#mtod

Erica has been dreading this mini reunion Thea and Nico organized because she knew Trey would be present. Don't get her wrong. She has nothing against him. In fact, he was a real gentleman. He actually still is.

She just doesn't like it when her friends tease her with him.

Pagbukas ni Erica ng pinto ay bumungad sa kanya si Trey. Hindi nakatulong ang pagngiti nito sa kanya. She glared at her friend Thea, who was sitting at the passenger seat, first and then to Margaux, who was sitting on Trey's other side, next.

Trey briefly jumped out of the car to let Erica in. "Para katabi mo si Margaux," he explained. "At saka para makita ni Nico yung likod," dagdag pa nito.

Trey was indeed taller than her. She grumpily sat beside her friend Margaux. Paniguradong walang katapusan 'tong pang-aasar ng mga kaibigan niya ngayon.

Thankfully, the group just talked about how Nico and Thea's internship went. Sa kanila kasing anim, tanging silang dalawa lang ang naka-experience ng face-to-face classes.

"Ang saya, guys! Sobrang nakaka-miss yung laboratory," kwento ni Thea sa kanila.

"Buti pa kayo nakapag-laboratory in person," komento ni Erica.

"You also had internship, right?" Trey asked her. She nodded. "Paano yun?"

"Online lang," Erica responded and continued to tell him about her online internship experience. "Na-a-appreciate ko naman kaso mas maganda pa rin yung face-to-face experience."

And just like that, Erica and Trey had their own little world as they conversed about her internship experience. Tahimik lang na nakinig sina Nico at Alvin sa kwento ni Erica. Samantalang iba na ang sinasabi ng ngisi nina Thea at Margaux. Napansin naman 'yon si Nico. He just chucked at them.

After a while, Margaux interjected in their conversation. "Pasali naman kami sa usapan niyo," she teased, which halted Erica and Trey's conversation.

Erica glared at her, which made Thea laugh.

"Nako, tigil-tigilan niyo kami ni Trey, ha! Nakakahiya sa tao," pangangaral ni Erica sa kanila. "It's never gonna happen."

"Aray, par!" Alvin exclaimed. "Ito, band-aid," sabi niya habang inaabot ang band-aid mula sa emergency first aid kit ni Nico sa kotse nito.

One of the skills that they need to practice as a medical technologist is phlebotomy. However, pandemic took away every opportunity to practice their phlebotomy skills. Kahit sa internship program nila ay hindi sila pwedeng kumuha ng dugo kung walang supervision ng clinical instructor nila. It's not even one of the learning outcomes.

Since Nico moved into his cousin's condo unit near Thea's, madalas nang magkasama sina Thea at Nico. One of them would be at the other's unit and vice versa. This time, they're both at Thea's unit. Habang naglilinis si Thea ay nahalungkat niya ang phlebotomy kit niya nung first year pa lang siya.

After decluttering it, she found a few viable evacuated tubes and a couple of unused syringes. Nandun pa ang blue tourniquet niya. Kompleto pa ang materials niya for a decent venipuncture procedure.

She wiggled her eyes at Nico when she pulled her phlebotomy kit out of the storage cabinet. Napakamot naman si Nico dahil mukhang alam na niya kung anong iniisip ni Thea ngayon.

"Please?" Thea pleaded. Nico blames her puppy eyes technique. How could he say no to those eyes?!

Walang sabi-sabing nilahad ni Nico ang kaliwang braso niya. "Yaaay!" Thea celebrated and prepared all the materials she needed.

She lightly rested Nico's arm on the table. He felt an electric current as she touched his arm but it seemed like he was the only one who felt it so he chose to ignore it.

Thea leaned slightly forward to tie the tourniquet around his arm. Napasandal naman si Nico sa ginawa nito. She lightly palpated Nico's medial cubital vein. As she palpated for his vein, he watched her face closely. Her round eyes caught his when she lifted her head. For a while they remained like that. Akala ni Nico nakikipagtitigan si Thea sa kanya. 'Yon pala ang technique nito para makapa nang maayos ang vein niya.

When she successfully palpated his vein, she immediately removed the tourniquet and disinfected the site of collection.

With utmost confidence, she reapplied the tourniquet on his arm and said, "Tutusok na ako. Hingang malalim." Nico obeyed her instructions religiously. Hindi namalayan ni Nico na naitusok na pala ni Thea ang syringe sa kanya.

She carefully pulled the plunge of the syringe while glancing at Nico, checking if he's feeling any pain or what. "Okay ka pa?"

He smiled at her to reassure her. "Ang gaan ng kamay mo," he complimented.

