..... love isn’t something we invented .....
The hospital is only 2 kilometers away from their house but Amor feels she has been traveling for hours. Oliver brought Amor to the hospital on his motorcycle and with a speed of 100kph, they arrived there in just 15 minutes. Amor rushed to the Emergency Room and approached the nurse's station. "Excuse me, nurse I am looking for patient Theo..... Theo Valencia," asked Amor trying to hold back the tears in her eyes.
"Are you his family?"
"I am his wife Amor..... Amor Valencia."
"Come with me," she then ushered Amor toward the fifth hospital bed. "I'll let the doctor know you are here so that you can go to the admission's office already."
"Admission's office?" worriedly ask Amor.
"If you will not admit the patient then you can sign a waiver so that he will be discharged immediately to make way for other patients."
"Waiver?" Amor is getting more confused now.
"You can stay here and just wait for the doctor if you have any more questions," and the nurse left her with Theo on the hospital bed.
Looking at Theo lying on the hospital bed with his eyes closed, she does not want to disturb him but she also does not know what to do in this situation. His forehead has a bandage, his blue shirt now has bloodstains, his jeans have now been cut in the leg portion to dress up the wound, she could not even see where his shoes are. On the way to the hospital, Oliver told her that Theo borrowed Noah's motorcycle to buy some drinks. Because he traveled alone, he was holding the throttle in his left hand while carrying the grocery bag with drinks in his right hand. Theo tried to overtake a bus on a blind curve without knowing that there is another bus on the other side. To minimize the impact of the accident he bumped himself on the gutter but because he cannot balance well he was not able to pull on the brakes and jumped off from the motorcycle instead. Unfortunately, he was not quick enough and the motorcycle fell on his left leg.
"Excuse me, ma'am, are you Mrs. Valencia?" the doctor asked.
"Huh? Y..... Ye..... Yes," Amor's startled reply.
"I am Dr. Reyes, have you made a decision already?"
"Why do we need to admit him doc?"
"Ah, so you have not discussed this with your husband then?"
"I have not woken him up yet."
"I see. Well, he needs to undergo an operation to save his leg otherwise he will be amputated."
"Operation?"
"His left lower limb suffered severe trauma when the motorcycle landed on his leg. His foot, ankle, and knee all suffered severe trauma as shown in the x-ray results. If you will admit him today then we will start with the pre-operative procedures."
Unable to give any response to the doctor, Amor is getting dizzy either because of the smell of the hospital or with the medical jargon the doctor used. She feels she wants to throw up but her mouth is too dry to even produce saliva.
"Ma'am?"
"Ah doc, were you able to ask my husband what he wants to do?"
"Earlier he said he wants to proceed with the operation but we cannot do it without completing the admission process first."
Left with no other choice, Amor admitted Theo so that he can begin with the pre-operative procedures starting with the knee replacement. Even though they are in the public hospital there are some rates and fees that they need to shoulder at their own expense. While Theo is in the Operating Room, Amor sits blankly in the waiting area when her phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, the call is coming from Evelyn she then immediately answered the call. "Hello Evelyn, sorry I totally forgot to give you any update. I have been busy filling up the forms here in the hospital, how are the kids?" worriedly asked Amor.
"Don't worry about them. Your parents are now with the kids, just take care of Theo there and also yourself," assured Evelyn.
"I do not know what time I can go back home, I really don't know what will happen now," long-withheld tears have now been freely released and are dancing on her cheeks.
"I'm really sorry Amor if I cannot be of much help but still don't hesitate to ask and we will sort things out together, okay?"
"Thank you Evelyn and tell the kids not to worry we will try to come home as soon as possible, I'll hang up now bye," before Evelyn can respond Amor ended the call because the words have now turned into cries. Without minding the people around her, Amor can no longer stay afloat in the shallow water and allowed her tears to fill up the bucket she is in right now. For what seemed like an eternity, she just sat there until her eyes dried themselves.
"Paging Mrs. Valencia you are wanted at the nurse's station".
This brought her to reality again, not knowing where to draw her strength from she still managed to get up and hurriedly walked toward the nurse's station.
"Uhm, excuse me nurse I am Mrs. Valencia."
"Ah, just wait I will inform the doctor you are here."
Amor obediently stood right next to the nurse's station blankly staring at the nurses busy taking down the notes given by the doctors.
"Excuse me, Mrs. Valencia?"
"Yes, doc?"
"Uhm, we are done with the pre-operative procedures for his knee replacement but the surgery for his ankle needs to be scheduled next week. You can be discharged temporarily but make sure to come back, okay? Just wait for the discharge slip from the nurse so that you can go home."
"Thank you, doc. Uhm doc, can Theo still walk?" the question she has not dared to ask even to herself just blurted out from nowhere.
"For now ma'am we cannot tell unless we have finished all the procedures, and he needs to be in a wheelchair to prevent further complications especially that we have not completed the surgery yet."
Knowing Theo's pride, Amor does not know whether to worry about how he will accept his fate or how they will make ends meet now that he can no longer work.
She'd rather know now how to turn the pages and skip to the last part.