"Hey," Jasper greeted, holding me by the waist.
The sun was setting on the horizon, making the bay glisten like liquid silver. I squinted at the sight.
"Anything wrong?"
I shook my head,smiling. "It's all perfect. Too much glitter just hurts my eyes."
"I thought you loved sunsets."
"I do." I walked over to the edge of the yacht, enjoying the view. We were in Manila Bay, overlooking SM Mall of Asia, bordered by Roxas Boulevard. On the concrete pavement, kids were running, biking... Pairs of lovers were walking hand in hand, or sitting back to back, enjoying the moment, like we were.
"Are you still scared of going on cruise?" He suddenly looked worried, his eyebrows creased, his eyes searched mine.
"I'll be fine," I lied. I was scared of the ocean. "I think I'll manage."
"You know," he whispered, taking my hand, "it will be fun, we could sneak out on the bow and maybe re-enact that Titanic scene? I can be your Jack."
I smiled at that.Heck,I smiled at every little thing he said,no matter how senseless and shallow. It was always easy with him, I never had to be on my guard.
"And then you, Alice, should run around the ship wearing a long flowy night gown and seduce Jasper, and then you know what happens next," Emmett chuckled, bemused. I rolled my eyes at him.
Our food arrived and we ate dinner, excited for the cruise. We were wearin formal clothes, it was uncomfortable and too warm, but I did not complain. I was playing with Jasper's cellphone, tweeting.
I'm gay, I typed, and pressed the tweet button. That sent me to hysterics, leaving all my friends puzzled as to why I was laughing like mad. When Jasper saw what I just did, he caught me in his arms and started tickling me. We were frowned upon by my best friend, Bella.
"Could you guys act a little more decent?" She scoffed, then left us on the table. Edward mumbled an apology, which I answered with a smile.
~~~
"Have you taken your medicine yet?" Jasper asked, popping at the door of our cabin. Their cabin was right next to ours.
"Yes, Sir!" I straightened my posture, imitating a soldier with a salute.
"Good," he replied shortly. He patted the hem of my skirt, frowning. "Isn't this skirt a bit too short?"
"It's just right!" I argued, measuring the length of my navy blue skirt with my outstreched fingers. "See? Two inches above the knees. Standard size."
"Whatever you say." He shrugged, then walked off. I followed suit, thinking he was upset.
"Hey!" I called out, earning stares of annoyance from the other students on board, but they were the least of my priorities, so I continued anyway.
Jasper stopped abruptly, knocked on a cabin's door, and asked our classmate, Jehin, if we could talk in the cabin for a moment. She reluctatnly agreed, and he pulled me by the hand and closed the door.
"Are you okay?" I asked, pating his dimpled cheek twice. "Did you take your medicine?"
He was in medication, too. His heart, like mine, was weak, and he couldn't get very tired or things would turn out ugly. He nodded, flashing me a grin.
"Remember the Titanic promise?" He asked all of a sudden. I squinted my eyes at him, asking what he meant.
"Come on." He dragged me and we ran to the bow of the ship,where we were prohibited that night. We stood there, the wind blew my hair and he was behind me, our arms raised in the air like wings.
"You should say I am the King of the world!" I instructed him, but he just laughed at me.
"No," he said, chuckling. "That was Jack. Now, this is me."
He held my hand tight, then, on the top of his lungs, he shouted. "I am the luckiest jerk in the world!"
"That was so unromantic," I complained, pouting. "But that will do, I guess."
"Of course that will do," he agreed, smelling my hair. "You love me too much to argue."
"Someone's an airhead," I teased. "Let's go back inside. We're needed in the gallery."
The gallery is a cruise ship's kitchen. There you would find rows and rows of white plates, silverware, and all the other kitchen utensils you could ever think of. As we eneterd the gallery, everyone was already busy working.
"Brandon, Whitlock, late!" Mrs. Nunez scolded. We bowed down to say we were sorry, then proceeded to the sink where we washed the dishes in silence.