After collecting the sufficient amount of blood, she swiftly withdrew the syringe from Nico's arm. "Apply pressure," she briefly instructed as she placed the cotton on Nico's arm. He accidently touched her hand as he replaced hers that was applying pressure.

Thea transferred the blood she collected from the syringe to the purple top evacuated tube. When it was successfully transferred, Thea gave the tube to Nico including the marker she had. "Do you want to be the one to put the label?"

Napangisi si Nico saka tinanggap ang tube at marker na hawak ni Thea. Afterwards, he showed her the label he wrote. It says, "Thea's future boyfriend."

"Malandi ka!" she playfully punched his left arm.

"Teka, aray naman!" Nico winced at the pain he felt.

"Luh, OA? Nasaktan ka?"

"Oo kaya!" he defended himself.

One week before Medical Technology Licensure Exam and Alliyah's brain is already all over the place. She and Jof has been exchanging recall questions and it's taking her more than a minute to answer.

Ever since college, Jof has been Alliyah's study buddy. He has helped her way more than he knows. She can't even imagine her college life without him. More than the support in academics, he has contributed to the emotional support she needed.

But right now, the extreme anxiety she's feeling cannot be calmed down by his mere presence. Nanghihina si Alliyah kahit na hindi na siya nag-aaral. Dahil wala na siyang magawa at mas lalong hindi na siya mapakali, she decided to take a walk around the campus alone.

Strangers and students are passing by without minding her slow-paced walk. She roamed her eyes around the building she passed as if it's her first time to see it.

One thing she realized while doing so: Her campus has brought so much memories, both good and bad. After her board exams, she won't be going back anymore. Yes, she may visit but she won't do such thing as often as she does now.

One of the things she appreciated about her campus is that it was always full of trees. Somehow, it helped her clear her mind every time she's feeling anxious of her studies.

At the middle of the botanical garden stands a tall narra tree with its drooping branches. This is Alliyah's favorite spot in the campus. When she doesn't want to talk to anyone, she sits under the shade of this tree.

As she sat there, she takes out her journal from her trusty tote bag and started to sort out her thoughts in a blank page. There she was brutally honest about how she was feeling about her board exams.

'Pakiramdam ko ang bobo ko. Hindi ko alam kung kakayanin kong mag-exam. Nakakatakot bumagsak. Paano kung bumagsak ako? Anong gagawin ko sa buhay ko pagkatapos no'n? Wala naman akong balak maging doktor. Saan ako pupulutin kapag hindi ako nakapasa?'

Quatro is back at their Discord server to study for their upcoming summative exams for their most dreaded subject, SEM2. While the rest of them are busy studying, Bela was a little bit distracted because of the news she's receiving from the officers group chat.

Apparently, lumabas na ang list of eligible applicants for admission sa St. Luke's Medical Center College of Medicine. Aside from UST Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, this is one of Migo's top choices for his medical school. The rest of Quatro knew how much he wanted to be admitted to that school. Talagang pinaglaban niya ang application process niya doon kaya nang malaman ni Bela na mayroon nang listahan ay agad siyang nag-unmute ng mic para tawagin ang kaibigan.

"Migo, the results are out!" she exclaimed.

Migo remained silent while still studying. Turns out he also enabled the deafen feature in Discord. Bela cursed herself for being so talkative during their study sessions. Natuto tuloy si Migo na i-block lahat ng pwedeng maka-istorbo sa kanya.

He was very concentrated in what he was memorizing even if Bela was pointing her phone already. She also tried messaging in their text channel para lang mapansin siya ni Migo. Much to her dismay, his status was set to Do Not Disturb, blocking all notifications in Discord.

Instead of Migo, Bela caught the attention of Thea and Nico kaya napatigil sila sa pag-aaral. Both of them undeafened and unmuted themselves to celebrate.

"Hoy, tulungan niyo nga akong magpapansin kay Migo!" Bela requested.

Since Migo also muted his Messenger notifications, there was no way he could see the messages of Bela, Thea, and Nico there.

"Hindi rin pinapansin yung tawag ko sa Messenger eh," Thea said defeatedly. "Nico, do you have load? Baka makita niya kapag text message or phone call."

Wala nang nagawa si Nico kung hindi ay sundin ang bilin ni Thea. After several rings, Migo finally picked up his phone to see who was calling. Agad na napatigil si Migo sa pag-aaral nang makita niya kung sino ang tumatawag sa kanya. For a moment, he was stunned by the name he saw on the screen. Ni hindi niya alam kung anong una niyang gagawin.

Fortunately, hindi sinagot ni Migo ang tawag kung hindi ay paniguradong mababawasan ng load si Nico. Instead of answering the call, Migo immediately opened his Discord app and undeafened himself.

