Injured

Ryan and Kenneth went to the covered court in Our Lady of Lourdes subdivision, where Kenneth lives, to play basketball. It was three thirty in the afternoon, but it was not too hot since the court is covered and the Christmas breeze is making the weather cooler.

"Wait! Time out, please!" Ryan said as he catches his breath.

Kenneth continued dribbling the ball. "We just had like ten minutes of play. You're already resting?"

"Even the professional games have a quarter break. Let's rest for a bit." He went to the bench to drink some water from his tumbler.

Kenneth just continued dribbling and shooting the ball. When suddenly, he asked, "What if you get back with Jhing?"

"That won't happen again."

"Is she the reason why you're still not married?"

"Why would she be the reason? It has been nine years since I've seen her."

"Because maybe, until now you still haven't moved on from her. Until now you're still looking for someone like her, like it's the only type of woman you'll fall in love with."

"It's not like that... Know what? Let's stop talking about my love life. Why don't we just talk about yours instead?"

Ryan might not totally be in favor of Kristine's wish, but he also would like his friend to find love again.

"Why me?" Kenneth asked. "I'm not the one who has an ex-girlfriend who I want to get back with."

"How can you have an ex-girlfriend? Kristine is the only one you loved since high school."

"And she'll be the only one I'll love until I die."

"Oh? We're still young, Ken. You can still find another woman that you might fall in love with."

"Ry, I already found my destiny."

"Okay, let's agree that you are the one destined for Kristine. But what if she's not the one destined for you?"

Okay, Ryan is really not the romantic type, so what he's employing right now is his critical thinking ability.

"Huh? What are you saying?" Kenneth asked. "How can that happen? If a person is destined for you, then you are also the one destined for that person."

"Then why did Kristine die?"

Kenneth did not answer. 𝘛𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘦!

"If Kristine is the one for you, then why did she leave you that early? What kind of love story is that?"

"Some love stories are short lived."

"Dude, call me hopeless romantic." Which is not true, Ryan said to himself. "But I believe that those who were destined for each other stay together for a long time. That is the reason why people whose love died, or those who separated find someone else to love. It's because the reason why the former relationship ended is that it wasn't meant to be. Like in a book, it's just the prologue. It's not yet the real story."

"But how about my mother? She never remarried when my father died."

"Are you saying that you have the same fate with your mother?"

That is the only thing he could think of as a response. Ryan kind of missed that part with Kenneth's parents. He should have thought of a better explanation than what he said.

"Maybe." Kenneth dribbled again and tried to do a layup shot. He failed this time.

"What if you're wrong?"

Kenneth looked at him.

"What if the one for you already came to your life, but then you thought she's not the one meant for you? Then you fell in love with another. But in the end, you realized that your first love is really the one."

Kenneth contemplated. "Just like you and Jenneth? You thought everything is done between the two of you, but then she comes back after nine years. It could not have been just a coincidence, can it?" Kenneth smirked.

Ryan looked at him intently. If only he could tell him what he really meant. If only he could tell him about Samantha de Vera, about how he really felt for her. But doing so might reveal the request that Kristine left before she died, and it could also make him say some things that he promise will not reveal.

Like Sam's real feelings for Kenneth back then.

"Let's stop this nonsense chatter and just continue playing!" Kenneth said. "The quarter break is over! Come on! Let's continue the game!"

He threw the ball, and Ryan has no choice but to catch it. They then continued playing.

"Can you not play like you're in a competition?" Ryan told him. "I get it. You're better in this game than me. You don't have to show off to prove anything." He dribbled the ball as good as he can.

"I'm not showing off! Stop talking and just play better," Kenneth said before stealing the ball from him.

"Hey! I told you to not play that good!"

Ryan has no choice but to follow him to get the ball back. He tried so hard to catch Kenneth, but suddenly slowed down running even though the latter is still on full game mode.

"Try harder to catch me!" Kenneth teased. "You can't play basketball if you slack like that."

"My leg! I think I feel something..." He started limping.

"You're just pretending so that you can go to TGH and see Jenneth."

Ryan knows Kenneth is just teasing him, but he still can't help but feel annoyed. He scowled as he tried to go after him again. Although the more that he moves, the more that his leg aches.

He tried to ignore it to continue playing. He doesn't want more teasing from his best friend, so even though the pain in his leg is getting worse, he still continued to play.

Kenneth jumped to dunk the ball in the ring. Ryan knew he can't stop that, but he still tried to block it. As he stepped his foot back on the floor after that jump, he felt like something ripped on his muscle. The pain escalated exponentially, making Ryan fall on the floor.

"Aw!" He literally sat down on the floor, holding his aching leg. "Wait! It really hurts!"

It's like his muscle is ripping. He just held onto the back of his right leg since he cannot seem to know what to do with it.

Kenneth went to him to check his condition. "What is happening?" He looked at his leg.

"It just started hurting, like my muscle is being stretched. It's so painful, Ken– Aw!" He literally lied down on the floor.

Kenneth watched him as he examined his leg. Suddenly, he said, "Let's go." He helped him stand up.

"To where?" Ryan was able to stand up, but he still could not walk.

"To TGH," Kenneth answered.

"Are you serious?" He suddenly felt nervous.

"Your muscle was torn, so your leg needs to be amputated."

"Are you serious?" He tried to move away from him. Do they really need to cut off his leg?

"I'm just kidding. It's probably your hamstring. It might be strained, so I'm taking you home to apply first aide."

"Hamstring? Is it related to ham..."

"Do you want me to take you to the hospital instead?"

"Let's just go home."

Ryan held onto his friend again, and together they went to his house for him to get treated.