suddenly tears fell down as I kept asking myself, "Why did he do this to me?"

"Anak!" mom called me she's sitting beside my bed while rubbing my hair.I looked at her and our eyes just met. I see the joy in her eyes.

"Ma" tipid kong sambit as she wiped my tears.

"Si kuya Wat-"

"Anak it would be better kung layuan mo na si Watt. Taposin niyo na ang ugnayan niyo sa isa't isa," pagputol ni Mama sa sasabihin ko which me me surprised. From the way she let out the words, I knew she meant something. Something serious that I understand as she taught. Mom already knows everything as what as I expected. Omg, she blames Watt for what happened!

I shooked my head, "Ma, Watt didn't mean anything. Wala siyang kasalanan, niligtas niya lang ako." pagpapaliwanag ko pa, nagbabasakali na magbago ang isip niya.

"He meant everything, Raina. Sinaktan ka niya kaya sa ayaw o sa gusto mo layuan mo si Watt. Don't you ever call her Kuya" giit niya sakin na ikinatahimik ko na hindi na bago sa kanya.

Several times she forced me. She asked me to stay away everytime i have a scars thinking that Kuya Watt's fault kahit hindi naman. She desperately force me because she didn't like Watt from the beginning. Ayaw niyang mapalapit ako sa mayayamang pamilya katulad ng pamilya ni Watt.

I bit my lips, dared to ask my Mom while there still a chance. "Is this the reason, Ma? " i paused sabay turo ko sa mismong sarili kong puno ng bandage."If yes, sorry pero hindi ko sususndin ang ninanais mo."

"Oo" sigaw ni mama na bilis na ikinatibok ng puso ko. Kita ko sa mga mata ang galit at inis na matagal niyang kinikimkim. "This is the reason, Raina dahil ayaw Kong masugatan ka. Kasi...takot ako na baka sa susunod hindi na hospital ang mapupuntahan ko. Takot ako na baka, sa susunod makita ko na lang ang katawan mong tinatakpan ng puting tela." mahabang turan niya habang tinuturo ng nanginginig niyang daliri ang buong katawam kong may mga sugat.

"Puro ka pasa at sugat dahil sa kanyang mga pangakong binitawan sayo na kampante mong pinaniniwalaan kaysa sa'kin na, Ina mo!"

Huminga ako ng malalim at pilit na pinipigilan ang aking emosyon sa bawat salitang binabato ni Mama sa'kin. Alam kong tama naman siya pero hindi ko kayang sundin ang kagustuhan niya. I don't want to lose Watt

Hindi ko gusto mawalan ng kaibigan na naging malaking bahagi sa buhay ko.

"Ma, alam kung nasasaktan ka per-"

"Ilang beses kong sinasabi sayo, Raina." she cut me off kaya natarayan ko siya. "Paulit-ulit Kong sinasabi sayo na madadamay ka lang sa katarantaduhan niya, pero hindi ka nakinig! Hindi mo'ko pinakinggan kahit isang beses man lang."

"Oh ayan. Heto ka ngayon, nakahiga." Patuloy ni mama at awang-awa na tinitignan ako. Pero si Watt? Nasaan siya? Inaalala kaba niya? Binisita kaba niya? Hindi ba, wala?"

I tried to keep my mouth shut because everything she said was right and made sense.Tears started to fall from my eyes as well as my heart broke into pieces because of the guilt. Guilty of letting myself get hurts from the person I thought was incapable of hurting me.

"You have your own life. You know how to think and make decisions. You know the difference between right and wrong. Don't you ever forget that, Raina." Mom said as she also hugged me and planted a kiss above my head before leaving me all alone.

After my mom came out, I burst into tears again. brought out all my anger, annoyance and self-blame until I finally came to my senses and made a difficult decision. Desisyon na sana hindi ko pagsisisihan sa huli at para sa ikakasaya ng aking Ina.

Sa kalagitnaan ng pag-iisip nakaramdam na ako ng inip hanggang sa naisipan kong libangin ang sarili sa aking cellphone that Kuya Watt gave me last birthday. Palihim niyang binigay sa akin dahil ayaw ni Mama na magkaroon ako ng selpon.

She's not allowing me to use a cellphone since then because she doesn't want me to have a communication with my biological father. Even though i really wanted to have a connection with my father whom I had never seen, been with and met.

My mom's afraid of the possibility that something bad will happen, kaya nagparaya na lang kami, umiwas, lumayo. Those right thing we did, out of respect for his real family.

When I picked up the phone, I immediately opened the data. Then a minute later, a series of notifications and chat heads appeared on the screen. For a moment, I stared at the screen until my notification ringtone stopped. I went to the messenger and my eyes widened when I saw a bunch of unread messages.

Out of curiosity I started to read the messages they've sent to me. While reading the messages, I could hardly believe what I was seeing. The group chat of Watt's former team, the Wattdapakers, the Heiressinity and the messages from his siblings kept coming up, all mentioning my name.

The first message that caught my attention was from the Heiressinity group. The gc that I have never joined so I opened it first is to find out who added me. I hesitated at first, my thumb hovering over the screen. A part of me didn’t want to check it, afraid of what else I might discover, but curiosity got the better of me. I opened the chat and the conversation immediately grabbed my attention. I scrolled back to the most recent message, I noticed it was from last Wednesday.

"Nagising na ba si Raina?" Ekay asked.

Then a follow-up message from another member, "Binalik ulit ba siya sa ICU?"

I was frozen. What were they talking about? ICU? Me?

I started scrolling further up to see the full conversation, and my heart raced with each message I read.

Migs: "Grabe, guys. Parang kahapon lang nasa ICU si Raina."

Yori: "Oo nga eh. Thank God she's okay now."

Ekay: "Hindi ko makalimutan 'yung nasaksihan namin...na parang miracle ang nangyayari noong ni r-revive siya."

Ekay: "Sobrang nakakatakot! Akala ko talaga wala na siya nung biglang nag-flatline."

My chest tightened as I read their words. There was talk of me being revived. What did that even mean? They were talking about me like something awful had happened, but I had no memory of any of it. Panic started creeping in again as I scrolled up, desperately looking for more information. My hands grew colder, and I could feel my heart twitching in my chest.

My breathing hitched as more panic set in. “Bakit ganon? Bakit ganto? Anong nangyayari?” I whispered to myself, feeling my hands start to tremble. I couldn’t comprehend it—none of it made sense.

I tapped on another message, this time from Hera, Watt younger sister. Hoping na iba yung message niya na magpapakalma sa'kin but her message wasn’t that different from the others. Kaya nag overthink malala ulit ako because it was all about me. Her messages filled with concern, asking how I was, and whether I wake up or not.

I dropped my phone on the bed and buried my face in my hands, overwhelmed by a new wave of confusion and fear. My heart pounded in my chest as the overthinking, confusion and fear consumed me.

What had happened to me?

Why couldn’t I remember any of it?