Things have settled down after five days of observation. With nothing happening and my body starting to recover, the doctor allowed me to be discharged. However, in the Philippines, once you get hospitalized, things don't end even if you've fully healed.
I had just woken up and ended up hearing my parents talking.
"Marcus, let's just put the house up for mortgage. You know we can't afford these bills." Her voice was shaking, clearly stressed about what was happening.
Seeing that I caused another problem, my chest tightened. Even after dying once… I was still a burden.
"Lower your voice. Our son might hear you. Don't stress him out," my father warned as he peeked inside my room. Seeing that my eyes were closed, he sighed in relief.
"I will just ask Jonathan for help. I'll beg him if I need to."
"No. Don't do that. You should know that being close to Jonathan, with rumors circulating about him, is dangerous. Don't do something stupid, Marcus. I—"
"Shhh… I know what I am doing, Lisa. I'll take care of it."
After saying that, my father stayed for a bit, then left.
Later that afternoon, I was discharged, and my parents started avoiding each other. I felt terrible, because I was the one who caused all of this. Furthermore, I couldn't even do anything to fix it.
—
It took about a week before my parents started getting along again. Everything became normal, and I started getting used to my body. I woke up in the morning and followed my usual routine from my past life exercising, preparing my clothes, and fixing my bed.
"Mom, good morning!" I shouted as I was about to go downstairs. It was still early, but I could already hear cookware being tossed around in the kitchen. That was definitely my mother.
"Hey! You saw me first, why greet your mother before me!!" That was my father, currently drinking his morning coffee.
"Good morning to you too, Brier! Go to the kitchen and eat your breakfast!" my mother shouted.
For the past few days after I got discharged, this had been my routine: eating, sleeping, and resting.
However, today I don't want to be a burden anymore. I want to do something for my family.
I took a seat in the kitchen as my mother started serving food. My father sat down as well, waiting for his breakfast.
I looked at the dish in front of me. Sure enough, it was leftover food from last night fried rice and eggs. Every Filipino household does this, so I wasn't surprised.
"Brier, I already enrolled you in high school. The school year will start next week, so come with me later to buy your uniforms," my father said.
I recalled my high school life and remembered a lot of bad memories. I looked at my father for a while.
"What are you staring at? You know you need to study, right?" he said.
I just sighed and looked at my mother.
"Mom, help us buy uniforms. Dad has terrible taste," I said.
"You" my father was shocked that I said that directly to his face.
"I know better than your mother when it comes to men's clothing," he argued.
My mother just laughed while giving him a side-eye. Seeing that no one believed him, he gave up.
Back then, I wore oversized uniforms cheap, practical… and enough to make me a joke for years. That's why in college I became obsessed with what I wear.
My father left after breakfast. He really held a grudge after what I said, but I just let him go. I'll deal with it later.
I saw my mother start cleaning the house.
"Mom! Let me help. I'm bored." Seeing that I was serious, she sighed and pointed to the kitchen.
"Do the dishes while I clean the living room."
I nodded and started washing the plates. Time passed smoothly as we cleaned the house. By around 10 AM, we were finally done.
I sat down on the couch to rest. My mind was already tired, but my body wasn't. Seeing how much energy this body has, I just shook my head and sighed.
"How young."
My mother sat beside me, and we had a great conversation. We talked about recent things, which helped me recall and adjust to the current timeline.
"Are you hungry? You can eat. I'll wait for your dad."
"Not yet. I'll wait for Dad too."
We spent time together watching our favorite noontime show, Eat Bulaga.
This show has been airing for a long time. It is the longest-running noontime show in the Philippines. Even the hosts are already old, but they still keep going. Laughing and enjoying the show, we lost track of time.
"I am home!!" Finally, my father came back.
I immediately prepared the food in the living room, where we ate while watching the hosts give prizes to lucky winners in "Juan for All, All for One."
We continued watching even after finishing our meal. My father rested because it was too hot outside to drive his tricycle.
Then I remembered something. I needed to do something to ease my boredom while being productive.
"Dad, later I'll ride with you. I'm bored staying at home," I said.
"There's nothing you can do there. Why don't you just go to the nearby shop?"
"Nah, I feel bored there. Just let me come with you."
Seeing that I really wanted to go, my father agreed.
Around 3 PM, my father and I prepared to leave. My mother filled a tumbler with water.
"Be careful out there. Brier, don't wander around," she reminded us as we left.
_______
A few minutes later, we arrived at the TODA. This is a tricycle terminal in our barangay. People wait here for passengers so they can take them home. Some go to the plaza, others visit nearby barangays.
My father parked his tricycle at the end of the line. We waited for those ahead of us to leave as passengers came one by one.
"Pretty boring, huh? Around this time, there are only a few passengers, so all we can do is wait," he said as we walked toward the nearby waiting shed.
"Nah, I'm good," I replied as I looked around at the people inside the shed. I recognized most of them. They are my father's friends. Whenever there are occasions at our house, they are always the first and last visitors.
"Hey Marcus, why did you bring your child today? This is something new" Said the oldest driver as he ruffled my hair.
"Mano po." I took his hand as I asked for blessing. It was a common tradition in our country when meeting someone older than you.
"Very respectful, your dad must be proud of you kid." another driver said as they looked at my smug face father.
"Don't ever follow in your father's footsteps huh. Be a great man" another tease.
"Hey, don't destroy my image. Why can't he be great if he follows my footsteps?" my father asked them jokingly.
"You should look in the mirror sometimes, hahahaha" others laughed as they teased my father. I took a seat at the nearby bench as I looked around, searching for the person I'm looking for.
"Uncles! Where is Uncle Benny?"