Eternal Flame
After the surgery, Narda went to the waiting room where Regina’s father, Atty. Rex Vanguardia, and their close friend, Ali, were sitting.
“Narda…” Rex said with worries in his eyes.
“Tito Rex, she’s okay,” Narda replies.
“Oh thank God,” the elder Vanguardia sighs in relief.
Narda then directed her vision to Ali, who is also Regina’s bodyguard.
“What even happened, Ali?” the doctor asked.
“God. I don’t know Narda. It felt surreal. It was quick. Regina and I were going to the tenement to talk to one of the families involved in her case. We were 10 minutes away when a motorcycle started chasing us and later on opened fire. I surprisingly didn’t get hit, but Regina did. I’m sorry,” Ali replied.
“It’s okay, but I thought Regina was getting a bulletproof car?” Narda asked
Ali then started scratching his head.
“She didn’t?” asked Narda.
Ali nodded.
Narda wanted to get pissed, but she settled to just rolling her eyes instead of yelling at Ali. She bids goodbye to them before explaining that it will take time before they can see her. Since she’s a doctor in the hospital, Narda went to Regina’s ICU room. She opens the door and sits beside her friend.
“So stubborn, Regina,” Narda says as she holds Regina’s hands. “You promised me you’ll get a bulletproof car. I told you to get one.”
Narda continued to just hold Regina’s hand as she takes in everything that happened today. As she reflects, someone knocked on the door, completely breaking her out of her reverie.
It was the ICU nurse.
“Doc, do you want me to get you a chair and a blanket? You’ve been here for an hour.” the nurse said.
Narda didn’t even realize she has been there for an hour. All she knew at this point was that she cannot leave Regina’s side.
“Yes, please. Thank you.”, Narda said to the nurse before the latter leaves.
“Oh, Regina. You’ll be surprised when I tell you…”, Narda said almost to a point of laughter. “How did I even miss it? Do you even know?”, she ponders out loud.
“Doc, here’s the chair and blanket. Good night.”, the nurse told Narda.
Narda then fixed the chair and laid out the blanket in front of her. She kissed Regina’s hand and forehead.
“Good night, my soulmate. See you when I wake-up. up”, Narda said as she sits on the chair and wraps herself on the blanket.
—
Narda woke up in the morning to see Regina still lying on the bed. After checking the latter’s vitals, she left the room to do her rounds. As she left one of her patients’ rooms, she saw Mara by the nurses’ station.
“Hey,” Narda said to Mara.
“Hello, Narda. How’s Regina?”, Mara replied.
“Still out. Which is not surprising. Wish I don’t have to do surgeries today,” Narda said.
“By the way, I need you to do a consult on one of my patients. Post-op and experiencing some discomfort in her chest. Are you free right now?”, Mara asked her friend
“Yeah. I’m done with rounds. Let’s go.”, Narda confirmed
–
Mara was speaking to the patient when Narda felt pain in her chest. She sighed and rolled her eyes. It was inevitable after all. Once she ordered the tests, the two left the patient’s room and decided to get coffee.
“How have you been after yesterday, Nards?”, Mara asked her friend.
“I don’t know honestly. I never thought I’d found out this way. Heck, I never even thought that it might be Regina, ya know,” Narda slumped onto the chair.
“We did…” Mara told her friend.
“Huh?”, Narda replies.
“I mean, you two were inseparable. Whatever happens, you two have each other. You treat each other differently than you would other people. Some even think that you and Regina are together,” Mara told her ever-oblivious friend.
Narda sighs. She thought she was smart, but maybe not smart enough to figure out that her lifelong bestfriend is her soulmate.
“Don’t beat yourself up over it, Narda,” Mara reminds her friend
“I’m trying,” Narda assures her friend as she drinks her coffee. “By the way, I was right,” she continues.
“Right about what?”, a now confused Mara replied.
“I was gonna feel the pain when the anesthesia starts to wear off,” Narda chuckled.
–
Narda went back to Regina’s room before lunchtime. She knew Regina could wake up anytime now and she wanted to be there once her bestfriend-slash-soulmate wakes up. Not only does she know it because she was Regina’s doctor, but she also knows it because of the intensifying burn on her chest. Narda approaches Regina to kiss her on the forehead before she sits on the couch that the nurse provided the night before. She reviews patient files just to distract her since she canceled the rest of her day to make sure she’s by Regina’s side once she wakes up.
Three hours after, Narda finally heard her stomach. Left with no choice, Narda went to the canteen to get a sandwich and a drink. She decided to eat the sandwich on the way back to Regina’s room. Before she entered the ICU, Narda has finished the food and threw the plastic into the nearby trashcan. Once she enters the room, Narda noticed that Regina’s hand twitched, so she crosses her arms with her right hand holding the coffee and waited to see Regina’s eyes open. As Regina opens her eyes, Narda speaks up.
“Good morning, Regina. Calm down and don’t fight the tube. I’ll get it out of you,” Narda smiles at her bestfriend before proceeding to remove the tube from her bestfriend slowly. She then calls all the doctors that handled Regina’s case followed by the police officers who needed her statement. Once everyone left the room, Narda was back in the same position she had when Regina woke up, minus the coffee.
“So are you finally going to get a bulletproof car now”, Narda jokingly yet pointedly asked Regina.
Regina smiles, “Maybe I will…”