There, nonchalantly leaning against the porch was the devil himself!
<3
As Juliet stepped through the door, Dave sucked in his breath, bracing himself for whatever was to happen. She looked like she had lost a little weight, her cheeks looked more pronounced, her jaw line more emphasized. But the physical changes did not serve to detract from her beauty – they made her even more hauntingly so. Right now, however, her eyes were flashing at him with suppressed anger. But dear God, she still took his breath away!
Dave had been dreading the moment he would have to meet her again. Alam nyang nasaktan si Juliet, and he had a mountain of barriers to overcome to get her to even smile at him again. And judging from her unsmiling face, he knew he also had a lot of explaining to do. How to start was the problem.
Flashback —
Three days after Josh left, Kate and her companions were traversing the same foggy route they had taken to Kapangan a week before. She was emotionally and physically drained from having just buried her father, and she was relieved that Josh decided to leave Isko, one of his aides, to drive her back to Baguio. At least, she could rest while he drove. At the very last minute, one of the mourners, who seemed oddly familiar to Kate, asked if he could ride along with them. Knowing how hard it could be to catch a ride to Baguio at that time of the day, she graciously let him have the front passenger seat. Since she had classes to attend at 8:30 the following morning, she decided to leave Kapangan at five o’clock in the afternoon. They should have left earlier, as the aide kept prompting her to, but there were simply too many details to settle in the aftermath of the wake that she couldn’t leave immediately. Now they had to travel under a thick covering of mountain mist.
As she sat behind the driver, Kate kept sneaking glances at the stranger who asked to ride with them. He looked friendly enough, but there was a hint of danger in him too. She was trying to recall where she last saw him until she eventually fell asleep.
However, she was quickly jolted from her nap when the pick-up came to a sudden stop. Suddenly she heard the familiar click of metal against metal, and felt rather than saw, the stranger push her down to the floor. “Shit,” he cursed as he reached for the glove compartment and pulled Kate’s purse out. He shoved it at her, directing her to be ready with her handgun. “Be ready to use it, Kate! Stay alert, both of you! Dont leave the car until I say so.”
Seeing that her driver had also brought out his service fire-arm, Kate didn’t think twice about obeying the stranger. Weirdly, however, she wondered why he knew her name, and how he knew that she carried a small firearm in her purse.
It all happened so fast! Isko slowed down to let a carabao and his owner cross the dusty road. Something about the way the farmer was clothed however sent Dave’s hackles rising. Oddly enough, the owner was wearing a ski mask. Before Isko could even accelerate, the man raised his arm and pointed it at the pick-up. Dave immediately reached behind him to pull Kate down from the gunman’s view, while reaching for his little friend with his right hand. Isko did the same and backed up the pick-up to get out of the line of fire. Quickly, while they had the upper hand, Dave jumped out of the car, and without forethought, aimed fire at the “farmer”. His intention was to draw the shooter’s attention away from Kate, and give them time to escape.
God was on their side that evening. Dave managed to bring the hired gun down, but got hit himself. Before he could completely fall to the ground, adrenaline pushed Kate to drag Dave back inside the pick-up before they sped away.
<3
Guilt racked Josh as he watched his brother lay unconscious on the hospital bed. Two bullets lodged in his ribcage, and he had lost so much blood that he was unconscious by the time they reached the hospital. “Pasalamat ka Josh, makapal ang balat ng kapatid mo! Kung hindi…” Josh heard his mom mutter, and he shuddered to think kung ano ang possibleng nangyari kay Dave had the latter’s instincts not kicked in. Heroically, he had risked his life for Kate, and for that, he owed him, but he vowed never, ever to ask his brother to make that sacrifice again.
Everyday of Dave’s confinement, Josh spent them looking over his brother. It was his duty to see that his brother recover from that harrowing experience.
One night, on his turn to do hospital watch, Dave suddenly started talking in his sleep. “I’m sorry, Julzzz,” paulit-ulit ni Dave, “I’m sorry…” Linapitan ni Josh ang kapatid to listen to what he was whispering. He felt his heart ache when he saw that Dave’s face was damp. He was unconsciously crying in his sleep. “Sorry, sorry…please don’t turn away…”
<3