The 100th Guy (English - Uned...

Chapter Thirteen

Almost crossing paths

As soon as I got to the hospital, I instantly went to the nurses’ station. Jaime called me an hour before and told me that he saw Betty enter the premises of our hospital at the capital. She was with two persons older than her and they were bringing bags with them. Our conversation did not go well because he suddenly hung up and I could not contact him anymore. I promptly drove here and hoped that by chance, I could see her today.

            “Excuse me,” I faced the nurse at the front desk. She was writing something when I came.

            “Sir Maisen!” She almost screamed. The other nurses blushed as soon as they saw me in front of them. I remembered the nurse who I talked to. I asked her before to go on a date with me but my Dad knew it and he banned me for a week here. Before, I kept using my manly charms to them, but now, I spontaneously stood civilized in front of them. Not as someone who would ask them to go out, but someone who would soon run the the De La Feunte Medical Group.

            “Could you please check the names of the checked-in patients? And all the patients who are listed for check-ups and consultations,” I said pointing at the computer. It was the main system of the hospital. All the other information and data gathered on the individual computers all over the hospital were transmitted there. But she just stared at me, almost drooling. Two other nurses came and they stood beside me, just staring at me also. I frustratedly sighed and asked myself to be patient as I called there attention back. “Excuse me!” 

            “Sir!”she responded almost unwarily. Then all the other nurses were like characters in a movie which was paused then played. “I’m sorry, but will you please repeat what you said?”

            “Is there a patient here named Betty? Kindly check what room she’s into now and who’s her assigned doctor,” I said as I uncontrollably tapped my fingers to the desk.

            “What’s her surname, Sir? It will be easier to check if there’s a surname,” she noted.

            “I’m not sure what her surname is. Just… just check all the Bettys here. Do it in less than five minutes.” I took a step away then came back. “And hand me a hard copy of all the names, room numbers and assigned doctor.” She just stared at me again. “Hurry!”

            “Ah— Y-Yes Sir!” She faced the monitor and hurriedly tapped her fingers on the keyboard. I could not calm on my seat. I flipped and threw and tapped my phone as I waited for the results to come. “Done, Sir!” I almost jumped towards her when I saw her raised a piece of bondpaper in her hand. I took a look at it and found out that there were just three women with the name Betty in the hospital at the moment.

            “Thank you!” I said then hurried my way to find Betty. But before I could even run away, the nurse called me.

            “Sir Maisen! Sir!”

            “What?” I asked in a high tone.

            She just bit half of her lower lip and in an almost whispering voice, “You’re so hot, Sir.”

            “Thank you, but I’m already taken.” Then I ran away from all the temptation that could block my way. There was a more important thing that I must do— to find Betty, to be her and to never let her go. I could not just let this pass by. I needed to  hasten.

            I started finding the second Betty who was just here for consultation. She was the one to leave the premises first. As soon as I arrived at the pediatric ward, I searched for her and found out that she had already gone.

            “She left minutes ago with her mother,” Dr. Sia told me. He was that Betty’s physician. But I decided to leave already when he said that, “She’s just nine months old, Maisen.”

            I ran to the other wing, to the seventh floor; even used the escalator because there was a thick line of persons to the elevator. The other Betty was part of the Heart Center. But I discovered that she was a thirty-year old woman with coronary heart disease. There was one Betty left. I felt hopeful knowing that I had great chances of seeing her because there was only one more of the Bettys left. But I somehow felt scared. Because the Betty in the list was part of the Cancer Institute. Why was she there? Of all the places in this hospital why the Cancer Institute?

            Even with the foreboding that I had inside me, I still ran to the fourth floor to find her. My heart was beating fast and I was hoping that she should be all right. That what I was thinking was not true. The hospital was the biggest one that we own and it was very tiring to run from walls to walls. But I did not surrender. What if the Betty that I was finding was the right one?

            Just as I reached the room where she was in, I took a step back. I was afraid to open the door. What if she already looked like most of the patients here with cancer? I was used to seeing sick, weak, and dead bodies. But in Betty’s case? I did not know if I could handle that.

            “Hi.”

            I looked at my side and found a woman with deep eyes seated on a wheelchair. She had a bandana on her head, which was probably a sign of hair loss when one was taking chemotherapy. “Hi,” I greeted back.

            “Do you need something?” she asked with a smile on her face. She was obviously weak yet she could still pull that sweet yet simple smile.

            “A-Are you… Betty?” I asked.

            “Betty Isidore Lamanza. Yes, I am,” she answered. I glanced at her shirt and knew that she had leukemia. Her face lit up when she noticed that I was looking at her shirt where there written the words, “I’m not afraid of leukemia. I’m afraid of a life not lived.” And I suddenly remembered what Betty told me that beautiful night when we lay under the stars and when my heart learned to beat in a wondrous rhythm for the first time. I felt relieved knowing that Betty was not part of our Cancer Institute, but I also felt upset because I was not able to see her today.