My hands were wrinkly because of the dishwashing paste, and I've got bubbles on my hair from all the work, when my back itched like crazy.
"Scratch my back!" I screeched at him. He just smirked then began itching my back.
"Poor little Alice, what would you do without me?"
"Don't say that!" I requested, suddenly scared. "You shouldn't say that unless you are planning on leaving me."
"Never," he whispered, tucking my hair behind my ears. "Promise."
"Promises are made to be broken, Jazz." Bella smirked, mopping the floor.
"You know me," Jasper answered. "I never break a word I say."
"Prove it," she said, then walked away. I stared at my best friend's retreating figure, clueless as to why she was acting like that towards Jasper.
Jasper just shrugged at me when I told him about it. "She doesn't think anybody's good enough for you, that's all."
"Fine," I grumbled before walking off to the restaurant where the other passengers and patrons were beginning to head to, dressed to the nines.
~~~
Edward and Emmett were bartending and doing bar tricks, earning a lot of tips from the awestruck customers. Jasper was waiting on tables, so was I. Every once in a while, we stopped to talk, flirt a little, or just stare at each other. We finished our shift at 2 in the morning, and the ship arrived in Cebu at about 4 or 5. We were sent straight to Crown regency Towers where we just plopped ourselves on the bed and slept, because we were all dead tired.
I was awakened by the noise Bella made in the morning, rummaging through the room.
"Good morning," I greeted, my voice was still full of sleep. "Do you need help in turning this suite upside down?"
"No, you better hurry and get dressed," she answered seriously. "Our seminar is starting in an hour."
My eyes grew wide with horror. "Oh crap, I wouldn't be able to get ready in an hour!"
"I know right?"
I began zipping and unzipping my bags, fumbling for my things. I ended up in a pastel yellow colored dress and a black bolero thirty minutes later. Edward was waiting outside for Bella.
"Hey." I punched his shoulder lightly. "Where's Jasper?"
"I think you should wake him up." He answered seriously. "you know I'm not patient in waking people up."
"you're never patient, period." I giggled then made my way to their room.
Slants of sunshine were pouring in through the tall glass windows. He was peacefully sleeping but the rise and fall of his chest was not normal, so I sat by his side and began shaking him.
"Jasper? Jasper, wake up. you have to hurry up, our seminar is half an hour away."
No answer.
"Jasper, come on. You could sleep later..."
Something that sounded like a grunt came from his throat, and then that was it.
His breathing rapidly increased and then they were gone as soon as they came. I was screaming frantically for help, checking his pulse and his heartbeat,they were almost gone. After ten minutes or so, I heard a loud siren below and then it was a blur of arms and limbs being carried away.
I remember throwing in information, like what exactly happened, his heart disease, how old he was, what he ate last night, what time he went to bed, and so on and so off. I remember running fourteen flights of stairs because I was scared the elevators might fail and I would be stuck inside and I wouldn't be able to be there with him, for him.
I remember running after the stretcher he was on, being pushed and shoved by random paramedics, being shouted at. In the end, all I could do was sit there in the curb while the ambulance sped away. Everything seemed like the movies-slow motion,the skies were gray, and my best friend was there, rubbing my back.
~~~
That afternoon, I took the plane back to Manila. I didn't know where he was, or what his condition was. I was clutching my phone but I got no text messages, let alone a phone call. I was worried, but there was nothing I could do,so I went home.
When nighttime fell and everyone was dreaming beautiful dreams, I lay in bed feeling empty and lonely. I thought back on all the years we have spent together as friends, and I cried until I fell asleep. That night, I wished I'd dream about him, but I didn't.
The next morning, I got a message from his Mom informing me that he was admitted in the University Hospital. They specialize in heart ailments, and he was in the Intensive Care Unit. I immediately got dressed to pay him a visit.
