The morning sun had been golden—too golden, perhaps.
It was Max's first day at his new private school in Makati. He wore his uniform proudly, his hair neatly combed, his lunchbox swinging with every hop he took. I held his hand as we walked through the gates. He looked up at me and smiled with those sparkling eyes that never failed to melt the steel inside my chest.
"Mom Jae," he said, "can we get ice cream after school?"
I chuckled. "Of course. That's a deal."
I kissed his forehead, handed him over to the teacher, and turned to walk home.
I didn't know it would be the last peaceful moment for a long time.
The streets were quiet that mid-morning.
A breeze picked up.
I crossed the small pedestrian lane by the condo when I noticed something strange.
A black SUV, engine humming low, idling down the street.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0XIFOSsXO3
Windows tinted dark.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdh6wtBPORM
It wasn't there earlier.
A small unease curled in my stomach.
And then— it accelerated.
Fast.
Toward me.
I didn't even scream.
Just the sound of screeching tires.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr5KbRa59Sn
Metal crumpling.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3MApJbQJwU
My body lifting into the air.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0miCKWGpSZ
A flash of sky.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxLJ6wjgxx3
Then concrete.
People screamed.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVodlo6b2na
A vendor rushed over.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmoph87Nm3S
Someone yelled for help.
The SUV didn't stop.
It swerved away and disappeared into the rush of traffic like a shadow with no face.
When I woke up, the hospital ceiling was white.
Sterile. Familiar.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHdMVNBf3V0
My body ached everywhere—ribs, shoulder, legs. A gash throbbed above my eyebrow, stitched tightly.
I tried to sit up, groaning.
A nurse ran in, followed by a doctor.
"She's awake. Call Dr. Ramirez."
Tedd.
My chest clenched.
He entered the room slowly, still in his white coat, eyes rimmed with sleeplessness. He looked at me like I was both a miracle and a warning.
He didn't smile. He didn't speak right away.
Just sat beside me, took my hand, and kissed it.
"How bad?" I asked softly.
"Fractured shoulder. Deep cuts. Bruised hip. But you'll heal."
"Max?"
"He's okay. At school. My parents picked him up. He doesn't know yet."
I closed my eyes, tears slipping down my temples. "It was her, wasn't it?"
He didn't answer.
He didn't have to.
The silence screamed yes.
That night, I dozed in and out of painkillers and soft murmurs. At one point, I heard him on the phone—his voice shaking with quiet rage.
"I don't care if she's the biological mother. This is attempted murder. I want a case filed. Now."
Another call: "Yes, surveillance caught the plate. No, she won't get near her again. Ever."
But what I didn't hear, what I would only feel in my bones—
Was the way Tedd's spirit was starting to collapse in on itself.
He watched over me like a soldier by a fallen comrade.
But inside, he was fighting something I couldn't see.
He held my hand while I slept. Brushed hair from my forehead. Read books out loud like nothing had changed.
But it had.
Something had shifted in him.
Something quiet.26Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7NbWZl519o
Something final.
The night before I was scheduled for discharge, I woke up from a light sleep and found him not at my bedside—but by the window.
Staring out into the darkness.
Arms crossed.
Tense.
And whispering something to himself.
I couldn't hear it. I didn't call out.
But in my heart, I felt it.
I knew something was coming.
He turned to look at me once more.
And there it was—love and sorrow, fused into one look.
He came back to the bed. Kissed my forehead. And whispered, "Sleep, Jae. I've got you."
I closed my eyes.
And in that moment, I didn't know...
That would be the last time I'd hear his voice for a while.
Because in the morning—
He was gone.
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