MY ANGEL

CHAPTER 2: Grieving Angel

The lead surgeon finally spoke about her father, “Mr. Herman Sandoval had sustained a lot of serious injuries from the accident. We all did our best to save him but his injuries were too severe. He had flat-lined twice during the surgery. We tried to revive him but he didn’t come back anymore on the second. He died in the middle of the surgery.”

Her aunt collapsed. She was caught in time by Seth’s secretary and was led to sit on the chair at the waiting room. Tita Carmen was conscious but she was so consumed by her grief that she just lamented soundly, “Kuya Herman! Why did you leave us?”

On the other hand, Hannah had just slowly sat down and cried silently.

As Seth saw Hannah’s grieving face, he felt a sudden pain in his heart. He felt so sorry for her. Tatay Herman was such a great lost to her, to her aunt, and to him. He was a good father, a good brother, and a good employee.

Seth tried to contain his grief. He tried very hard to withhold his tears from falling.

Afterwards, he sat beside Hannah, offered her his handkerchief and then told her, “We already need to arrange for the funeral. I can make the arrangements if you will allow me.”

Hannah looked at him and said, “Yes, that will be fine, sir. I really don’t know much about funeral arrangements. I just like a simple and short service. Then afterwards, I want his remains to be buried next to my mother.”

He acknowledged that, “Okay, we'll do that.” He started to instruct his secretary on what to do.

That evening at the funeral home, in Vienburg City near the private memorial garden where her mother’s remains were transferred, their neighbors and some of her professors and classmates had paid their last respects to her father. Seth didn’t leave.

The following morning after the burial mass, a short burial parade followed and then her father was buried next to the burial site of her mother.

The burial site had been purchased by her father a few years ago with his boss’ assistance. Tatay Herman wanted a better place for his wife so that visiting her wouldn’t be that hassle in comparison to when her mother’s remains were still in a public cemetery.

When most of those who attended the burial left already, Seth talked to Hannah privately, “I already asked my secretary to assist you in facilitating the life insurance claims.”

She uttered, “Thanks, sir.”

He continued talking, “As for your internship, I will fetch you this coming Saturday morning. So, I hope you will be ready by then.”

She responded, “I'll be ready by then, sir.”

Then finally he told her, “Don’t hesitate to give me a call or to pay me a visit whenever you need help on anything. I will check on you and Tita Carmen every now and then.”

“Thanks for all your help, sir,” she said wholeheartedly, “You've helped us in so many ways since you hired Tatay.”

He told her, “He is like a second father to me. So I do consider you as a younger sister and Tita Carmen as an aunt. Do well with your internship and focus on the remaining semesters of your studies afterwards. Tatay wants you to finish college more than anything else in this world.”

She declared with conviction, “I will.”

Seth then talked privately to her aunt before he left.

He spent the rest of his day pouring out the grief he was feeling by sketching the different faces of Hannah during her grieving period. He wanted that to be a reminder of her father’s sacrifice just to keep him safe from the accident. The tears he had been keeping at bay finally poured uncontrollably.

He reminisced the times when Tatay Herman had shared to him his joys whenever Hannah received an award, won a school competition, or represented her school in academic competitions, then emerged victorious. At one point, he even watched with Tatay Herman as Hannah competed in a national spelling bee and emerged as the champion.

Tatay Herman even shared with him Hannah’s dream – “Hannah wants to be a successful businesswoman so she will be rich. She said that when she was already rich, then I and Carmen wouldn’t have to work anymore.”

Tatay Herman would not be able to enjoy the fruits of Hannah’s hard work. He won’t even see her graduate from college.

Seth could feel Hannah’s immense grief, but he also sensed her determination to keep on going so she could fulfill her dream even if her father was already gone. He admired her very much for her tenacity.

May 31, 2014. Saturday. Aboard Seth’s brand new car, driven by a new driver, Hannah couldn’t seem but miss her father. She tried very hard to hold back the tears. She had done a lot of crying in the past few days already. She would be meeting Seth’s sister, who was the Chief Marketing Officer of Villacorta Lands. She could not present herself with swollen eyes caused by too much crying.

Seth tried to start up a conversation while they were en-route to Veda City by land.

He said, “Have you processed the life insurance claims already, Hannah?”

She confirmed, “Yes, sir. Your secretary was a very big help. I processed it yesterday and also got the check yesterday. I had already deposited the check on my personal bank account.”

He commented, “That’s nice. How is Tita Carmen holding up?”

