I HELD Dad's hand tightly as we crossed the hallway to the operating room. I just stopped and just stared at him from the closed door.
My tears fell out of fear and anxiety. "Uncle will surely be fine." I felt Jacky's warm palm on my shoulder.
"Yes, he will," I convinced myself. I sat in the waiting area and folded my hands before closing my eyes firmly. I haven't slept for almost two days since the doctor told me that Dad's operation will start today. I watched Dad almost every night while they're checking his vitals.
Relax, a voice whispered in my mind, so I took a deep breath. Yeah, that's what I should do now. Relax, Cherry. I'll bend over and pray really hard.
My father's surgery will take eight hours or more, so Jacky and I decided to eat at the cafeteria first while waiting. I haven't eaten since this morning because my system doesn't want to accept food no matter how hard I tried.
"You need strength. You might get sick." Jacky pushed the plate of rice in front of me.
"I'm okay with coffee," I said.
"What? You shouldn't have drunk that first. You see the result? You're so nervous!" She tried to pull the cup of coffee, but I stopped her.
"I'm fine. I'll eat," I said again. Eventually, I had two cups of rice because I really felt hungry.
"So what's your plan now?" she asked when we finished eating.
I haven't been to work for two days after I've talked to Calix. I also did not accept the money he tried to hand me. I was so embarrassed by what had happened.
Rexon also didn't call me, which I'm thankful for. Maybe I'll talk to him when the operation is over. At this point, I decided to just accept his offer to me in exchange for all his help with Dad's operation.
I took a deep breath before answering. "I accepted the job he offered." I have no strength to answer.
"What?!" she exclaimed.
I widened my eyes because of her reaction.
"So you mean, you're going to accept his offer to be his P.A.?!" She glared at me.
"I have no choice. Even if I work for the rest of my life, I still don't think it will be enough to save my father's life," I uttered.
"How's your job with Calixto? Will you resign?"
"I guess so."
"Yieeh! I'm so excited!" Suddenly, her aura changed as if something was tickling her.
"Hey! What are you?!" I scolded her but still went on to smile.
"I'm jealous because Rexon is going to be your boss now. It's not only that you'll always be with him wherever he goes; it's almost as if you've won the lotto!" she screamed.
I frowned. "I'd rather hit the lottery than to be with your idol!" I stared at her and averted my eyes.
"You know, you're a hypocrite. That person didn't do anything bad to you." Irritation was already in her tune.
I was shocked by what she said. She had a point, but I didn't know why my blood was boiling whenever I heard his name.
"I don't like him! He's so annoying and air headed. He thinks that almost every girl kneels before him. Well definitely not me because he's not my type, done!"
"Wow, is someone asking you?" She raised an eyebrow at me, so I quickly averted my gaze.
"I-I . . . that's also what you're going to ask." I defended myself, still stuttering.
"Oh, wow! As you say." Her eyebrows rose, and she just shook her head.
***
After more than eight hours of waiting, the operation finally ended.
"Doc, how's my Dad?" My chest is full of nervousness.
She quickly took off her mask and smiled slightly.
"We successfully performed the heart transplant and Gorio's body immediately accepted his new heart. And we're praying for a better result. We still need some tests to make sure he won't have any complications," the doctor told me.
Tears welled up in my eyes as I expressed my gratitude to God for the good news.
"But we still need to monitor him because he is still unconscious. Hopefully, he will wake up one of these days so we can say the operation was successful," the doctor added that it made me nervous again.
"If there are any other concerns regarding the operation, just go to my office."
"Thank you, Doc."
I glanced at Dad, who was still asleep until now. I wanted to go in and hug him tightly, but the doctor forbade the visitor to enter because of his delicate condition. Even if I wanted to cry in his arms and feel his tight embrace, I couldn't, so I was content to just look at him from the outside.
"He is a fighter. I know uncle is fighting, just trust him," I heard Jacky said and I knew she encouraged me.
Yeah, I know he'll wake up. I feel like he's coming back to me, I whispered to myself.
***
A week later, he was removed from the ICU. And we are now in a private room because this was what Rexon paid for. Dad's vital sign was getting better, and yesterday he flicked a finger that's why I was delighted. It was said to indicate that Dad has a subconscious and can hear the movements and voices around him.
I was cleaning Dad's body when I heard a knock on the door.
It opened, and Calixto's handsome face appeared with a broad smile on his face.
"Hi!" he greeted me with a basket of various kinds of fruit and a bunch of flowers. I quickly approached him. "For you."
"T-thank you," I shyly said. My two cheeks seemed to blush with intense embarrassment as I reached for the flowers from him.
"How's your dad?" he asked as he laid the basket on the side table.
"He's getting well. We're just waiting for him to wake up," I said as I sat on the couch.
"That's good. I'm glad that his heart transplant was successful," he said lowly at me.
"Yeah. I just hope he wakes up," I spoke softly and slightly tucked the runaway hair to my ear.
"Of course he does. Just don't lose hope, okay?" he said without taking his eyes off me.
"Of course." I smiled at him slightly and looked back at Dad. At that point, silence enveloped us. Only a loud thud of my heart rang between us.
No one wants to say a word. He let out a few sighs as I was tightly holding the flower he gave me.
"How are you?" we asked each other almost at the same time, so we both laughed a little.
"Alright, you first," he said.
"I'm okay. Dad is getting better so I won't be too stressed," I answered. "And you?" I looked at him, who was next to me. I couldn't help but be nervous because of the kind of stare he was giving me right now.
He became even more handsome in my eyes because of his after-shave mustache and beard. He was always wearing formal attire that added to his handsome face.
"I'm good, doing fine," he replied, smiling at me. On the other hand, I was stunned to look at his equal teeth with his sly eyes.
"Still hot and handsome," I added, but what I said seemed out of place.
He quickly poked me on the forehead and burst out laughing at what I said, so I promptly closed my eyes in pain.
"That's what I miss about you."
I bit my lower lip and bowed my head. I just avoided him and laid the flower on the table to fix my messy hair.
"You're still looking so beautiful with your messy hair," he said, and he even stroked my hair to fix it.
Oh. I couldn't speak because of what he was doing. We were almost as close to each other when he stared into my eyes.
"You're blushing," he whispered closely.
I want to sink into the seat because of the shame. I also feel a different nervousness at these times because I can almost smell the breath he exhaled to me.
I almost held my breath as he bent down so that we could look at each other closely.
"And I want to kiss you right now."
I no longer had the strength to refuse when his face came closer to me, so I just closed my eyes.
This is it, Cherry! You will finally have a score with Calixto! My brain screamed and waited for my first kiss.
Unfortunately, nothing happened because we were both startled by the sound of my cellphone.