pictures and artwork

Luis part 3

Four hours later I woke up surrounded by family members. Everyone shouted in delight as they saw me awake. They started to talk at once , and got louder while the poor nurse was trying to shush them to be quiet.

There was Vivian, mom, dad, sister Eva, Adam, cousin Best and the rest of my relatives but there was no Luis.....


Hours had passed and everyone had finally left me alone. The nurse switched off the light.

I lay on my bed facing upwards. It was pretty uncomfortable sleeping that way but I didn't want to aggravate the wound. It was still painful with the bandages covering my nose. The doctor had given me a sleeping pill , which I was thankful to hum. I needed that..... I closed my eyes the second time that day....


I was disoriented when I woke up, wondering where I was at first. Looking at the unfamiliar  ceiling, and curtains. It took me sometime to remember that I was in the hospital . The room was dark and cold. Maybe that was what woke me up... The cold. I pulled the blanket to my chest and relax my head on the pillow. I turned my head to the left and found a comfortable position. I froze; there was something or someone sitting near the window.

I could only make out a humanly shape sitting on the guest chair near my bed.

It didn't move...Nor did it make any sound. I moved to the edge of my bed to get closer to the shape, my heart was beating so fast.

Could it be mom?

She had left with the rest of the relatives , surely she didn't turn back to accompany me that night?


Pssst.....Psst I hissed trying to wake the shape. I reached for the flask on the small shelves on top of my bed. Grappling in the dark I had accidentally knocked the flask over and it rolled off the shelves and fell.....Right on top of my head!

Klank!

   "Oooouch!" I wailed. Great , not only my nose was in pain, I had a major headache! I rubbed my head and stopped. The shape had moved.

    "Janey?"

   "Luis?" I asked. The figure got off the chair and walked to the switch. There was a blaze of light. Once my eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, I saw Luis standing at the foot of my bed.

   "What are you doing here?"I whispered.

   "I just found out. How are you?" asked Luis concerned. He held my hands. I was astounded I didn't know whether I should have pulled away or not. But it felt warm and comforting.

   "Better now. Where were you? I couldn't find you," I said pityfully.

  "I had some work to do before I leave for the US,"

Leaving?

I felt my  eyes tearing up again. I was right ! He did com back for a friend! God, how pathetic was I?

Don't cry.......Don't cry

Darn a tear rolled down my cheek. Without saying anything Luis took out his handkerchief and wiped the tears.

I pulled my face away.
Luis looked at me with those gentle hazel brown eyes.
  "Come with me, " he said gently. I looked at the man in front of me not believing what I had heard. I kept quiet.

   "Come with me, " he said again. I didn't reply , not comprehending what he just said but not daring to ask why he wanted me to go with him.

He leaned closer to me, his hand tighten on mine.

   "Do you remember the letter that the whole class wrote to you? In my column I wrote that you were a special girl and I would never forget you. I never did forget about you through all those years. I was  by chance that I got your letter and wrote back to you.You are a special girl , " said Luis softly. I laughed at him, cruel , but I needed reassurance.

   "and you felt this all in two days we were together ?" He nodded.

    "A bit abrupt isn't it?" He shook his head.

   "It's enough to know that I want to be with you. I always wanted to be with you, " he said . I felt a lump in my throat.


Okay , I'm not a sentimental or romantic type but god, that was a good answer . I flung my arms around him and felt him hold me tightly.

This crying wasn't good for me. It was soaking my bandage. But I didn't feel the pain at all, I felt a feeling of warmth enveloping me.

It felt good.

I was wondering , whether we could visit the old school and route back our history at Alcott Elementary School.

The end.....

luis part 2

Our meeting didn't end there.

I was quite surprise when I saw Luis in front of my door the next day. It was Sunday.

Surely this man had other things to do then to visit an old friend on his free day ? He had a michievous grin on his face and he was hiding something behind him.

    "Hello," I said.


    "Hello, " he replied, his grin getting wider.

Curious, I asked him what he had behind him. Like a little boy he smiled shyly and pulled out his hand.

Ok, this was the second time that I was speechless. It was a rose. Not was not just a rose, it was handmade , very identical to the one he had given me on the last day of school. His mother had made it so that he can give to me. The petals were made of red wool, soft and warm with real rose scent to it. I couldn't help laughing at Luis , he had the exact same expression when he had given me the rose on my last day at Alcott. He was blushing, looking bashfully on the ground with his left leg shuffling from left to right. Without thinking I I gave him a peck on the cheek and pulled away quickly , surprised at my boldness. Luis didn't seem to mind. He took  my hand and led me to the ca.

    "Where are we going?"