She answered, “She is fine. She just went out a few minutes ago for one of her on-call housekeeping jobs when we left. I already asked her to stop her housekeeping jobs and just set up a sari-sari store or a small carienderia. She hasn’t agreed or disagreed yet.”

He suggested, “Just let her do what makes her happy. As for you, just continue on achieving your dream. And if you need help, do not ever hesitate to ask me. I made a promise to Tatay that I would look after you. Now that Tatay is gone, please consider me as his replacement, as your big brother.”

She responded, “Thanks. I won’t even be able to pay for your kindness in my lifetime.”

He countered, “I’m not doing this, so you will recompense me. Your father has done so many good things for me. I owe him my life for that accident. If he had not tried for that ravaging truck to have lesser impact on us, I am probably dead as well. It is just sad that I got to survive while he didn’t.”

Hannah could also feel the agony of her father’s boss.

Hannah voiced out calmly, “It feels great to hear that he did not die in vain. That even in the last moments of his life, he was able to do a good deed. He did his job as your driver and bodyguard very well. You also did your best to save him. You immediately called the emergency hotline. You demanded everyone to do their best to save my father, even if you were also badly hurt. You were there with him reassuring him that everything would just be fine.”

He responded, “But my efforts didn’t save him. You lost your father because of me.”

She reached for his right hand with her left hand, “I am not blaming you. It was not your fault that the truck had loose brakes. It is an occupational hazard for any driver. No matter how good my father was as a driver, such danger was out of his control. It was also beyond your control. So, please do not ever blame yourself, sir,” then gently withdrew her hand.

He looked at her angelic face and said, “You are like your father in so many ways. You got his depth and breadth of wisdom in life. It was both a privilege and an honor to have been served by him. He was an exceptional man. You should be proud of having a father like him.”

She smiled and replied, “I am truly very proud of him.”

After Seth had introduced and entrusted Hannah to her older sister that day, they hadn’t personally seen each other for a long time.

But Seth was aware of all the key happenings in Hannah’s life. The required time for her internship was just four weeks, but Hannah extended it until the semester resumed in August upon his sister’s request. For the time that she had extended, his sister had fully compensated her like a regular employee.

She had celebrated her 19th birthday with his family and her aunt in Veda City. He was out of the country at that time but he gifted her with a brand new laptop to replace her outdated one.

When she enrolled in the first semester of her last year in her degree program, he asked his secretary to settle her school fees immediately. He also did that for her last semester. He had done that for her three previous years in college.

Whenever Tatay Herman would complain about it, he would just say – It’s my payment to her for stealing so much of her father’s time away from her.

Hannah had never sought his help but he had provided the help through her aunt. He knew that Hannah would not agree if he would still continuously transfer her father’s monthly salary to her personal savings account.

It was one of the few things he discussed with her aunt before he left the burial.

Flashback …

He told her aunt, “Tita Carmen, you just have to focus now on taking care of Hannah. Don’t work on your on-call housekeeping jobs anymore. I will still provide you with Tatay Herman’s monthly salary.”

Her aunt didn’t accept it, “You shouldn’t do this, Seth. I can still support Hannah. Kuya Herman has also saved enough for her education.”

He insisted, “I promised Tatay that I will look after you and Hannah. Just don’t tell Hannah about it. Also, I had already instructed my secretary to help Hannah in facilitating her claim on the life insurance benefits. You may still work if you want but please don’t overdo it, Tita Carmen. I’m aware that you’re sickly. I will ask my secretary to provide you with a cash card. Tatay Herman’s monthly salary would be forwarded there. Just take care of yourself and Hannah. I will also check on you from time to time.”

Her aunt was still hesitant, “Why are you doing this, Seth? We’re not even blood relatives.”

Seth answered, “Blood relative or not, I do consider the three of you as my own family. Tatay Herman had gone above and beyond in serving me for so many years. So I will do everything to help out the two of you. Do not hesitate to call or approach me when you need help on anything.”

Hannah was aware of all the forms of assistance her father’s boss had extended to them through the years. While growing up, she already knew that Seth Villacorta described her face as angelic. She didn’t know why because she didn’t see her face that way. She had already known back then when they first met that he was a kind man because he had treated her father and her with respect. He even paid a large amount of money for just a few photos of her so that he would be able to paint her. Such money was deposited by her father when opening her own personal savings account. She knew that Seth Villacorta had always helped her father in providing her with the best possible education.

During her last year at elementary level, he had always bought take-out food and cake to celebrate with them at home for her every win in every school contest she had participated in. He also sponsored her training and other expenses in every competition she had participated at as the representative of their school at city level, state level, regional level, national level, and international level.

