Three years ago.
On a rainy Wednesday morning, it was the usual struggle for
Marj to get up on bed and prepare for another hectic day in duty. Aside from the
daily responsibility of assisting a handful of friendly patients in the
hemodialysis unit, she knew very well that it was also the last day of finalizing
the monthly reports, plus the day of completing the monthly requests for medical
supplies in the department. She loves her work. But she admits that working
sometimes gets the best out of her and that ounces of exhaustion seem to be
injected deep down to her bone marrow every after thirty minutes. Nevertheless,
she sat up straight, said a little prayer, stretched her muscles out, and
finally took a bath. Since it was still early, she took the chance of sensing
every drop of water from the shower, not minding the coldness of the season.
After finishing all her morning rut, she looked into the
mirror and yes, she was ready to face the day. She kissed her mom goodbye, picked
up her black jacket, her folded printed umbrella, and headed off to work carrying
her red flashy bag that had a little yellow ribbon pinned on its right side which
she got fond of playing with.
One fact that she hated most during a cold rainy season was
that she had to walk on a muddy narrow street, under the drizzling heaven, trying
to avoid every chance of getting her clean white uniform stained, just to get
to work. Not to mention that she would always pass by the children of her
neighborhood who were playing and running under the rain, throwing little stones on the
little pools of water, making her hate the splashes, and hate even more to envy
the fun she sees in the children – everything was a challenge when it was rainy.
And she hated it.
She got to work just in time. She saw the three early ones
from the first batch of patients for the day, and although she wasn’t really
loving the rainy day, she still curved her face and gave them a morning smile.
One of them was Maria, an old lady who always gave her the sweetest smile and
greeting. The old lady summoned her. Marj approached Maria and reached out for her
warm hand.
“Yes, Mommy Maria? Is there anything you want me to get you?”
Marj asked.
“No, I’m fine. Thank you. Nick already prepared everything
for me. You look a little different today.”
“Huh? What do you mean Mommy?”
“I see a little glow from your face.”
Marj is exceptionally beautiful. She has a long black hair,
deep round brown eyes, with long dark lashes, a tall nose, and fine red lips. Her
smile is very prominent. It’s perfect. Anything she wears seems to fit her perfectly.
She carries herself with grace. She’s very feminine, but she’s not one of the
petite girls. Her height stands out among the common girls around. She is
beautiful, and even a stranger can attest to that. That day was just a little different
– at least for the eyes of Maria.
“You’re always beautiful Marj. You know that. But today, I
don’t know. It’s like, something positive within you radiates and it makes you more beautiful.”
“Oh Mommy Maria, you always make
me blush! Thank you!” Marj giggled. She quickly thought of her not-so-fine
feeling this morning, and wondered about the strange words of Maria.
“Today will be a blessing for
you darling,” the old lady said.
Marj smiled back. Now, that was
weird, she thought as she went back for work. The room was filled with
patients as noon came. The patients from the first batch were almost done and
those from the second batch started to come in. Others were waiting outside for
their turn. Marj was already half-way done on her reports and all other paperwork.
But, it was break time for her. She asked Nick to cover for her first. Jhoyce
and Jhane joined her for lunch.
She only ordered vegetables, and
a fried fish because she was cutting out on meat lately. She had an apple at
the side while Jhoyce and Jhane both had brownies on their trays. They each had
a bottled tea for drinks. They sat near the window. And as they were eating, Marj
noticed no change in the weather. The rain got even heavier. She suddenly looked
for a trace of mud stain on her pants, and she did see one at the back. She
threw a little disgust on her face and remembered how she hated rainy days.
They continued their meal and had little chats in between. Marj is a cheerful person,
especially when she is with her friends. But rainy days can really affect her
on ways she can't even explain.
They had no plans of staying a
little longer in the canteen, and so as soon as they finished their food, they
got up and returned their plates. Their canteen management implemented Clean As You Go to save time and effort,
to keep the place clean, and to discipline every one who eats there. As Marj
placed her spoon and fork on the trays of dirty utensils, someone accidentally spilled
something on her hand. She made a face and a sound of disgust and irritation when
she had learned it was fish sauce. She heard a man’s voice apologizing repeatedly
but she didn’t mind the sincerity in his tone. She tried to react blankly as
she said “it’s fine” while wiping her hand. But the man noticed her irritation.
