Chapter 149 - The Briefest Consciousness

The following day, newspapers, magazines, TV programs, and social media are all abuzz with not only Gabriel's big confession, which is now a trending topic all over the world, but also the scuffle between Claire and Michelle. Memes have quickly sprouted all over social media, for instance, of Michelle sprawled on the floor, her feet sticking up in the air. It's the kind of damage that could only make seasoned public relations practitioner Catherine Buenavista shake her head in regret, knowing that her old friend, Michelle, truly had it coming.

"I will sue her ȧss," a red-faced Michelle screams on the TV, as reporters thrust their mics and audio recorders to her face trying to get the scoop. "That sŀut will go to prison. She thinks she can do something like that and get away with it? No!"

"But she's now the true fiancée of Gabriel Tan, and you also got physical with her. Do you think a lawsuit would be fruitful?"

Michelle scoffs, and turns her back on the camera.

Gary Smulder is on the sidewalk, marveling at the frontpages of newspapers, almost always featuring Gabriel and Claire, in an impromptu face-off with his old flame, Michelle. No one could have made this thing up—it was a scene that's meant for popular public consumption. The public would go to great lengths just to read stories like this. He sighs; damn it, he was on the cusp of success, and Gabriel deciding to just deal with it squarely took away Gary's chances at making it big.

Meanwhile, Gabriel and Claire are back at the hospital, speaking with Miguel's doctor. As it turns out, Miguel had awakened briefly the previous day, and the first thing he mentioned was Gabriel's name.

"He opened his eyes just like that," the doctor says. "He was disoriented, of course. Couldn't remember where he was or why he was there. He was looking for his brother. This was a few hours after we completed the blood transfusion and his vitals were picking up."

"And then?" Emotion is apparent in Gabriel's voice.

"The nurse explained bits and pieces to him. How he had an accident, so on and so forth. Of course, that was only as far as what the nurse knew." The doctor gazes uneasily at Gabriel. "No one knew the little things that really led up to the accident. We learned the broad strokes only from, uhh, your, uhhh, press conference yesterday. Then he stopped talking. He was just looking at the wall. Then we noticed he has fallen asleep."

Miguel is still asleep as they are discussing this. "Is this normal, this sleepiness?"

"Well," the doctor clears his throat. "Should be. His vital signs are good. We're getting no red flags in his system. It's very possibly his body's reaction to the recent transfusion. And the medicine. Usually cases like this needs only a few more days to recover. I wouldn't be surprised if I find him on his own two feet tomorrow or the next day."

Gabriel looks at Claire. "That's great news!"

Claire notices that the doctor couldn't stop staring at her face—he'd talk, but his eyes always find her, glancing at her sideways even as he makes a point. "Do I have a smudge on my face, Doc?" she says, smiling.

The doctor is surprised for having been caught. "Sorry, I just…I just like you both to know I watched the press conference yesterday, from start to finish. I'm…I'm a big fan of your love team."

Gabriel has to laugh. "We're not a 'love team', Doc. We're just two people in love."

"Yeah, I know." Then in sing-song, "I can feel the love tonight!"

They all laugh. The doctor looks as if he has no plans of leaving, until his pager buzzes. "The ER beckons," he says, reading off the pager. "Glad to have met you, Gabriel, Claire. As I said, I love stories like what you have. It brings light to this darkness. It gives people hope that there are good, beautiful things that still exist in the world."

"Oh, thank you, Doc," Claire gushes, glancing at Gabriel.

"I just hope I continue to be lucky," Gabriel says.

They watch the doctor walk away to his next appointment.

"Do you think we should wait here until Miguel wakes up again?"

"Sure," Claire says. She smiles. "I wouldn't want to miss the next time he opens his eyes. There's a lot of catching up to do."

"That could take hours, you know. He might wake up late tonight."

"I'm fine by that as long as you're here with me." She takes his arm and wraps it around her waist. "There, you can never escape now."

"You truly are inescapable," he laughs. Then his mood grows pensive. "There's only something that worries me a bit."

"What is it?"

He pauses and looks at her. "Nah, let's not spoil the moment. I'm sure we'd encounter no more curveballs after this. We can be happy again."

And yet, somewhere, at that very moment, in an island paradise a few hours of airplane flight from where Gabriel is, Matilde Tan watches the TV with amazement. The matriarch of the Tan family is just having a little layover before she proceeds to her next destination somewhere in Asia, to visit one of her company's smartphone manufacturing centers. But the events unfolding on the TV have caught her attention—a re-run of yesterday's press conference. "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph," Matilde mutters, watching Gabriel say things about love. And if there's anything she understands from the context of this little stunt, it's that Miguel, her younger son, seems unwell, and all because of some unknown woman—whom she's quite sure is nothing but some gold-digging hussy.

She tries to grab her tall glass of pina colada on the table beside her, but her trembling hand sends it tumbling into the wooden floor. And yet she pays it no mind. "Albert," she says aloud. "Albert, where are you?"

A man with salt-and-pepper hair and a thin moustache appears almost magically by her side. "I'm here, Madam."

"We're leaving," Matilde Tan says, her face dark. "Have my jet ready at this very minute. My two sons are going 'loco' over some girl." She glances at what remains of her cold beverage on the floor as she stands up. "They need their old mother to slap the madness out of their heads."