Chapter 10

A day before finals the four of them decided to have some fun and relax a little. Nicole invited Freia and James over to their apartment which the duo agreed to, stating they will be there in a little while.

The couple started cleaning while waiting for the two of them to arrive. Nicole is washing some dishes and Claude is sweeping the floor.

They finished quite fast and sat on the couch. While watching a show they heard someone ringing their doorbell. Claude volunteered to open the door for them.

"Hello, Claude thanks for inviting me. All these studying things are hurting my head like hell" James greeted him along with some complaining when he opened the door.

"Shut up. You came here to complain or something?" he replied with a hint of irritation.

This kind of conversation is normal for both of them. It may look like they are angry or something with each other but all in all, this is how they communicate with one another.

"Hey Nics, I'm here" James said ignoring Claude's remark.

"Oh, hello come sit with me. Frey will be a little late she texted me a while ago" she replied.

The guys nodded at her and started chatting with each other.

30 minutes passed by and Freia is still not arriving.

"Nics, where is Frey? She's really late" James said worried for his friend.

"Just wait for a little" she replied.

As if on cue the doorbell rang and Nicole immediately stand up to open the door for her best friend.

"Nics!" Frey hugged her. "Sorry I'm late I need to make myself pretty you see" she explained.

This made all of them laugh hard.

Out of the two of them, Freia is the girly trying her best to look good and presentable while on the other hand Nicole is pretty chill about how she looks. She doesn't care what others think about how she looks.

Now that all of them are present the girls decided to think about what they should eat.

"Love, what do you want to eat?" Nicole asked.

"Anything" he replied.

"What about you James?"

"Kare-Kare" he replied.

"What about you Frey?"

"Anything"

"Okay, we are cooking Kare-Kare then" she announced.

"But we don't have the necessary ingredients to cook it" Claude stated making them flinch.

"Oh, then we can go and buy them" Frey replied.

The girls listed down all the necessary ingredients needed to cook Kare-Kare. The guys decided to stay and just play a game or whatever while waiting for them.

After listing everything they decided to go and start shopping since they still need to cook it.

The guys are now alone and playing a video game.

"I hope they buy us dessert" James muttered.

"Just buy one yourself" Claude retorted.

James stared at him and couldn't help but wonder how they are even best friends in the first place.

The girls are now driving to the nearest grocery store.

Nicole turned the radio on and listened to songs while Freia is driving.

"Nics, do you know how to cook Kare-kare?"

"Yes, I know how. Why?"

"Just asking"

"You thought I don't know right?"

"Are you reading my mind or something?"

"It's written on your face" she said smiling wildly.

Freia realized how embarrassing it is and was flustered.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the grocery.

They immediately get a basket and started searching for the foods listed on their list.

"Nics, I need eggplant, string beans, and peanuts" Frey stated.

Nicole quickly left to search for it while Frey is inquiring about the necessary meat cut for the stew in the butchery section.

They later on met and bought all the foods listed on the list.

While they were carrying the paper bags containing the ingredients Nicole suddenly felt dizzy. She didn't tell Frey about it. The dizziness soon disappeared after she stops walking for a minute.

Freia noticed that Nicole stops walking and questioned her if she's okay.

"Yeah, I'm fine" she replied while enduring the pain she's feeling in her chest.

They both continued walking when all of a sudden Freia felt someone fall behind her. It was Nicole. Her legs suddenly felt weak causing her to fall.

"Oh my god! Nics are you okay?"

"My legs suddenly weakened" she replied and laugh a little to ease the worry her best friend is feeling right now.

"Don't laugh. Are you hurt anywhere besides your legs?"

"Yeah, my chest. It's been aching for a while now" she added while her hands are on her chest.

Frey didn't know what to do and started panicking.

Nicole smiled at her and said "Don't worry too much Frey"

"Wait, I will call for an ambulance"

While calling for an ambulance, Nicole cannot endure the pain anymore and fainted leaving a shocked Freia behind.

"Hello, how may I help you" a woman answered the call.

Frey immediately explained the situation and the woman told her to wait for a couple of minutes for the ambulance to arrive.

She was already crying and decided to call the guys to let them know what happened.

After a few rings, Claude answered the phone.

He thought the girls will just ask him if they want any more food but what he heard made his mind completely blank.

He quickly left with James to go to the hospital and wait for Nics to arrive.

This was supposed to be a fun day with all four of them, he thought.

A few minutes passed by and they are finally at the hospital. They immediately asked the woman working in the reception if there is a patient called Nicole Gomez. The woman then nodded at them realizing the two men in front of her is in a hurry.

The woman guided them to one bed where Nicole is resting with Freia on her side still crying. She then noticed that someone is in front of her. Not one but two men are in front of her.

"Claude, I'm really sorry. If only I noticed it a bit sooner this could not be happening" Frey stated while crying.

"Don't worry about it. It's not your fault Frey" he replied and smiled at her to assure her that everything will be okay.

He then stares at the woman lying in the bed, sleeping peacefully. She looks like an angel whenever she's asleep they all thought.

A/N: Kare-kare is a thick, flavorful peanut sauce-based Philippine dish. It's usually cooked with stewed oxtail, beef tripe, pork hocks, calves' feet, pig's feet or trotters, various types of pork, beef stew meat, and offal as a base. Eggplant, Chinese cabbage, or other greens, daikon, green beans, okra, and asparagus beans are among the vegetables used. Ground roasted peanuts or peanut butter, onions, and garlic flavor the stew. It's annatto-colored and can be thickened with toasted or plain ground rice.