Chapter 3

As I was sleeping, I could even feel and hear myself snoring, and I realized that my sleep was not that deep when I woke up because someone had opened the lights. I was not able to open my eyes instantly as they were still adjusting to the light, but I knew from the posture, body build, and movement that it was Mama.

As my eyes finally adjusted to the light, I was able to confirm that the person who opened the door was Mama. I was about to casually call her name and ask why she came back, but then I couldn’t speak as I started to get nervous when I saw that most portions of her blue scrubs were already brown-colored, and it seemed like the reason for that was blood. I looked at Mama’s hands, and they were red, too, but it was evident that the blood had already dried on her hands as the light was not reflecting on them anymore.

Mama looked upset. She kept on walking back and forth, and she kept tapping both her legs with her hands, which is a thing she frequently does whenever she’s nervous or upset.

I looked at her face, examined her facial reaction, and tried to read her emotions, but I could not. Her facial reaction was confusing; it seemed like she was scared, nervous… or sad? But after a few seconds, she started to cry, and it seemed like she was crying tears of joy. She was even thanking God while crying.

“Ma?” I called her. After a few seconds, I tried to sit on the bed by myself. “What happened, Ma?” I asked, sounding so worried. I was still rubbing my eyes as Mama walked towards me while chasing her breath.

“Les… dear…” Her voice broke. “There was a hit-and-run incident outside… and, and…”

I held her hand and looked directly into her eyes. “Calm down, Ma. Breathe…”

After a few seconds, she was able to catch up with her breath, and finally, she spoke calmly, “A hit-and-run incident happened outside and… and I was the one who witnessed it…”

After saying those words, it seemed like she had let all her guard down, and the tears she was suppressing earlier all came out. My immediate response was to hug her since I did not know how I would be comforting her without even knowing what had happened. She probably was shocked by what she had witnessed because as I hugged her, I felt her body shaking terribly.

As she was crying, she could not help but sob loudly, so when Lance heard her sobs, he immediately stood up from the bed where he was sleeping, and Jessie was also awakened.

“What happened, Ma? Why… why are you covered in blood?!” Lance’s brows furrowed. He was so worried; he even pulled Mama away from me just so he could check if she was okay.

“Lance, lower your voice down. Mama needs to calm down first. She is still probably in shock from what she had witnessed…”

“What did she witness?”

“A hit-and-run incident…”

“What?” Lance and Jessie asked at the same time. The only difference was that Jessie was calm, but Lance was not. Lance’s veins in his neck could even be seen right now.

“I tried… I tried saving that girl from the hit-and-run incident, but… but it was too late already…” Mama kept on crying as she hugged Lance. “She… she was dead already…” Her voice broke. “Her… her family had just arrived half an hour ago, and… and they told me that they are willing to donate their daughter’s organs. They are willing to give their daughter’s heart to you, Les, as a way of giving back to me…”

As I heard those words, tears started to fill my eyes, and in just a second, I found myself already crying with Mama while hugging her so tightly. That hug was probably the longest-lasting hug that we ever did, and Lance even joined us.

“I’m so happy for you, bestie!” Jessie mouthed to me as she shed her tears. I gestured for her to come join our hug, and she eventually did without even hesitating.

This was probably the best day of my life. I felt so happy because, finally, I would be able to live a normal life.

***

Hours before my heart transplant, I was already done getting my chest x-ray, and they had already performed some blood tests on me. Currently, they were recording my blood pressure.

So far, so good. As per the results of my chest x-ray and the blood tests, all of them were perfectly normal, according to Dr. Angel, so that meant that I was very much ready for the heart transplant. I was very lucky that my heart donor, Lianna, was a perfect match for me, so I would not have to wait for other heart donors.

I think this was really fate. Maybe… maybe Lianna was my platonic soulmate in every universe, and in this universe, we did not get to meet. That was why I asked the doctor if I could meet her before doing the transplant because I would like to personally thank her for her heart. If it weren’t for her, I would not be this happy, so I owe her everything.

As far as I know, at this moment, she was in an intensive care unit. She was technically alive because her heart was still beating through the machine, but because of the trauma that she got from being hit by a car, her chance of waking up was little to no chance. The doctor had already declared her brain dead; that was what Mama heard. She also heard from Dr. Angel that Lianna could not be recognized anymore because her face was broken as her head got almost all the impact of the car.

“AHHHH!” Jessie hugged me really tight. It was evident in her facial reaction that she was so happy for me. “I’m so so so happy for you!” Her voice was shaking as she was probably about to cry.

When she finally let go of the hug, I was able to prove myself that I was correct—she was already crying.

“I’m so happy you will be able to experience all the things you told me you wanted to do but could not…” She hugged me again. Because she was being too emotional, of course, as her best friend, I cried with her.

“I am so happy too… Very, very happy.”