The girl of his dreams, Kim Lim, felt embarrassed to see him again. Though, in her heart she longed to see him, she could not bring it upon herself to check up on him. In the last few days she has visited her mom, she was most of the time, looking out on the door across their room. She was kind of hoping to see a sign of him. However, his hospital room seemed to be devoid of activity in the last few days. Besides the ins and outs of the doctors and nurses doing their rounds, no one else seemed to have visited him.

‘Does he have a family?’ Kim often asked herself, as she stood by her mom’s hospital room, keeping the door slightly ajar to spy on him.

As the days passed, Kim one day grew really, really curious. She could not take it any longer. She had to see how he was doing. She stealthily tiptoed her way to Gerald’s room. Upon reaching the door a few inches of eternity away, she slowly turned the door knob...

The sound of the TV was the first thing that greeted her. She wondered why he was watching TV if he was in fact...blind. She inched her way towards the room, hoping that he was asleep. A smiling Gerald greeted her.

“Kim?!” Gerald said as he raised himself to welcome her.

“How did you know it was me?” Kim said, astonished and frozen by the entryway, like a kid caught stealing from a cookie jar.

“I knew almost instantly that it was you,” he smiled at her, though his stare was blank. “I can smell you from here...”

“Smell...me?”

“Have you seen that movie ‘Scent of a Woman?” he asked. “It kinda works that way.”

“Yep, I saw the movie, a favourite of mine. You mean, you can smell girls apart like Pacino does?”

“Not as good as he can, maybe if I practice more I will be able to distinguish girls apart. You, however, smell different...” Gerald boasted.

“How do I smell? What is so characteristic about my smell?” Kim said as she moved in closer to his bedside, a
bit self-conscious.

“Fruity...” he answered “Very sweet....Let me guess, you’re wearing...Exclamation?! ”

“How did you know?” Kim was dumbfounded but otherwise intrigued. “It’s an old brand. My mom gave one to me when I was young. I usually keep a bottle of it.”

“I remembered from the last time, you were...err...close by,” he said thinking of the last time she was in his room. “My mom used to wear it too."

She looked around for a place to sit. Gerald instinctively pointed to a seat on a corner.

“Sit down, keep me company,” he offered.

Kim just stood there for a time, watching him in amazement. He somehow had this great grasp of things around him, which was uncanny for a blind person of a few days. She followed his lead and sat on the chair.

“How do you know... these things...how do you do it?” Kim asked absentmindedly.

“I never believed it at first until I was in the same position. They said that, sometimes when you lose one of your senses, your remaining senses are heightened, somehow making up for that missing sense organ. For me, the last few days, I have noticed that my sense of smell and my sense of hearing are a bit sharper than what they used to be,” Gerald recounted.

“All that in the last few days?” Kim enquired.

“Yeah in fact, being alone helps,” he admitted. “ Being here by yourself all day, makes you more... uhmm...aware of your surroundings.”

“I’ve been meaning to ask you that, how come nobody has visited you?”

“Aha! So you’ve been watching out for me!”

“I do not!” Kim protested, placing her arms on her waist.

“Please, don’t take it back, you just said it yourself,” he laughed sarcastically. “I’m blind, not deaf. Too bad, blindness also makes one’s mind think faster and sharper!”

“Okay then, why has nobody visited you, where’s your family?” she said, giving in, trying to somewhat deflect the subject back at him.

“Speaking of family, I wanted to ask you a favour...”

“Me, a favour?” said a bewildered Kim.

“I was just visiting my mom here in Manila. I was just coming in from Canada the morning of the accident. She doesn’t know yet that I’m in the Philippines. It was supposed to be a surprise. The reason why she hasn’t come in, is because I never even called her about what happened to me. I’ve been waiting for you to come back , so I could ask you to help me...” Gerald explained.

“Why me?” said Kim. “Why can’t you do it yourself?”

“She has this delicate heart condition...I don’t want her to worry too much.” Gerald pleaded.

“Isn’t it a little bit too late for that?” Kim said sardonically much to Gerald’s chagrin. “Okay, okay...what do you want me to do?”

“I want you to personally bring her here, please...”Gerald said. “It will be better if you fetch her. Then she won’t be too anxious to get here. If I called, it will worry her endlessly. Please... This is my address...”

Kim looked at the address on the paper Gerald handed her. It was a bit far from the Hospital. They were in Alabang currently, and his address was in Fairview.

“This is far...” she said. “I doubt if I can make it there today. Maybe tomorrow...”

“Don’t worry, take your time. It’s not as if anything more tragic than this is ever going to happen to me. I’m already blind, I have a broken rib, blasted knee caps...”

“You have an odd sense of humour, do you know that?” Kim said, shaking her head.

“They say most artists have that...odd humour,” said Gerald.