When she graduated in elementary level, he had gifted her with a brand new laptop and also arranged for an internet subscription at their home so that she wouldn’t have to go anymore to public internet cafés if she needed to do literature search and other stuff.

He even arranged for her to take her secondary education in a prestigious private high school, but she insisted that she still preferred studying in a government high school. She had prevailed but her father’s boss had never ceased extending his help in all her school needs.

Eventually, she had graduated as top of the entire graduating class and received so many awards. She also qualified in several top universities in the country with the results of her national college scholastic ability test, in which she was a top notcher. She then chose another government school for her collegiate education, University of Filipinas in Vienburg City. With her very high scores, she could choose any degree program she preferred but she opted taking up business management and then majored in marketing. Seth Villacorta had always paid for his school fees in advance. Even when her father died, he never stopped helping out. He still paid for her school fees for the two remaining semesters in her degree program.

She already felt so indebted to him. She knew that he was not asking for any recompense, that he was helping out voluntarily. But she still decided not to face him even if there were so many instances that she had seen him visiting her father’s grave. She would just approach her parents’ graves when he had left already.

She was also aware that he was constantly calling her aunt to check on them.

When Hannah was about to graduate in college, his secretary had delivered the finest modern slightly above-the-knee length ivory Filipiniana dress, Manolo Blahnik Nadira 70 ivory strass embellished satin pumps, and the sablay as well as a complete outfit for her aunt. It came with a note –

Hannah,

Congratulations on this very important milestone in your life. I am very sure that your parents are very proud of you up there. Keep on reaching for your dreams.

Seth

Unbeknownst to Hannah, Seth secretly watched her graduation rites as she graduated as Summa c*m Laude, received her college diploma, and was awarded with several medals and a plaque for academic excellence, exemplary leadership, best thesis, and many others. He even paid a photographer to take photos of her and later on give the prints to her. She only realized that he was the one who paid for the photos and that he watched the graduation rites when it was reported on the TV news later on that he had been seen at the venue of the commencement exercises.

After graduation, she landed a high-paying job in a prestigious marketing firm, but eventually she resigned after six months. Hannah couldn’t take it anymore that the daughter of the CEO of the firm was taking credit for all her hard work. The CEO himself was fronting his daughter on all the marketing projects that she had worked so hard for. Then she would be the one reprimanded if his daughter made some errors in the presentation.

After her resignation, a few problems then suddenly came up. In the first one, they had to move out of their rented apartment. The neighborhood where the apartment was located had already been purchased by a private corporation for an upscale housing development project. So, with her savings, they had easily found a new fully-furnished apartment in a much better location but the rent was much higher than their previous one.

She tried looking for another job, but her former boss seemed to have been sabotaging her application.

Seth was already busy back then as the Deputy CEO of Villacorta Lands. He had been leaving every now and then for business trips abroad. He was aware of what was happening with Hannah and Tita Carmen but he hadn’t done much.

He also wanted to know if Hannah could cope with the challenges of life. He recalled what her father once told him, “You must give others the chance, the trust, and the space to grow up on their own. Let them face the hardships in life. For a diamond in a rough needed to be cut and polished for it to shine.”

Hannah was already in the process of setting up her own small marketing firm. Then one day, she just saw her aunt unconscious by the kitchen floor of their small apartment unit.

She immediately dialed the emergency hotline. After a while, the paramedics arrived. Her aunt was brought to the nearest hospital, which was Filipinas General Hospital.

Tita Carmen was subjected to several medical diagnostic tests.

After a time, the specialist doctor talked to her in private.

She started to become anxious. The last time she talked to a doctor was when the doctor told her that her father had died in the middle of an operation.

She tried to hold back her tears.

The specialist doctor told her, “The results of the preliminary tests all point out the possibility of ovarian cancer. We need to do a biopsy to collect a sample of cells for laboratory testing. So let’s just hope that it is just an abnormal mass.”

She then asked, “But what if it is indeed cancer, doctor?”

The doctor answered, “Then we shall do staging tests and procedures to determine the best possible treatment option for your aunt.”

She then consented to the biopsy test. The biopsy test confirmed that it was indeed cancer. She felt helpless and useless.

When her father died, she tried very hard to heal her grieving heart and rebuild herself around that loss. She tried to accept her father's absence in her life because she still had Tita Carmen. She needed to do everything to save her aunt.

Imaging tests were done. The results and the piling up of hospital bills had been too much for her to handle. She already felt very emotionally drained after a few days in the hospital.

She left the hospital for a while to clear up her mind.

After sometime, she just realized that she was already in front of the condominium building where Seth Villacorta resides.