He said sorry one last time as Marj, who did not even throw a glance on him
went out of the canteen together with the two nurses, who looked back at him
and gave him a blaming stare.
Marj went straight to wash her
hands. She washed her hands with a fragrant soap, and rubbed alcohol on them afterwards
– and repeated the washing process three times. Of all things, it really had to
be the fish sauce? She went to the pantry, sat and rested for a while before
going back to the station. She had the chance to close her eyes and sigh. Oh
yes, she was not enjoying the rainy hump day.
Back at the station, she heard
the door opened and saw Mr. Rick Thompson, an old Fil-Am former soldier, on his
wheelchair coming in. He was with his wife, Mommy Grace, as she calls, but a
tall handsome guy with a very manly built who was wearing a plain black shirt
and a silver dog tag chain was the one pushing Mr. Rick’s wheelchair. A new
face in the room, she thought. She turned to Mr. Rick and Mommy Grace and smiled
to them. She assisted Mr. Rick – weighed him, got his blood pressure, prepared his
records, put him in the available unit, etc. As she was getting Mr. Rick ready,
Grace gladly introduced his nephew Reinhart, to her. She turned to him and gave
a little smile. Rein gave her a quick look and a nod. Grace was telling her
things about Rein – it was Rein’s off from work and so he gladly decided to
come and assist his uncle. But she wasn’t really paying attention to Grace but
to Mr. Rick. She gave short responses to acknowledge the old lady. She politely
said good bye for a while to go back to her other tasks.
It was already late in the
afternoon and Marj was feeling the pain on her neck. Half of the third batch of
patients were already set in. She was feeling her neck when she suddenly
noticed beside her was a small yellow piece of paper with a pencil writing on it. It read: “Sorry Nurse Marj.”
She wondered and thought Nick was the one who wrote it. Nick wrongly wrote
an information in the record of medical supplies, which gave her a little
confusion a while ago. But Nick already corrected everything after she had gotten back
from lunch. Still she asked Nick, but the note wasn’t from him. She was left
puzzled.
She decided to take a break and grab a cup of coffee from the
vendo machine, that was just outside the room. She forgot to bring her small pack of coffee this morning. So she
went out and slid her wrinkle-free bill in the machine. She pressed on for the
sweet and creamy cup of coffee and waited. She heard the machine dropped her
change. She got her coins before reaching for her coffee. The aroma of her hot
coffee was just a perfect blend for a rainy day. Oh, sweet!
Carefully holding the lovely cup, she headed back to the room
when abruptly, someone opened the door. Fortunately, with her reflexes, Marj
managed to move away the coffee from her but she was still holding it. A little
of it spilled on her right hand, making her curse quietly. She was hurt. Rein
saw her and repeatedly said sorry. Rein quickly reached for a handkerchief on
his pocket and tried to wipe Marj’s hand. Marj was just thankful that she didn’t
stain her uniform while Rein still kept apologizing. His gentle touch on her
hand got into Marj’s nerves. She quickly pulled away her hand and said it was fine.
She turned away, went back inside the room, washed her hands and finished her
coffee. What a fine nice rainy day, she thought.
After her coffee break, she went
back to finish her work. Jhoyce handed her cookies. Jhane was cracking up jokes,
trying to shake it up a little for her. All the other nurses were busy with the
patients. An hour before her shift ended, she saw another small piece of paper.
It was yellow note with the same pencil writing on it that read:
“Nurse Marj, I’m very sorry
for the fish sauce. And I’m very sorry for the coffee. - Rein”
It was him! The note made her smile a bit. But she got
conscious about it, so she slowly turned to the Mr. Rick’s unit and tried to
glance for Rein. He saw Rein looking at her. Rein smiled, and she... was completely charmed.
It was again a rainy Wednesday
morning. Marj got up, said a little prayer, stretched out, and took a bath. She
enjoyed the coldness of water. She dressed up, put on a little make-up, and
sprayed a sweet perfume. Kissed her mom goodbye, grabbed her black jacket, her folded
printed umbrella, and her red flashy bag, which had a yellow ribbon pinned on
its side. She heard the car’s horn. And with excitement, she rushed outside and rode on
the car. On her seat was a brown bag with a tall cup of coffee and a cinnamon
roll inside. She turned to the driver.
“Thank you, hon.”
And then and there, she saw Rein’s sweet smile that never failed to
charm her.
(A story for my dear pencil, Marjoey de Guzman.)
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