    "You'll see, " he replied shortly . I didn't argue and lay back n the seat looking at the sky as the roof of his BMW convertible automatically folded back. It was beautiful day. Cheesy as it sound but I felt like  belting to ' Oh what a Beautiful Morning, " but stopped myself, my vocal cord was less than desirable and I didn't want to thwart heavens above by sending us thunderstorms on this glorious day!

   We stopped in front of a playground . It was still early in the morning, the playground was empty. Luis pulled me to the swings . There was a stack of newspaper , a bowl of water, a tub of glue, a box of water color and a row of glass plates laying in  front of it. Luis  sat on the swing.

   "What's all of this?" I asked, looking at the items.

   "Have you forgotten? Grade 1, you were  crying because our class teacher didn't elect you to be in the paper mache group and i had to comfort you after class. We were sitting at the swings and  I promised that you'll get your chance one day. Well, today is your lucky day. I'm going to teach you, " said Luis getting off the swing and his sleeves. I had forgotten that.....Ooooooooohhh.

Luis pulled me on my knees in front of the items and started shredding the newspapers. Most of the newspaper shreds ended up on us instead on our little projects as we playfully threaten each other with the paste. Even the little kids that came to the park with their parents joined us and soon we were surrounded by squealing children , everyone happily helping on the paper mache project.


We finished everything up by afternoon. I was pretty proud on all of our work , there was a row of mangled mache bowls with colorful designs and fingerprints. Luis shirt which was cream in color was now rainbow color. I had so many papers and paint on my that Luis nicknamed me Unicorn Janey.


   "Ok, someone's Miss Happy," teased my sister  when I got home that night. I just smiled. I was smiling when I was brushing my teeth and I was still smiling when I got into bed.....



   I woke up the next morning feeling my pillow wet.

Was I crying last night?

I sat up drowsily and looked at my pillow. It was soaked with blood!
I was so startled. I felt my nose, it wasstill dripping blood. I stared a the thick red liquid on my finger.

I  heard my bedroom door open and saw my little nephew come into the room. He was dragging his worn out teddy bear behind him. He looked at me cheerfully and when he saw the blood, his facial expression changed to horror.

He gave an ear piercing screech...

    "Mommy! Aunt Janey's bleeding!"

I looked a the row of lights above me as I was rolled into the operation room. The doctor's words rang into my ear, nasal cavity cancer-malignant - surgery needed. The cancer is growing rapidly.

I looked confused at the doctor trying to digest his words.  Didn't the doctor tell me not to worry on my first check-up when my nose started to bleed? A cut on the lower septum wall of the nose caused by extensive blowing and rubbing ( I had sinus problem and it was itchy)wasn't that his words?

But as the doctor's words finally sank in , I felt a cold chill crept all over my body. I looked at the X-ray chart without comprehending what I was looking, as if a dark cloud had covered all senses.

The first thing that I could think of was Luis. I wanted to talk to Luis. I sat on the hospital bed trying to get in touch with him before the surgery. I wanted him to make me feel better that it was just a routine surgery . That the tumor was just a small dot in my nostril. Everything was okay, I wanted his assurance even though I had the support of my whole family there.

   "The number you call is out off service area." The machine repeated again and again.

 As the time drew nearer, a feeling of sadness swept over me.

   "I'm going to be okay, " I smiled bravely to my family and ushered them out of the room  while waiting for the surgery. As soon as the door closed behind them, I couldn't stop the tears from falling out. It was like a dam had broken. I couldn't even stop .

After a good fifteen minutes of waterfall, I washed my face and tried to calm down. I had already gotten into the hospital gown when the nurses came into the room.

The last image that I saw when I counted backwards and my vision grew hazy , was that little boy standing at the school gate with his goofy grin, one hand in his pocket and the other hand waving goodbye.....

luis part 1

'Oh-oh,'  I thought as I wiped my nose with a soft tissue. I really hoped that none of it had dropped on the beautiful velvet dress I was wearing. Vivian wouldn't be too please... I had begged her for the dress even to the point of grovelling!
Vivian had gave way, mournfully taking it out from the shopping bag , with the price tag still intact. Before she handed the dress to my eagerly stretched out hands, she gave me a  warning; should anything...ANYTHING happen to the dress, a little tear, a little thread sticking out, even a speck of bread crumb, I would be sure the punishment would be severe.


My tissue was already wet with dark stain. I tilted my head upwards hoping that it would stop the liquid from flowing out.

       "Janey?"

My first instinct was to turn towards the voice but I was so afraid of Vivian's threat. My eyes tried to look vainly at the owner of the voice without turning my head. I was getting dizzy and my neck was cramming up.

   "Yes?" I answered feeling foolish.

   "Is there something interesting up there?" asked the voice. I sighed and slowly, very slowly, afraid that my nose would bleed again, I turned my head towards him. My heart nearly stopped. For the past 20 minutes while waiting for him, I had imagined him in all different form and sizes, a bald man with a huge potbelly , a skinny man with rabbit teeth but never this.....He was gorgeous!

