A month after Sarah's check-up...

3rd Person's POV

The four friends have returned to their normal lives except for Sarah. They promised to visit her often as soon as they can.

The five friends had the best time of their lives in Maldives. Sarah has had some collapses but she was able to convince them that she is fine. According to her, her body must have been adjusting to the medications lately. They seemed hesitant at first but since it was Sarah's wish to stay, they gave in to her request.

They were constantly looking after her and no one dared to leave her side every time. Their five-day trip was indeed worth it.

Now that they are back in Manila, they were praying for Sarah's recovery against cachexia.

It was also Tyrell's turn to reunite with his best friend since college. Although he wants her to recuperate, he cannot just ignore the fact that he has been away too long and lost contact with her. He is glad that his wife understood him and promised he will be back after a couple of days.

And here he is now, in his bedroom, right across Sarah's. They have been neighbors since college and became friends. Things happened and he has to go out of the country to prove himself and found the love of his life.

Tomorrow, he will surprise her. He will make it up to her and let her know how sorry he is for leaving her without explaining the reason why.

✉✉✉

The next day, Sarah was still in slumber land and only woke up to the rays of sun touching her face. She grunted and shielded her eyes behind her bolster but was distracted by the smell of fresh flowers passing through her nostrils.

Abruptly, she awoke and cringe when she felt pain on the right side of her head. Her eye began to ache and she could only wince in pain.

"Oh– Sarah! Are you okay?" A familiar male voice asked in worry and touched her shoulders. "Hey, look at me. Anong masakit?"

"N-nanlalambot ako." Sarah answered, her hand still on her right forehead.

Fortunately, a glass of water is on top of her hairdresser and Tyrell was quick to hand it to her.

"Inom ka muna saglit. I'll call Tita." Tyrell asked and brought the glass to her lips. Sarah sipped on the glass and drank it slowly. "Close your eyes. Baba lang ako, saglit."

Sarah laid on her back and called out to him, "p-pwede pakisara yung kurtina? Nasisilaw ako sa araw."

Tyrell quickly did so. With one quick glance at his best friend, he rushed downstairs to where Sally, Sarah's mom, is.

"Oh, hijo. Bakit humahangos ka?" Sally asked as she prepared their breakfast.

"S-si Sarah po. Nanlalambot daw ho sya." Tyrell said in a hurry.

Sally immediately placed the plate on the table and grabbed her cellphone. Her eyes brimming with unshed tears.

"D-doc, ang anak ko. Nanlalambot ho. Please. Pakipuntahan po kami dito sa bahay." Sally pleaded and paused for a while. "Salamat ho."

Without wasting a moment, she searched for something in one of their drawers. Then, she pulled out a blood pressure digital machine before they scurried upstairs to Sarah's room.

"Sarah, anak. Kukuhanan muna kita ng bp ha." Sally said gently. Sarah only nodded slowly.

Sally administered the blood pressure machine on Sarah's left arm while she is lying on the bed. Tyrell could only silently cry seeing his best friend's state, helpless and sickly.

The usual glow in Sarah's cheeks are gone. Her body form also became thin. The color in her face seemed to paled out also.

He couldn't imagine seeing her like this. So fragile and vulnerable.

"Ang taas ng BP mo, anak." Sally gasped in utter shock. "160/90!"

"T-tita." Tyrell even was in shock. He doesn't know anyone could reach this high.

Suddenly, they heard their doorbell rang.

"Hi-hijo, baka yun na si Doc. Pasuyo naman." Sally asked and he nodded.

Tyrell went to the stairs and to the door. True enough, a doctor was waiting outside the gate. He opened it for him and locked it before he assisted the doctor inside to Sarah's room.

The doctor immediately attended to Sarah and checked on her. Sally and Tyrell waited inside the room.

"I will give her 10mg amlodipin for her high blood pressure. Take it once a day before bed time." Dr. Umawing instructed Sally who nodded. "Monitor her blood pressure for one week and then, we'll take a further look at it at the hospital."

"Thank you, Doc." Sally said, in tears.

"Let her rest. If possible, don't give or let her do strenuous activities which may trigger her BP to rise up." He added and touched Sally's shoulder. "Wag mo na akong tawaging Doc. Ayos na ako sa Frio. Parang hindi naman tayo magkaibigan nito." He chuckled to ease the tension.

"Salamat, Frio." Sally corrected and smiled. "Ikaw muna dito kay Sarah, hijo. Hatid ko lang si Frio."

"Opo, Tita." Tyrell nodded and went towards Sarah's sleeping form. He removed the strand of hair that fell on his friend's face and put it on her side. "God. Whatever happened to you, bestie. You do not deserve any of this."

✉✉✉

Meanwhile in Billy's household, he stared blankly at his television screen. The noise was there but his thoughts are somewhere else.

His gaze fell on his bedside table where their picture frame lies. The shot was taken at Ilocos Norte during one of their summer getaways a year ago.

It was a side profile of Sarah as she admired the windmills in Bangui and he was just looking at her. It was his cousin who took the picture.

Another photo was taken during their trip to Korea last autumn and Sarah was as radiant as ever. Her beauty stood out among the sea of faces in Nami Island.

Seeing those pictures brought pain and disappointment in Billy. He is still wondering what made him cheat on her.

Sarah doesn't deserve him. He is selfish and cared only about himself.

And now, he's missing her.

Sarah hasn't visited him this week. He's missing her smell and her expressive eyes.

He misses her a lot.