143 Koko

Mr. Ybañez laughed together with their few witnesses. He was too overwhelmed to see how happy their daughter was. Though both of his daughters fell in love with the same man, it happened through the providence of time. It was not him to be blamed nor would he accounted with malice. It was simply how their roads met and entwined unintentionally in the forks of their lives.

"Felix, our daughter is not ours anymore! " Madamme complained regressively.

"Nonsense! " He instantly dismissed her though he knew she was telling half the truth.

The rest of the onlookers had goosebumps watching them but they were all happy for them. However, there was one around who had the sudden urge to flee from this place . Jia, the only woman in his heart, maybe right beside him, but he was not his. When would be his turn?

The dinner turned out to be a pleasant one. The love in the air drew out inspiration for everyone. For some, it brought them back into sweet reminiscence . For others, it brought them deep yearnings for someone to fill that sense of emptiness...

Pleasant and interesting conversations were raised. The prim and autocratic Mr. Rex turned out to be great in humorous topics. He was no longer as intimidating as he was when Jia first met him. Brian and that other police officer who looked formidable in their outward appearance, talked about silly things entwined with thrilling and terrifying experiences. Only Jim remained silent all throughout though he also listened attentively at times.

After those leads in the conversation laid their pieces, Brian brought up again his previous question.

" Dr. Aijohn, we are already dying to listen to your story. Bring it on, hurry! "

Dr. Aijohn ran his eyes towards all of them before he fixed it at Jia.

"Anna, look at me. Don't you remember anything? "

Only few of her acquaintances called her by that nickname except her family and few of her friends. Brian called him ' Jia Anna' but he only did it when he wanted to emphasize a thing. Though, he constantly used that name on that night when they met again to talk about Jian's abduction enactment.

She gazed back at him and shook her head. She really couldn't remember anything about him.

The rest were also held in suspense. This was not a simple thing. They stared at both of them and held their breath.

Dr. Aijohn stood up. He removed his grey coat....his long - sleeved polo....then, his white inner shirt...

When he turned his back at them, a wide, ugly and keloidal scar was displayed, the size of a saucer.

The eyes of Dr. Grace widened as she saw it. After that night when he made love with her under the influence of alcohol, she never saw him undressed again. And besides, it was dark...

"Aijohn, what happened to that? " Dr. Grace quickly exclaimed.

Dr. Aijohn turned to face them again. And his eyes fell first to Dr. Grace.

"Will you still love me with this ugly scar? " He grinned widely at her.

Jia hurriedly sprang up to her feet and ran towards Dr. Aijohn. When she stopped right before him, she looked up to him with wet eyes. In a quivering voice, she muttered a name.

"Koko? "

Before Dr. Aijohn answered her, he spread his arms and scooped her up in a very tight hug.

"I missed you so much, Anna! "

Jia cried for a long while. When she calmed down, she pinched his side hardly.

"You're so bad! We met in El Nido but you did not...." She was not able to finish as she cried again.

Dr. Aijohn stroke her hair and smiled. His eyes glistened with tears as well.

"It was not the right time, yet.. "

"Why didn't you tell me right away? Do you still have to wait for this dramatic introduction? " She said, disappointed about his delay.

Jia withdrew from his embrace and turned to Mr. Rex. She smiled in between her sobs.

"So this is monkey? "

Dr. Aijohn's mouth twisted into a curve. "You can not call him that anymore. He'll be angry!"

Everyone laughed. Mr. Rex creased his brows.

"Monkey? Can't you give me a better name?" He pouted but smiled after few seconds.

"Because you were too hairy when you were a kid. And you would always fight with me for a piece of banana."

"My gosh, how shameful! From now on, I will not eat banana again. " He laughed as he gulped his last bite of a banana in his hand.

He could not argue with her. He was just being caught eating his favorite fruit! You, tillers of the mighty land, why do bananas taste so good?

"And how did you call Arvin? " He asked, hoping his name would be much worse than his.

"Monggos. " Dr. Aijohn answered as he laughed.

Jia laughed as well. "Because his rice porridge would always had a monggo soup in it or else he'd spew it out."

"And what's with Koko? "Mr. Rex asked again, envying at his better - sounding nickname.

"That's how our mother called me because, as she said... " Dr. Aijohn started to explain..

"Because he giggled everytime he heard that bird chirping his name. "

Brian butted in. "How did the bird say it, Jia Anna ?"

"Kowkow! " She giggled as well, infecting everyone of his contageous laughter.

___

He looked around and saw that he was in a small, white cubicle. Beside him was a cardiac monitor, and the tracing of his heartbeat was displayed. There were numbers on the screen and he couldn't understand them all except for his bp which was 150/100 mmHg to 160/100mmHg. On his left arm, an IV line was hooked and there were about three bottles hanging in it. Each of the tubings were attached to infusion pumps. In one of his fingertips, a pulse oximeter was clipped. Even if he didn't have any medical backround, he knew the names of those apparatus for being in the hospital business for so long.

He lifted up his arm. He could not move it up. He pulled his leg forward. He could not also lift it up. He called up the nurse but he shuddered upon hearing his word. Just a simple word but he could not pronounce it well!