What wakes people up? Before we open our eyes, there's always that one thing that forces us to wake up, irrelevant of our will. Sometimes it's the nightmares or the call of nature. And there are days when it's an annoying, irritable noise. When you're a mother, it's usually your crying child like what Alvin and Elvira does to me oftentimes. But they're at their father's house which is why the noise I'm hearing right now is not from the guest room beside mine. It's coming from my sister's bedroom.
I quickly grabbed my glasses on the bedside table. The clock beside it tells me I won't have enough time to cook and prepare myself for school if I don't head to he bathroom now. But my sister is more important than my job.
I reached Raffy's room at a lightning speed. I've got a spare key so I was able to open it quickly. When I got inside, I saw her shifting her head around and murmurring words I could not understand. She's still wearing her clothes from yesterday. As I went closer to her, I held her in place and tried waking her up.
She's having her nightmares again.
"Raffy? Raffy? Wake up," I said to her while lightly tapping her face.
"Raffy? C'mon wake up!" I shouted.
I tried shaking her shoulders and shouting as loud as I could so that she would hear me. Thankfully, after a few minutes, she opened her eyes. And they looked tired.
"Rebecca?" she said, her eyes wondering. Probably, why I was in her room.
I flashed a wide smile. "Good morning!"
She groaned as she tried sitting on the bed. Her hand lightly caressed her temple. Then, she looked at me.
"What are you doing here? And how are you in my room?"
"You left your door unlocked so I went inside. I was hoping maybe we could have breakfast together," I lied.
"Fine. Fine. Just leave me alone," she said shooing me.
I stood up.
"Wash up, okay? I'll wait for you downstairs," I said and left.
A long, worried sigh leaked from my mouth as I closed the door. If she's having this nightmares again, something must've triggered her. As I head towards the kitchen, I dialed on my phone. Thankfully, the receiver picked it up instantly.
"Good morning, Dr. Echavez. Sorry to bother you this early. Did I wake you up?"
"Oh no, not really. I just got back from my morning jog. Why is there something wrong?" he asked, sounding like he was out of breath.
"It's about Raffy. Her nightmares came back. I don't know what triggered it and I'm worried it will come back. Doc, what should I do?" I asked, pacing back and forth from the kitchen.
"Calm down. Observe her for the mean time. Try finding out what triggered her nightmares. Though, my best guess is she met someone from her past. If we found out what or who that is, let's try keeping her from it. That way, it won't trigger unnecessary flashback of her past memories."
"Thank you so much, doc."
"Bring her to me right away if something goes wrong okay? Bye," he said and ended the call after I said my goodbye.
Just as after I placed my phone down, I received a call from Mike. I quickly answered it.
"Yes, hon?"
"Hon, Elvira's having a fever and Alvin won't stop crying looking for you. Can you make some time to come here?" he asked.
I could hear Alvin's voice from the background, crying. And Mike's mother trying to calm him down.
I held my temple and closed my eyes. "I'll try, hon. I'll head immediately there after my class. Can I talk to Alvin?"
"Okay, wait."
After a while, I heard Alvin's voice becoming louder and louder on the other side of the phone.
"MOMMYYY!"
"Yes, darling. I'm here. Stop crying, okay? Mommy will be there soon. I'll bring your favorite ice cream, so stop crying okay?"
I heard him sniff. "Really? Okay, Alvin will stop crying now."
"There's a good boy. Take care of your sister, okay?"
"Yes, mommy! I love you!"
"I love you too, baby! Can you give the phone to dad?"
"Hon, I have to go. I promise I'll be there before dinner," I said as I heard Mike's deep sigh on the phone.
"Okay, hon. Take care. Bye. Love you," he said, still sounding sad and disappointed.
"Love you, too. Bye," I said and ended the call.
As soon as I put my phone down, a deep sigh escaped from my mouth. I think my head is starting to break. It's useless thinking about everything. There's still breakfast that I have to prepare—
"When you invited me for breakfast I thought the food's ready."
I almost jumped in my place when Raffy entered the kitchen. I turned around and unconsciously scanned her whole body.
"You're not going to the office?" I asked.
"I already called in. I don't feel like working today," she answered as she sat down on the chair.
I wanted to ask her why but I knew her too well that she wouldn't answer me. Besides, I think I know why at some point.
I dragged the chair across her and sat. Her brows furrowed, probably wondering why I'm not turning on the stove and chopping onions.
"Hey, let's go for a vacation. You, me, Mike and the kids," I suggested.
"Suddenly?"
I nodded.
"Pass. I have no energy for that—" I stopped her.
"You have always wanted to go to Grandma's place. Let's go there for a week. It'll be fun!" I urged her. But her eyes just got puzzled and puzzled. She's eyeing me suspiciously.
"What's wrong with you today? Besides, don't you have a class waiting for you? It's almost seven thirty," she pointed out.
"Give me an answer and I'll go," I said, forcing her to say yes.
She rolled her eyes.
"No." She flatly turned me down. What can I expect.
"Such a buzzkill," I said, pouting. I stood up and head out of the kitchen with my shoulders hanging off my body. "Cook your own food. All if my energy's gone," I said and went out of the kitchen.
I climb the stairs and went straight to my bathroom. I took a bath, clothed myself and prepared my things. All the while, thinking about my situation. Getting Raffy to have a vacation was the only thing I could think of in keeping her out of the things that could trigger her past memories. And I would also get to have some quality time with my family. Mike has been sulky since last week. And now my kids are sick and looking for me.
"What a life you have, Rebecca," I said to girl in the mirror.
After ensuring everything's done, I went outside my room. My heart almost jumped outside when I saw Raffy standing beside the doorway looking all serious. I locked the door and faced her.
"What are you doing there?" I asked her, clutching my chest.
"I have a condition," she quickly said.
Condition? Is this about the vacation I talked earlier?
My face immediately brightened up. "What is it? Tell me," I said, excitement evident on my voice.
"I'll go to that one week vacation. On the condition that you will leave the house when we return here," she said.
My smile immediately faded.
"Raffy, I..."
"I'm sorry. But take it or leave it," she said and went back to her room.
I tried so hard to focus on that day. The time went unusually slow. My colleagues been asking me 'What's wrong?' countless times. Thankfully, I managed to finish the day without troubles during my classes.
The sky was in sunset colors as I went outside the gate of the school. I grabbed some ice cream on the nearest convenience store before heading for Mike's house. He texted me an hour ago that Elvira's fever went down and Alvin was enjoying being Elvira's nurse.
When I arrived, Alvin was hurrying down the stairs with his father on his heels. A smile formed on my lips. I opened my arms and caught my little boy who happily jumped unto me. He was hugging me so tight as if telling me how much he missed me. It's been a week, after all.
"I missed you so much, mommy! Where's ice cream?"
A chuckle left my mouth. "I miss you, too, baby."
I put him down and gave him his ice cream which he happily took. He ran towards the kitchen and asked his Grandma to open it for him. I couldn't help but smile.
"Hey..." Mike called.
I said nothing and hugged him tightly. Seeing him and the kids seemed enough to take my worries away. They are my home and my comfort. Each one of them... including Rebecca. I thought I could give them the same amount of love but it's getting harder and harder each day.
"Where's Elvira?" I asked breaking the hug.
"Upstairs. She's doing fine," he replied, smiling.
I leaned closer and gave him a quick kiss before heading upstairs.