ACT VI: MOMENT'S REPRIEVE
A letter came by Kate's doorstep early in the 3rd of March 2006.
To my ever dearest Kate,
Do you remember me? I have read all your letters, and it is time for me to reply.
I am sorry for having you worry too much, but it is me now. I'm thankful you're safe all this time. I heard you are already an accountant in a busy company. Maybe that is the reason why you haven't got the time to pay a visit in the hospital all this years, or you had lost hope on me. I guess Iknew the reason why...Who would have enough patience to wait for a dead man to wake?
There are many things I wished we could've done. I should've been by your side when you graduated high school, give you fresh flowers and a sweet box of chocolates every Valentine's, and even spend simple Sundays with you in the church. You must've got a lot of friends, people who supports you and laugh with you every single day. I wished I was one of those people who love you.
I've learned that I was comatose for ten years. I still can't write. Lavie, my private nurse, writes the messages while I cite orally. Gradually letters are replaced by communication tools like cell-phones. I do not know if this letter will ever reach you, but I hope it will. I wanted to see you again and pick up where we left off.
Kate you are my motivation. I remember your smile, used to make me smile, praying that I could keep it forever. And that promise, you say? It's carved in my heart. I haven't forgotten the things we should remember. It's always in my mind, everything that we cherished. Because from the beginning I knew you were the one. I never cared to another human being, other than you...
When we finally meet, I'm going to ask your hand in marriage, and keep the kiss I've always dream of. It will be a heart-warming reunion. Just hold on. With my parent's earnings, I can easily traverse the planet to find you. Let me finish my therapy, I'm coming to you and I'll never leave your side.
Sincerely yours,
Joseph Brown
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I wept when I read the good news. Another miracle has happened to Joseph, and I believed that he'll still have surprises. Ten years of waiting has finally ended with a letter. I was grieving inside up to this point. He was a very important friend. A person I will confess my love to, and now that he is coming back, I still don't feel happy.
I believe I've met him in one of my dreams. He exists deep within a dream with his mind awake. He was weak and helpless, played by the shadows around him. I couldn't bear to see him hurting. I protected him from the phantom in the darkness. After that, he cried for help to me, even though at first I didn't know who he was. He asks of my name then disappears...
He appeared again in my dreams about Riverside. This time I could clearly see his face, a handsome creation of what God could make. Underneath the crimson sky, I'm face-to-face with him, yet I kept distant. I wasn't sure if he was a vision or real. I turn my back, and his voice was calling. We danced at the night of the festival. There was music, laughter, and a never ending conversation. A moment called us to silence and nearly kissed. My heart ran fast like it was real to me. He was a different person, but the same one I've always admired and loved all this years. From there a little thought crossed my mind, does Joseph worry and connected to me, in detail, in my dreams?
And the day before yesterday, I've dreamt about him, lost in a station, waiting for his ride to heaven. I could hear his heart beating so loud! I took it upon myself to convince him to wake up. I brought him with me through images in my dreams. He was weeping as it brought memories that led to remembering his past. We once again crossed the path of the phantom, in the form of a hooded man. He delivers a bitter truth about himself. He was Eric, Joseph's inner personality, a hateful man with a painful recreation of the past. His darkness tests Joseph's heart, but he could not prevail. For the boy becomes a man, the weak became the strong, the light accepts the dark.
---
I got up, fixed my bed, and went downstairs. My parents started off early, and left a note: Arise shine! There is toasted bread in the oven, and orange juice in the fridge. Have a nice day! It got me smiling for the new day has come. I kept my head up high, lifted up my spirit, and ate breakfast.
But disaster struck me down...
On the morning on the same day, I'm half-awake rushed to the hospital, in pain and confused. I was brought to the intensive care, and had my CT scan interpreted. The doctors were hopeless even if I undergo chemotherapy. If I was operated and survive, I will be as frail as a vegetable, and approximately three months, I'll still die. The doctors prefer asking for a private room with amenities and paid nurse like an ICU setup. I sat back giving a sigh from the window sill. Summer slowly fades away from here. I am about face with my reality as I wait for my demise in this private room. There is no limit and end to my sorrows. I weep for I knew I was going to die.
Days would roll by, and all I do is count the hours until I sleep, alone I waited behind the silhouette of the curtains. I dreamed a dream Joseph stood by.I had less time in hand, for I have a lot of questions to ask. I've got to meet him now. He has to find me because I have to tell him I'm not well... I will write back to him soon.
---
Joseph,
I've been waiting for this good news since I was fifteen. Whenever I thought about your condition, I was in such deep grief. It hurts knowing that you'll sleep peacefully in an old, small, obsolete room.I want to apologize for giving up on you for two years. I was hard to live without you. I was afraid...
I prayed for you recovery every single day. No emotions can describe me now that I knew you're awake. I'm really, really, really happy! God was very kind to show me, in the details of my dreams that you will return safe. I knew you're a fighter, a warrior with huge heart. I believe in you and you know that. Though there was a point in my life wherein I was ready to say goodbye, youfind a way to show me the hope I've lost.
I already turned twenty-five this year. I'm doing fine with my job, earning well for my family, I managed to live and move on. I could marry someone in any moment, but I chose not to. The day you confessed changed something in me, I was right about you all along. That's why I still hope for you to come back. But you're running a bit late, my love...
I do not want to ruin your recovery and make you back down, but you still wish to find me, I'm at a hospital in the city of Santrock, far west of Riverside. I developed a sickness terrible enough to count our days together. Please look closely to this letter and meet me while there is still time...