wow! this is the first time in almost four years that i got to read this entry again. i had goose bumps and butterflies in my stomach, yes. thought i wanted to cry but, boy, am i ever thankful for dear life. thought i wouldn’t turn 25 but God is good. with all that i’ve done wrong, i must have done something right to deserve this second life He has blessed me with. thank you, dear Lord!
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reading the title, you may find it unfitting for a birthday post. judge not prematurely coz you’re reading no blunder.
dec 21. the day was supposed to start right until a below-par news struck us at 8:30am. it may haven’t struck the majority equally disappointing as it hit me but i had my reasons. the news: our office Christmas party which was supposed to start at 10am was moved to 6pm (bcoz of human disregard i don’t wanna elaborate on). the catch: i had to distressingly miss my javlon sukobers Christmas party with utter remorse as it should have taken place at 7pm that same day. i love these people so much that missing a get-together with them after a month-long separation broke my heart terribly. yet i had responsibilities with GIPI and i couldn’t afford to fail the people counting on me and the royal bloods all the same so i had to break the bad news to the sukobers.
6pm. from what started with grouchiness turned into a delightful night as the 2006 gentrade Christmas party was a blast! my hosting stint turned A-ok – even warranted me compliments from some suzuki friends. the RB Christmas dance, though crammed up, was well-applauded and appreciated – left our trusty jurors speechless. games were all fun. dinner was superb. videoke challenge indeed gave an uproarious highlight of the night – sent us giggling our hearts out and rolling on the floor with laughter. it was an all-smiles conclusion of the day as gentrade employees started going home with individual Christmas baskets for noche buena. with all our exhausting preparation efforts finally paying off twice as well as we hoped for, nothing else could go wrong.
… or so i thought…
after the restoration committee piled up the last of scattered chairs in the office, anne, ivan, chealot, miss nanie and me made our way home, still recapping and recounting the fun-filled party we just had. getting a cab to take us south route was quite difficult but on our third attempt, we got our ride home. nanie, chealot and i were the ones south-bound so we bade anne and ivan goodbye, good night and “see you tomorrow.” still so overly pleased with the party turn-out, the three of us couldn’t stop talking and joking about it.
dec 22, 12:30am. we dropped miss nanie, who was sitting on the front passenger seat, at tinikling street, matina. then off we proceeded to bangkal (where chealot would get off while i make my way home to skyline) taking the matina aplaya route. my conversation with chealot turned from funny to more serious as we contemplated on what lies await for us in 2007 re: office reorganization cum cost-cutting issues. turning left in matina crossing from aplaya, the street was deserted and the two of us slouched lazily in the back seat. chealot silently weighing her options of partying with the royal bloods at water world the night after or not, and me, in slight nostalgia of sleeping beside mom. just as we turned at the curve approaching mabini high school, the taxi driver and i noticed a what-seemed-to-me-as-drunk guy in oblivion from the rest of the world taking his awful damn time crossing the street unmindful of vehicles which may run him down at any given time. our cab made a slight left to avoid bumping mr. alcoholic’s sorry ass but to our panic, he continued walking slowly towards the direction we were heading instead of dodging off of our road right of way. in an attempt to steer clear of the drunk bastard’s trajectory, we skidded away a little farther to the left crossing the boundary and into the inner lane of north-bound vehicles… and into an approaching panel van!
everything was in slow motion… yet it happened so fast… right before my very eyes! i closed my eyes split seconds before we hit something hard that sent us in giddy circles and another loud bang! i heard a car screech, broken glasses and a gazillion bangs and thuds!