            The day ended and there was no single Betty that I knew. I even searched for people who pronounced their names as Betty but had different spellings. But she was still not there. I tried to call the investigator but he was still out of reach. I just went to the floor where my Dad’s office was, still, I had in mind that Betty could be there, but I was only disappointed in the end. It was locked. I forgot that he attended a conference outside the country and he would be gone for days.

            With my shoulders dropped and my face wasted, I just sat on one of bleachers in front of his clinic. I leaned my head on the wall at my back and closed my eyes. It was a very tiring day, not just physically but emotionally. My hopes were high, I would see her today. But all of them crumbled down when I failed in the end. I knew there were still many days to find her, but I felt so weak already and that I did not want to do anything today but close my eyes.

            But I would not surrender. The world knew how much I tried to find her even though I failed. But I still had high hopes. Time would come and I would see her like how we met the first time. I could clearly see in my closing eyes how we would smile at each other once that time came. I would search the world to find her and I would never let her go.

            And because of this day, I proved one thing…

            I love her. Truly.

* 

 “Hello, Jane?” I called Jane when I got to the hospital. She was on-duty and I knew that she as just around.

            “Midori, where have you been?” she worriedly asked.

            I put my phone to my other ear because I could not hear her clearly. “What did you say?” I asked her.

            “I asked you where have you been? I went to your room and I just found your things there. I miss you, Bessie, and I would love to spend some time with you. But I already got out of the hospital because my duty already ended. I’ll just visit you tomorrow, okay?” Jane was still cheery though obviously tired.

            “Sorry, Jane. I just bought something outside. Ah, by the way,” I roamed my eyes to the hospital lobby. “Is Dr. Arc in his office tonight?”

            “Dr. Arc de la Fuente?” she paused before answering. “I did not come across him a while ago. You can check his office. Just use the elevator and don’t tire yourself, hmm?”

            I smiled at Jane’s sweetness. I did not know if she was just tired or she was really being sweet. “Thank you, Bessie. Go home safely, okay?” I hung up and walked my way to Dr. Arc’s office. I would like to see him before my therapy would start tomorrow.

            I walked throught the hallway to his office. I could see the doors were closed and the lights were off. But there was one thing about that hallway that made me walk through the moon.

            The guy sleeping in front of the clinic…

            I approached him, almost afraid to sit beside him and even to lay my eyes on him. A curve formed on my lips as I watched him sleep. His face was very angelic when he was sleeping. He was at peace, worriless, and just beautiful when he was like that. I would not question him having many girls fall for his charms. He was a picturesque, a view worth seeing,  a painting worth putting in a museum.

            I lifted my hand and tried to touch his face, but I could only reach for the space between us. I could never touch him. I was afraid to wake him up, afraid that once he saw me, he might not let me go, and if ever he did that, I might just go with him wherever our fate would lead us.

            But my heart was scared of something more…

            I was more afraid of the possibility that when he saw me, he might not show any interest, or he might not just know me at all. There were many girls he knew, probably most of them were more gorgeous than I could ever be. Who was I to be remembered by someone as popular as him? Who was I to be sought by an unreachable star like him? I was just holding to what he said when we “first” met and nothing more. How sure I was that all of those were true? How sure I was that I could really hold on to that?

            It might be sad, but it was better that way. Besides, he tried to get to know me, but I ran away from him. I was already given the chance but I did not take it. This was the path that I took. The path where I was not with him. The path where it was only I walking in it.

            “Maisen, why do I always see you? Do you know that things get more difficult the more I see you?”

            I did not avoid to hold his hand. It was like an impulse. Maybe, if Jane and Dwaine could see what I was doing, they could have smothered me already. After I ran away from him, I was going back? Even I was so unsure of myself. Was this because of my sickness? Could I really blame myself? I just did not want the time to come that I would have to leave him. So no matter how much I wanted to be with him, it just could not be. Instead of wasting his time to get to know me, he should just use that to know other women. Someone who was more deserving. But then again, I could not fight this feeling. Was this wrong?

            I was about to take my hand off his when he tighten his grip to it. And what surprised me more was when he pulled me towards him and wrapped me in his arms tightly. I did not move for a while, feeling if he was awake or not. But I heard his heavy breathing and knew that he was asleep.

            I could not breathe. I did not know if it was the tightness of his embrace or was it because our hearts were so close to each other. I tried to control it, afraid that the loudness of the beating would wake him up.

            While I was in that embrace, I closed my eyes for a moment. For a moment that I was in his arms, I would pretend to be normal, not having any sickness. For a moment that I was in his arms, I would pretend to be truly contented. For a moment, I would pretend that in each other’s arms we were happy and we could do the things that we wanted freely.

            But I knew for myself that this moment is just like a dream…

            I should wake up as early as I could. Or else, I would just fall for this dream forever.