Nineteen

Holding a small box containing an expensive necklace that Isiaah had just bought, he glanced at his watch several times. It’s been a few minutes since Maeluthe last texted him.

When his car was parked, he hurried to the gate of the woman’s school himself. He went to the place where they often met, but he saw no shadow of her.

That’s odd, Isiaah said to himself. Because it’s not Maeluthe’s habit to go around somewhere, especially when they’ve already talked about meeting each other.

Deadly worried, he decided to stay in the place first, hoping that after a few minutes, the woman would return.

A minute became an hour.

He tried to call the woman repeatedly, but her cellphone was turned off. He also tried to ask friends if they had seen Maleuthe. He was also able to call the restaurant but nothing.

He hurried back and got into the car. He was about to turn it on when he heard his cellphone ring.

It was a call from an unknown number, and even though he didn’t have time to answer any call that wasn’t connected to her girlfriend, he still quickly slid the button and answered.

‘‘Hello, Isiaah Jacinto speaking. Who’s–’’ He stopped automatically when he heard a familiar hush.

‘‘Isiaah. . . Isiaah, help me.’’

Maeluthe.

The loud pounding of his chest almost deafened the man. This was the first time he had felt the sting like this. For the first time, he was scared. For the first time, he can’t even fix his thoughts.

‘‘M-Maeluthe? Where are you?’’

For a few minutes, no one answered him. All he could hear were the crackles and shouts of people he didn’t even know.

‘‘Maeluthe! What’s happening?’’

He started driving even though he wasn’t sure where he was going.

Though his hands were shaking, he was thinking of nothing but his girlfriend.

‘‘H-Hello?’’ He was startled by another woman’s voice. ‘‘The. . . the woman. She will be transferred to Grand Valley Medical Center.’’

Isaiah was no longer able to thank whoever spoke. He just dropped the call and flew to the said place.

It took about an hour. Isiaah’s hands were almost numb from the constant trembling. The man was terrified.

He was just starting again, and everything was new to him. The pity I was looking for has just been returned, but it will be taken back soon.

Even though his knee was weak, he wasted no time. When he found out where Maeluthe was in the emergency room, he immediately went.

To his surprise, it was the last person he wanted to be seen in that hospital. It was them who opened up to the man.

‘‘Ma?’’ he uttered, then Cyra, who had been pale before, was also confronted by him, frightened by what she had done. ‘‘Cyra, what are you doing here?’’

‘‘Sai, that woman–’’

‘‘Don’t call her that way!’’ he growled at the girl. ‘‘What’s going on, Ma?’’

Cyra fell silent and turned to Isiaah’s mother. Both are waiting for her to explain everything that happened.

‘‘We met her–’’

‘‘You what?!’’ Isiaah had promised to keep his mouth shut to listen to his mother, but he couldn’t help but be shocked with the first word.

What is the reason for the two to meet? His mother never knew anything about the women he liked.

All the questions in his system seemed to be answered when he turned his gaze to the woman who was silent on the side, bewildered.

‘‘Can you listen to me first, Isai?!’’ his mother shouted.

The man did nothing but listen.

‘‘Yes, we met her. I didn’t know, okay? You know I don’t have a problem with women you’ve been with before. But then, this shameless woman!’’ She almost stabbed Cyra with her words.

‘‘Auntie!’’

‘‘Why didn’t you say this woman cheated on you? I trusted her! You know how much I favor her. That’s why. . .’’

‘‘What? Why, Ma?’’

Isiaah just looked around, looking for someone he could ask. But since the woman is still in the ER, surely no one else knows anything about it.

‘‘I threatened her!’’

“Mama!”

They began to have tension between them. ‘‘But it wasn’t my fault. I tried to stop her. Cyra pulled Maeluthe’s hair so–’’

Isiaah washed his palm on his face, disappointed. In a situation like this, he didn’t know what to do with a bucketful of rage.

He sighed thousands of times while the other two who were with him fell silent.

‘‘What happened to Maeluthe?’’ he asked again, suppressing his anger.

The two women stared at each other as if they were still waiting for anyone to speak. Finally, Iyah Jacinto nodded and then addressed her son carefully.

‘‘Even we were surprised, Isiaah. Blood rushed from between her thighs. We panicked afterward. She was screaming in pain. We still don’t know what the real reason is, but she must be–’’

Pregnant.

That was what Iya planned to say but just stopped when the ER door suddenly opened.

Isiaah hurried to meet the doctor, still not losing the fear in his system. ‘‘Doc, what happened? I am the patient’s boyfriend!’’

The doctor stopped in front of the man and then smiled, causing Isiaah to feel less stressed. ‘‘She’s fine now. We were glad she was taken to the hospital immediately. You don’t need to worry about the baby. Miss Legson is safe too.’’

Isiaah’s big smile faded when he heard the doctor say that.

Baby? What baby?

‘‘Baby?’’

The doctor nodded at what he said, still smiling. ‘‘I guess you didn’t know. Miss Legson is six weeks pregnant. Congratulations.’’

His mother was overjoyed at her sudden discovery, but Isiaah began to be nailed to his stand.

This can’t be happening. This is not true; he convinced himself.

Maeluthe could not be six weeks pregnant because it had not been nearly a month since they had met.