I swooned.

He was wearing an Armani t-shirt which literally showed off his toned body. He was tanned with little stubs on his chin and his eyes.... His beautiful hazel brown eyes were looking directly at me. i was speechless as he smiled shyly and took a seat.

I looked at him from across the table .

        Was this Luis? Sweet little Luis, with his goofy grin, scruffy hair, big innocent hazel brown eyes and tanned skin showing his Hispanic heritage.

    "L-U-I-S?" I croaked. He grinned at me. I couldn't help smiling. It was still there, the goofy grin that I loved.

My mind wandered off back to the time when I first met Luis.....24 years ago. The image of an eight year old Hispanic boy appeared , wearing a hooded sweater underneath a thick winter jacket, waving in front of the school gate.

His voice brought me back to the present.

    "Shall we order?" he asked motioning to the waiter.

It was great seeing Luis there. We talked a lot that nigh through dinner. Reminiscing on old times and catching up on our present lives. Luis was a head engineer for an oil company. I cocked my head to one side, impressed. Luis saw my expression and gave a big smile.

     "I wasn't the sloppy, book-hater boy that I used to be," he said still smiling.

I couldn't help starring at him. It had been a long time and he had changes so much!

I  blushed when he caught me starting at him. I missed those 3 years which was the best time that I ever had when my family moved to America.

Dad was assigned there to look over some project for his company.

My brother and I would walk to Alcott Elementary school from  our apartment near Lake Michigan, Chicago.

I remembered the first time I step foot in the building , I was five at that time. It looked gigantic, the school hall , the office and the corridors stretched endlessly. The two of us were at awe and a bit scared by our surroundings. We wandered around the halls until we met the principal, Mr. Henry, a tall man with thick hair and equally thick white beard. His eyes were blue, they were gentle kind eyes which twinkle when he smiled. He looked like a thin version of Santa Claus. It was Mr Henry that took me to my class and introduced me to everyone.

I remembered him so well.....  Dear kind old Mr. Henry, adored by students and a talented music conductor. Best principal I ever had.

It was summer when  first step foot at Alcott Elementary School.

    "Is it still there?"I asked out loud. As if reading my mind, he nodded.

    "Still strong although I doubted our teachers would still be there."

Did I say I had fun? I had so much fun that night. We talked , we laughed , we were so comfortable with each other. I didn't realized that it was close to two hours that we have been talking. Dinner was taken away and desert was brought in. I had totally forgotten Vivian's advice before I left the house.

    "Remember Janey.......You're wearing that dress you're a lady. Don't grin too much, smile politely and nod when he talks. Don't get too excited and talk too fast or too loud like your in a disco . Be gentle and graceful and for goodness sake don't take any chocolate as that makes you more hyper that you normally are!"

Well.......... I did  grin....I grinned like an idiot because I was so happy. The two of us were so in synch that we can even complete each others sentences without meaning it. As for not talking so loudly, I think our table was the loudest in that posh restaurant , we didn't even notice the glares from other tables.

    "I swear to you that I really thought I was in my dad's car and when I turned to the driver it was a lady , she had  this mortified face , with the phone in her hand......" Luis gaffowed loudly and told me the time he had run away from home at the age of fifteen.

It felt so good to meet a guy that didn't glance worriedly around when you talked or excuse himself to the washroom when he was actually trying to slip out through the kitchen. I prayed that wasn't his plan , with the amount of food we had eaten I doubted my crumpled fifty ringgit would be enough to cover the bill in this high class  restaurant !

Drat!I should have played safe and suggested pizza.

   "Hello , earth to Janey. What's wrong ? Your frowning ," said Luis waving his hand in front of me to get my attention. I got out of my dazed and realize I was biting my bottom lip nervously. Luis smiled warmly and I melted forgetting whatever concerns I had in my head. Our empty plates was replace with warm chocolate cakes with warm fudge in the middle and vanilla ice cream on top. I smiled delight, he told me that he had not forgotten how I adored chocolate.

Pinch me! I must have choked on the food , died and gone to heaven.

We had to leave after finishing the cake. Not that we didn't want to stay , we would but the restaurant had to close by 12  o 'clock.

Luis paid the bill and drove me home.

He opened my door and as I got out he reached for something at the back of the car.  He pulled out a bouquet of roses wrapped in colorful plastic wrappers and put it in my arm.

    "24 roses for 24 years, " he said softly and got into the car. I just stared at him unable to speak. I didn't say goodbye, I just stood there as he drove off.

Roses........I had never had roses before.(well not counting the time my cousin Annie gave me one for my diploma graduation)but this was a bouquet of them!

Excuse me as I melt on the driveway.......