When I arrived there,his Mom wrapped me in a hug. I gave her a wry smile, trying hard to appear strong for once. "How is he?"
She began sobbing, shaking. "The doctors said the only thing keeping him alive is the breathing apparatus..."
"Calm down," I said, but deep inside I was bleeding. The only thing keeping him alive is the breathing apparatus, that is bullshit! I pulled his Mom in for another hug. A tear trickled down my face, but I wiped it away simply, then pretended to smile and look strong.
"He'll be fine," I said. I did not know whether I said that to make her feel better, or was I just creating another illusion for myself?
~~~
I was wearing a horrible looking green hospital gown and a transparent plastic hair cover. He was lying there, on the bed, surrounded by all the white. There were no flowers,no colors.
"I wouldn't cry," I announced, as if I was having a very normal conversation with him under a very normal circumstance.
I walked nearer, each step was careful,as if somehow any heavy sound could hurt him. I held his hand...His fingernails were bluish. It took all of my strength not to break down and cry right then, right there.
"Hey..." I whispered. My voice cracked and I had to clear my thoat several times.My mouth felt so dry. "Wake up..."
Beep. Beep. Beep. His heart monitor was beeping regularly. It was the only noise besides my voice.
"I ate ice cream today," I informed him, rubbing little circles on his palm. "I ate two cones,one for you, and one for me..."
Beep.
"I know,I know you envy me...If you weren't such a jerk you could have accompanied me you know?"
Beep. Beep.
"I still can't believe that Tweety Bird is not a girl. Teletubbies were better though..."
Beep. Beep. Beep...
I lay my head on the bed, so that we were face to face. His eyes were completely closed shut, his lips were pale,so pale.
I ran my fingers through his hair carefully,as if it were some delicate piece of golden thread. The beeping sound continued, an insult to my injury. Each sound was another gash in my heavily wounded heart that would throb in pain forever.
"You said you would never leave me," I reminded him, squeezing his hand. "You're cheating..."
I stared at his face. It was just the two of us, living in silence. "Please fight... For me... For us..."
That was all it took for two drops of tears to form on his eyes, and then they raced towards the sides of his nose. His lips quivered, but that was all I got. I wiped his tears dry,ignoring my own tears that were starting to drown me.
"Can you hear me?" My voice was louder, rougher.
"Can you hear me? Wake up, wake up, you fool! You can't leave me like this..."
Fresh set of tears watered his pasty face, and I was sobbing hysterically when his Mom entered the room and helped me up. She was with his Dad, and another woman that I have only met now, and then a Doctor.
"This is Sienna, his step sister." His Mom introduced me to the woman, who acted indifferent,as if she couldn't care less.
The Doctor told me about his real condition. He used those hard to spell professional medical terms and all other stuff, but from what i understood, he was brain dead and his chances of survival were 1 out of 1000. If he ever did survive, he would have to have therapy, or he might have temporary amnesia due to the trauma it brought him to.
In short, they thought the best way out of this was to unplug the breathing apparatus...And end his misery.
It would end his life,too, and that I couldn't take.
"Please,no..."
I held on to his Mom for support. She was sobbing again, like I was.
His Dad was teary eyed. Sienna looked bored.
"His bills are sky high," she stated harshly. "If this goes on for long we might have to sell the car or the house or God knows what."
I looked at his Dad. He reamined silent,perhaps,contemplating on things.
"We're not even sure if he'd live," Sienna added.
"But there's still a chance that he would," i politely interrupted. She gave me a cold, hard glare. "Please..."
"Fine," she muttered. "One week. If he doesn't wake up in a week, we'll give it up,okay? I hate seeing him like this."
After the doctor performed some tests and stuff, they all went out and again,I was alone with him.
I planted a kiss on the top of his head. "Please wake up soon... Keep your promise..."
As soon as the door clicked shut behind me,I couldn't help but be scared, because promises are made to be broken.
