Love doesn't need to be perfect .....

Henry has been waiting for the trip bound to Cebu City in the North Terminal in their town in Daanbantayan on the 24th of June 2025 Tuesday at 4:35 am since he left his grandparents' house the night before. It has been a couple of years ago since he traveled to the city with Amor and he is anxious since he will be traveling alone this time as a stowaway child. Seated at the 13th column 13th row on the left side of the driver Henry took the window seat. Clink clink clink. The bus inspector hits the bar handle of the door that signals the bus is now departing. The sun has not risen yet but he is wide awake for the whole trip and took notice of where they at during the travel. With a speed of 50-60kph, Henry did not even budge as the bus traveled down the cemented sometimes rugged zigzag road. Since there was no heavy traffic yet starting from Consolacion it took him less than an hour to reach the city, and when he got off in the north terminal he was no longer sure what to do. After a few minutes of resting in the terminal, Henry felt strong contractions of his stomach reminding him that it's empty. He then realized he has not eaten breakfast yet and it's already lunchtime. Even though he already feels uncomfortable caused by stomachache he still managed to walk outside the terminal to look for food that is within his budget. Undecided which way to take, he just followed where most of the people have gone. Since it is his first time walking around the highway he observed the other people first before he crosses to the other side of the road. While waiting for his turn to cross the street his vision is now about to get blurry due to his hunger and when he took his first step to cross the street he didn't notice that a car was also about to take a turn to where he was standing at the moment. The driver immediately beeped his car horn which startled Henry and caused him to lose his balance and fell to the ground. The driver quickly stopped his vehicle in a safe area and got off the car to check on Henry if he hit him and called an ambulance. Henry can hear the sound of people talking around him but doesn't have the strength to get up.

The hospital is only 1 kilometer away from the scene but Henry feels he has been traveling for hours and he was rushed to the Emergency Room.

"Excuse me, nurse I am looking for the child patient that was rushed to the ER just now due to a car accident," asked the driver trying to hold back the tears in his eyes.

"Are you his family?"

"I was the driver that accidentally hit him."

"Come with me," she then ushered the driver toward the 10th hospital bed. "I'll let the doctor know you are here. You can stay here and just wait for the doctor if you have any more questions," and the nurse left him with Henry on the hospital bed.

"Excuse me, sir, are you a relative of the child?" the doctor asked.

"Huh? N..... No..... I was the driver that accidentally hit him," the driver's startled reply.

"I am Dr. Garcia."

"Why is he not awake yet doc?"

"I don't think you hit him sir since the child didn't have any bruises but based on the lab results he has very low sugar thus my diagnosis is that the child may have not eaten yet for a long time and probably fainted. He should be awake any minute from now so let's just wait and see so that we can take information from him."

Unable to give any response to the doctor, the driver feels relieved of what the doctor told him.

"Sir?"

"Oh..... doc, my employer wants the child to be admitted in a private room while he is still unconscious."

"I'll let the nurse know about your decision so that you can go to the admission's office already."

Admitted in the only hospital that offers stunning views of either Cebu's highlands or the sea the private room is larger than most hospitals ensuring a more comfortable stay. It is already an air-conditioned room with a separate watcher's bed, a private CR, hot and cold shower, TV with cable, and free wifi access. Henry finally woke up after being asleep for 24 hours and he felt more hungry and thirsty than yesterday but he cannot move due to the dextrose injected into his hand. He saw someone sitting on the watcher's bed but he couldn't recognize who it was, "Excuse me, sir?"

"Yes? Good, you are awake now, by the way, my name is James. Wait, I'll let my boss know first that you're already awake," and he immediately went outside the room to make a call.

Henry is still confused as to what he was doing in the hospital bed when James went back in, "Uhm..... my boss is on his way here. Do you want something to eat or drink?"

"Ah..... I still don't understand what I'm doing here but yes I am very hungry and thirsty."

"Oh..... we have food and drinks here just choose which one you want to eat you can even take all of them."

"Uhm..... thank you, sir James," and Henry quickly ate everything that was offered to him.

When Henry's hunger and thirst were satisfied he rested for a while and there was a sudden knock on the door.

"Ah..... that might be my boss already," and James hurriedly opened the door.

"Zǎoshang hǎo (Good morning)," greeted James.

A man with an oval facial shape, pointy chin, plump upper and lower lips with tapering volume towards the oral commissures and a well-defined Cupid's bow with round apices, a straight nasal profile, and an obtuse jaw angle went inside the room.

"Oh..... good..... joh-eun achim (good morning)," greeted Henry.

"Hahaha, I'm Chinese, not Korean."

"Uhm..... I'm sorry if I mistook you for a Korean."

James gave his boss a chair for him to take a seat beside Henry's hospital bed.

"Not a problem, what is your name child?"

"Ah..... Henry..... Henry sir."

"Henry?"

Henry took a long pause not sure whether to give his full name or not.

"I will not force you to tell me if you don't want to but do you know what you are doing here in the hospital?"

"Oh..... I tried to think about it after I finished eating but then you suddenly came."

"Well, we thought we hit you yesterday that's why we brought you here in the hospital but the doctor said you might have just fainted."

"Uhm..... I think I remember now and the doctor might be right thank you for taking care of me sir."

"Now that you are awake and seem to be enthusiastic we can already bring you to your home."

Henry suddenly felt homesick and at the same time homeless.

"Do you have somewhere to go home to?"

Henry looked at the Chinese man unsure of what to say.

"I reported the incident to the police in case your family has been looking for you and so far they have not gotten back to me."

"They didn't even try to look for me," he told himself.

"If you don't have a family to go home to I will just take you to DSWD then."

"Ah..... no sir please, I can manage myself after I get discharged from the hospital," pleaded Henry trying to hold back the tears in his eyes.

Having no child of his own the Chinese man felt pity for Henry, "I don't want to get in trouble."

"Oh..... I won't get you into trouble, sir, I'm already thankful that you brought me to the hospital and even fed me," long-withheld tears have now been freely released and are dancing on his cheeks.

"James....."

"Uhm..... yes boss?" and he immediately approached his boss.

"Gàosù hùshì chǔlǐ chūyuàn bìng jiāng tā dài huí jiā (Tell the nurse to process the discharge and bring him home)," and the Chinese man stood up to go out of the room.

"Ah..... yes boss."

"What did he say?" he thought. Upon seeing the Chinese man about to leave the room Henry wanted to say thank you again, "Oh..... sir thank you and goodbye."

The Chinese man stopped and turned his back to look at Henry, "You can call me Mr. He."

There's nothing in all the world Henry needs now but time and space away from his family.