The Final Heartbeat
I opened my eyes; the sun light has blinded me for a second. As my sight slowly become clear, my brain has come back to the reality. For just a few minutes, I had recalled all that had happened to me for the past years.
Believe me or not, I still feel the pain, the love and the bitter sweet flavor of my past. Mark and his friends went to the Louvre Museum. I decided to go here in the cathedral – Notre Dame.
People say that if it’s your first time to go in a church, you can have a wish. Well, I’m lucky to be here standing in front of a cathedral. It’s my first time here, so I’m hoping that God will grant my wish.
As time passed by, I have learned so many things. I have learned how to love, how to let go, and to fight when it’s time or when it’s right.
Nicole, Nicole. She’s my best friend. As far as I could remember we have already known each other. We’re playmates, then we became friends… she’s one of those poor children who were abandoned by their parents, or those who were deprived of good provision like me.
Now I see, I shouldn’t regret that I run away that day. Because if I didn’t, then I wont be able to meet them. They maybe lied to me about everything, they maybe hid my past, my true identity, but behind those they showed me one thing that’s not a lie – love. I know because I felt it.
Maybe I can’t forgive them now, but in time, my feet would take me back to that place, and I hoped that I can let go of the anger, after all, we can’t move on if we still think about the past, past is something I cannot change, but the future, it’s something that I can hold, and I can mold.
Atty. Nova Calderon-Cuison has her own law firm now. His Dad was so proud and Nova had let her mother go back to the Philippines from working abroad. She married her long time boy friend Tom, and I heard that she had just gave birth to her first baby, a girl named Antlia, they named her after Nova’s favorite constellation. But when I told them Antlia means Air Pump, they gave it a second thought.
Cheska Lilyana Villareal has her own bank now. She’s struggling to have branches all over the Philippines. She’s planning to marry her boy friend soon, but first she has to tell her mom about it. She’s already 24 years old, but she has never told her parents about his boy friend.
I heard Charles was now managing the family business and the Hacienda Vallejo. Aunt Sandra told me before she die that the business is near to bankruptcy, and they don’t know how to revive their dying business. I heard Charles had his first daughter named Sandy, named after her departed mother. Cheska told me that the baby is blind, and the doctors said that her condition can’t be fixed with operation. And I know that this will be a tough job for him.
As for Marla, I heard that she’s now a politician. She followed the footsteps of her parents.
Well now, let’s see. I will graduate Medicine this year. I’ll take up my specialization next year so, and Mark promised that he’ll help me to find a work.
I looked at my watch and saw the time, its 1:48 a.m. here at Paris. The date is June 22, 2018. The air was filled with the smell of the Seine River, the place was filled with lovers, and the sun blazed above the roofs of the buildings. I converted the time here at Paris to the time at the Philippines; it’s already 8:45 p.m. there, but it’s still June 21, in short, I have five minutes left.
“Please, bring her back to me, please,” I finally said my wish. For a reason, the bells of Notre Dame rung and everyone looked at the bell tower. The bell isn’t supposed to ring in this hour.
Four minutes…
Nicole is the most wonderful thing in my life. She’s the person who knows me better than anyone.
Three minutes…
My breathing got shallow, and rapid. I’m nervous.
Two minutes…
Should I say goodbye to you now Nicole? Is this goodbye?
One minute…
I guess it is… Good Bye Nic-
“Lance!” a voice shouted behind me.
I turned and looked at the girl who called my name. It’s the girl whom I’m waiting for… the girl whom I thought I would never see, the girl who holds my heart.
Times up. She’s just in time.
I ran towards her. I pulled her hand, put my arm around her waist and kissed her passionately in the lips. Nicole put her arms around my head; she ran her hands in my hair.
“Am I too late?” Nicole asked.
“No,” I said. “You’re just in time.”
“I love you Lance,”
“I love you more,” I said and kissed her again in the forehead.
For a moment or two, we held each other, not minding the people who stare at us. Our eyes were closed and I felt my heart pound. It’s my final heartbeat, the heartbeat that last forever… and it’s for Nicole, my Nicole.
* * *
“I, Lance Robert Vergara, solemnly vow to love and protect Nicole Angela Alvarez as my wife, to give her my loyalty and love, and a life time of happiness,” Lance said as he wears the ring in Nicole’s left ring finger.
Nicole did the same while saying the same vow that Lance had said. They stared at each other for a second, but it seemed to be a lifetime when the Priest said “You may now kiss the bride,”
Lance gently kissed Nicole in the lips. People clapped and cheered. Their friends were there, congratulating them.
Photographers were taking pictures now, and Lance’s arm was around Nicole. The moment was so perfect. The choir played the song Lance made for Nicole. They can’t explain, but when the music played, the memories of their childhood, when Nicole suddenly bumped into Lance when they’re going to take the college entrance exam, to the moment Lance revealed that he’s Robert, until that afternoon in the locker room with Lance holding a bouquet of tulips, until the meteor shower, until that night in the rain…
“Nicole,” Lance said. “What if you came late that day? At Paris?”
“I’m not late,” Nicole said. “I saw you there in front of the Notre Dame fifteen minutes earlier. I just waited for the last minute before I called your name.”
“Huh? Why?”
“For a dramatic entrance,” Nicole said sarcastically.
“But what if we didn’t meet that day?”
“Lance, please, it’s our wedding day,” Nicole said. “And besides, I prayed to see you again. That’s my wish in the cathedral.”