i saw both our lives flash before my eyes
i didn’t even have time to cry
i sooo scared
i threw my hands up in the air
then after some ghastly twists, turns, bumps and jolts, i heard silence and felt cold wind wipe my forehead gently. for a moment, i thought i was dead. i felt no pain yet i couldn’t move. i heard nothing but the loud thumping of my heart. i opened my eyes but darkness greeted me. “Lord, have you come to take me with you?” was all i asked. the first image i could make out of the darkness was my mom’s face… then the vision turned faint… fainter… gone…
and a clearer picture took away all obscurity: shattered pieces of glass from what seemed to me was the cab’s windshield, the lifeless and still body of the cab driver, the shabby front of the panel van and the totally wrecked front of our cab as if “kissing on the cheek.” first sound i heard which assured me that i was still on earth was that of chealot’s, “gang? gang, nahihilo ako…” it was only then that i turned towards chealot’s side of the cab. and as i did, i saw fresh blood streaming down her face from a huge, clean cut in the forehead. i could hardly see my friend’s features through it. then came the driver’s groan, “agay! kasakit! tabang!” i think i mustered a sigh of relief upon hearing that. painful and struggling it may have sounded, but at least i knew he was alive. turning back my attention to chealot, she reached out to me in tears and with blood-stained hands, as if asking for help or comfort or assurance. and in the middle of all these, i was pinned in between the backseat and the driver’s seat with my left leg stuck under the driver’s seat, knee down. i couldn’t move my leg nor open the cab door. helpless as the situation was, what i did was shout the loudest my sore vocal chords could get me… “TABANG!!!”
… and help came.
12:45am. from dreaming of pillows and comfort of my bed at home, i found myself holding on to chealot’s trembling hands, drenched in blood i didn’t know from whom, beside the emergency room bed where she laid with face still covered with blood. i looked straight at her unceasingly blinking eyes, asking her badly to stay with me. i tried so hard to keep her awake bcoz of fear that if she fell to sleep, she might find it hard to wake up again. with shaking hands, i managed to dial a few numbers for help and back-up: sir doods, mamang betty, chealot’s boyfriend and chealot’s mom. what scared me even more was chealot’s manifestations of head trauma as she asked me same questions over and over because she didn’t remember a thing of what happened and where we were from.
it seemed like ages before i could let out a loud sigh of relief. i just thought, chealot is lying down while i was standing… so as long as i don’t see anybody i know come near us, i have to put myself in charge of myself and my friend. i didn’t feel secure of my taking charge though but it was the least i could do. silently, little bamba on my shoulder did some of the encouragement, “you were sane enough to call 911 at the scene of the accident and put compress on your friend’s bleeding face, i know you can pull off a little more tending until your sir doods arrives.”
as soon as sir doods arrived, i immediately relinquished my throne to him and let him do the bossing of the nurses, one of the things he’s effective and so good at. bossing = managing people, that is.
mamang and manong finally arrived… the mere sight of my mom’s worried yet calm face got me over the scare of my first vehicular accident experience and gave me the most reassuring gesture of security, comfort and safety as she enveloped me in a tight hug. it was the signal for me to start feeling the pain of whatever injuries i got: throbbing pain on my left shin, twisted left ankle, hefty bruises on my lower extremities. manong, nurse-to-be as he is, escorted me to the xray room after seeing me wince in pain.
3am. as the adrenalin anesthesia started to wear off, my entire body was in beating pain. [writer’s note: when i’m better, remind me to sue hospitals for using injections… those anti-tetanus shots made everything more painful!!!] all i wanted then was go home and just hold on to my mom. i didn’t wanna be in that hospital to get away from reporters, nurses, policemen and i-dunno-who’s who kept on bugging me with their interviews as if i was more of a witness than a victim myself.
3:30am. finally peace and silence drowned the clutter in the ER. everybody was tired yet calmer. nuisance creatures were gone. left are the families of manong cab driver, chealot and mine. whispered something to chealot one last time, “pahinga na tayo gang ha. kwentuhan tayo bukas… ‘pag may naalala ka na.”
i turned to my mom and gave in to what i was fighting to do since 12:40am… with trembling hands once again, i burst into tears while mom took my hand in hers. after three hours of ordeal, i cried like i’ve never cried before.
[writer’s note: recounting every single detail of what happened still sends shivers down my spine. a fresh pang of fright is brewing in my stomach.]
the odds may have worked against me that fateful night but my unwavering faith in His saving grace helped me make it through the accident. i may have suffered pain, trauma and shock, yet today, i’m whole, undented and alive… and yes today, today is my silver birth anniversary.
originally posted on december 29, 2006 @ friendster blogs
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