“You’re an artist?” Kim asked.

“I’m a painter...” Gerald said, smiling.

Kim, when he said that, was utterly shaken. IT was only now that she had processed how much this accident may have meant to him. Losing his eyesight must have been really devastating for him. She was so astounded at how he was currently handling the situation.

“How could you still smile at the time like this?” Kim could not resist the urge to ask. “You just lost your eyesight...”

“Yeah I did, but I did not lose my life. I’ve got to go on living somehow...”

“But, how...”Kim said, candidly.

“Day by day...hoping everyday that someday soon my eyesight will come back!”

“What if it won’t?” Kim challenged him. He really seemed too good to be true, she can’t resist the urge to push his button if she could.

“Then, I’ll just be one less miserable blind man in the world.”

“What about your paintings?” Kim asked, without thinking.

Upon saying this, she was in utter remorse with herself for even mentioning it.

“When you are a true painter, Kim, you live for the art,” he explained, facing her, as if he can see her. Kim was listening in, eyes wide in admiration.

He continued, “It should not be the other way around. If those were the last paintings I’d do, then so be it, I don’t really care. Artworks are mere expressions of one’s self. Once they’re done, you move on to the next one. You can’t just hang on to the glory of the previous artwork, a true artist moves on. I’m pretty sure I could find other ways to express myself, I have five other senses...”

“Four...”

“Five, if you count sense of humor...”

Kim had to laugh, he was so incredibly deadpan.

“See, I made you laugh?” he regaled. “Maybe, I could be a comedian, a blind comedian. You see Kim, I’m a man of many talents!”

“I must say, you are indeed one very fascinating blind man!” Kim admitted.

Gerald became quiet and introspective all of a sudden.

“Do you believe that love is blind?” Gerald said, out of nowhere.

“Hey, you’re fresh!” Kim said, laughing. “Corny...too!”

“You can’t blame a blind man for trying!” he smiled. “What else have I got to lose?”

Even if he was blind, he still is one of the most gorgeous men Kim has ever seen in her life. He was now clean shaven and this made his eyes glow brightly even more. His eyelids were crinkly on the sides when he smiles, they were so adorable. He has this really kind face, she noted, which has just surfaced underneath those dreadful facial hair he had before. His smile, alone, lights up the entire room.

“You have some nerve for a blind man,” Kim said.

“Do I? So, will you ever take fancy on a blind man?” said Gerald, still ever smiling.

“That’s an unfair proposition...if I turn you down, I’ll look mean to everyone.”

“That’s right, isn’t it” he said. “Call it, emotional blackmail then.”

Kim blushed, lucky for her, he won’t see it.

“Hey, would you want me to NOT look for your, mom?” she threatened in protest. She motioned to stand up from her seat. Perhaps sensing this, Gerald sat up and motioned her to sit back down.

“Okay, okay I’ll stop it,” he sniggered.

Their friendly banter went on.

Moments later Gerald turned serious, “Could you please come and get my mom for me. It will really mean so much to me if you would. You’re the only friend I have here. Also, please don’t tell my mom what happened to me a few days ago, I’ll tell her myself once she gets in.”

Kim nodded. She released a very nervous sigh of relief. She was nervous, not because she found his straightforwardness uncomfortable, but because why she herself was not bothered by it. She was so drawn to him and his sunny personality that she fears she is already romantically attracted to him. She barely knows him, yet she was so intrigued by him.

However, she also thought of his blindness. It wasn’t a hindrance for her per se, but what if he did not like what he sees when he eventually gains his eyesight back. It wasn’t even a question for Kim that he will ever get his eyesight back, she knew he eventually will. She wasn’t so unfortunate looking, but what if he did not like her. She had to chide herself from being so charmed by him....

“ A penny for your thoughts...”he said, sensing that she was drifting off in her thoughts.

“I was just thinking...”she said, racking her mind for a plausible excuse. “What if I wasn’t the Kim you saw in your dreams?”

“Then, I’ll just think of you as the Kim who saved me...”

Kim smiled, her eyes welling up with unexplainable tears. Here she was, a simple girl, who spends most of her time talking to a non-responsive mom, being regarded by this man, as one of the most important persons in his life, it overwhelmed her. For a moment, she forgot that he was blind. She turned around and looked away, trying to hide her tears in shame.

He sensed it.

“Kim...” Gerald muttered. “Did I say anything wrong?”

“No, its nothing...I think it’s time for me to go, you need the rest,” Kim replied.

“Kim, please don’t go yet. Keep me company, just for a little bit more.” Gerald pleaded.

“My dad is waiting for me at the other room...”Kim lied.

“Come visit me...often.” Gerald said in resignation, lying back on his bed.

“I will...” Kim curtly answered.

“Promise me...” He softly demanded.

She simply nodded as she went out of the door.