Right after he pressed the undefean button, Bela announced loudly, "List of eligible applicants in St. Luke's is already out!"

Nico was quick to share the screen for them to look at the results altogether. Kahit walang sinasabi si Migo ay ramdam nilang kinakabahan ito. If Migo was feeling nervous, the rest of Quatro was feeling confident in him. Si Migo pa ba?

Nico scrolled down to the letter M as they look for Migo's last name, Mendoza. And there it was...

89 Mendoza Grant Miguel Martinez

Seeing his name in the list felt surreal for Migo. He's aware that people consider him as one of the brightest people among his class but he's having a hard time finding the right words to describe what he's feeling.

While the rest of Quatro were already celebrating and congratulating him, he's still at the state of shock as of the moment. The fact that his dream is slowly becoming a reality really felt overwhelming for him. Even if it was nowhere near to the finish line, it was still a significant milestone for him.

Napansin ni Thea na tahimik pa rin si Migo. "Hey, are you alright?" Walang nasagot si Migo sa tanong ni Thea. "Hey, Migo. I know it's overwhelming but you'll be fine."

"That's true! We'll be here for you kahit hindi na kami ang kaklase mo," dagdag pa ni Bela.

Nico agreed. "What they said, man. We're really proud of you!"

After the activity they had at the hall, they were given a time to take a break. While the rest of their blockmates were enjoying the view outside as they took pictures, Thea chose to roam around alone and appreciate the place.

She took her time as she strolled on the trail of brick stones. The leaves of the plants around her were being swayed by the wind that blows. There were even several leaves that has fallen due to the wind.

The trail lead her to the church that was majestically built. She has never entered a chapel like that before. Exterior pa lang, sobrang ganda na.

Since the church's doors were open, she invited herself in to check the church out. She slowly walked on the aisle while looking around her surroundings to appreciate its beautiful interior.

What caught her attention was the glass arts displayed on the walls of the chapel. When light hits the colored glass, it produces a wonderful effect inside the chapel.

As Thea reached the front of the altar, she heard footsteps from the entrance of the chapel. She immediately turned towards the door to see who was there.

She hitched her breath when Nico started walking on the aisle towards her. Nico held his gaze as he continued walking.

When Nico reached the altar, he faced in front, breaking his eye contact with Thea. "Isn't it beautiful?" he said.

"Hmm-hmm," Thea agreed and appreciated the interior again.

"You know what... This is where I want to marry my future wife," Nico randomly said.

How was she supposed to respond to that? "Have you found your future wife already?"

From a little high school in the province, it was quite reassuring to enter a big university with someone you knew from your little province. Thea considers it a blessing to know someone from her new Senior High School classmates--ahh, nope! That's not even what it's called now. Now that she's in Senior High, she has to be used to call her classmates as her blockmates already.

Despite being the shy girl back in her Junior High School, Thea wanted to make friends immediately. She figured that there's no way she could have friends without actually talking to her new blockmates. But fortunately, she already has one friend before she could talk to her new blockmates. That would be her batchmate back in JHS, Margaux.

They weren't really in a single circle of friends in JHS but they could consider themselves as friends already. Besides, they haven't been involved in any of the dramas among their JHS batchmates.

One of the things that they swore to each other before making friends in their new block is this: "No more dramas in SHS."

On their scheduled uniform fitting, Margaux and Thea purposefully went in to the room as early as possible.

"Don't you want to meet our new blockmates yet?" Thea asked her.

Margaux shook her head excessively as if she's anxious to meet them. Naintindihan naman ni Thea kung bakit kahit hindi sabihin ni Margaux. That's why they immediately left the room right after they were done with the fitting.

They thought they'll go home without having the trouble to have a small talk with their new blockmates. That's where they were wrong.

Before they could leave the building, a bespectacled lady with pale skin called them out. "Hello! From 11STEM13 po ba kayo?" she was brave enough to ask the two.

Walang ibang nagawa si Thea kung hindi ay sumagot para sa kanilang dalawa ni Margaux. "Ahh, yes po. Kayo po?"

"Ako rin po! Nakapagpa-fitting na kayo ng uniform?" tanong nito.

Thea nodded in response.

"Erica nga po pala. Kayo, ano pong mga pangalan niyo?" pagpapakilala nito sa kanila.

"Althea. Pero Thea na lang itawag mo sa akin."

"Margaux," maikling pagpapakilala nito.

"Alam niyo po, kayo po yung una kong na-meet sa block natin," kwento ni Erica sa kanila. "Pwede po ba tayong mag-picture?"