It was December 15, 2008. Ten days before Christmas.

Regine Angeles was very much frantic about the last alarm call. Coming from Kim’s room, she had to rush out to respond to the Code Blue call. She could almost feel her adrenal glands working overtime. Truth is, she was very worried. She was afraid that her beloved patient, a jolly grandmother in room 55S, had another again.

However, as she turned the corner, she saw a group of nursing aides wheeling out a gurney from Room 55R. She thanked God that it wasn’t her. The nurses and physicians were performing CPR on a patient as he is being rushed out of the private room and into the ICU. She was almost relieved. Poor patient though, whoever he was.

It had been a very busy day for Regine. She thought of the number of times she had been in and out of the nursing station. She was dead tired and annoyed. Her feet felt like lead and she almost have to drag them with each step.

She slowly trudged her way back to "hell", or in her case, the nursing station. As she made her way down the hall, she saw that the nursing post had nobody on it. She breathed out a sigh of relief. She really needed a breather. She could almost imagine herself lounging on the comfy swivel chairs.

Now, if only she could manage to dodge herself from their hideous supervisor, Nurse Espiritu. The terror of a head nurse was the most dreaded supervisor in the whole hospital. She was so brutal and mean-looking that there was even a local urban legend circulating that a patient had once died of a heart attack just by looking at her.

Regine could not help but believe in such tall tales. To Regine, if looks could kill, Nurse Espiritu would have committed genocide by now. However, being too tired made Regine rather apathetic. At this stage, she would not even give a damn if the “beast almighty” would breathe down her neck and smite her with her iron fists.

As she walked further, Regine saw that nobody seemed to be manning the nurse’s station. It looks like that she would have her time to rest. She checked her watch and it was already time for their usual late afternoon break. She cheerily made her way inside the station.

To her surprise, Ms. Espiritu was waiting for her. To be more accurate, she wasn’t really waiting for her... Regine actually caught her playing solitaire on the computer.

The embarrassed warthog, almost fell off the seat seeing Regine. She immediately composed herself and discreetly turned off the computer.

“Oh, Ms. Espiritu! Sorry, I didn’t know you were here!” said the surprised young nurse, holding firmly at the wall for support. Regine was bracing herself for the Armageddon the slighted supervisor was about to unleash.

“Where have you been?!” bellowed Ms. Espiritu.

“Uhhm, I came from room 55D, checking up on Mrs. Lim...”

“And it took you 40 minutes?!” Ms. Espiritu roared.

“Well, I stopped by Room 55S on the way back to check on Lola Sita’s vitals too...” lied Regine. Truth was, she was hanging out with Kim Lim all along.

“You know Ms. Angeles, the people I hate the most are slackers!” reiterated Ms. Espiritu, her nose literally emitting smoke.

“Wow! Talk about hating your own kind!” Regine thought in her mind.

“Ms. Angeles, you stay here on the station. I’ll go check the canteen and see when the others are coming back. They’ve gone out for too long,” ordered the hefty nurse.

Ms. Espiritu then left the station in a hurry, leaving Regine much relieved. She thought she was toast. It’s a good thing, Ms. Espiritu was in her better moods.

Regine immediately sat on one of the orthopaedic swivel chairs by the front desk. He whole body felt instantly rejuvenated at the momentary reprieve from work. But, as she perused the day’s patient charts, Regine almost cried at the amount of paper work that needed to be accomplished.

This week has really been one for the record books as the most disastrous week ever for Regine. She busied herself thinking of the days that lead to this one. Five days ago they had a meningococcemia scare. Two days later, they had a gruesome stabbing victim. Yesterday, they had MacDreamy on a car crash. Even though she works at the hospital full time, and by now she would have been used to these types of emergencies, Regine still thought that this week had been such an emotional upheaval for her.

Little did she notice a small toy car snaking its way on the front counter. She almost yelped at the sight of a car almost moving on its own. She slowly peered over the counter, only to find a small boy of about four, reaching over the desk. He smiled at her with his four front teeth and his bright brown eyes.

“Hello! What’s your name?” greeted Regine.

“Thomas,” said the boy. He made his way over to the side of the counter where the doorway was.

“Nice to meet you Thomas! What are you doing here?” asked Regine

The little boy ignored her, instead he stepped into the room, curious as to what she was working on.

“Wow, is this your office?” he said innocently, his eyes widening considerably at the sight of the whirring devices and various computers.

“Yes, you can say this is my office,” answered Regine.

“Are you a nurse?” he asked softly.

“Yes, I am!” Regine answered curtly, smiling back at him. She pointed at her nurse’s cap.

“You must really like saving people, huh?” Thomas queried.

Regine nodded.

This young boy had this most adorable sense of well-being Regine has ever seen in a child. He talked clearly without tripping over his words. He seemed confident, yet at the same time cautious. Regine’s heart almost fell to the floor at how cute this little boy was. From the look of his eyes, she can tell he was very intelligent for his age. He had this kind face that can melt anybody’s heart.

He was dressed smartly in a white shirt and khaki pants. One can tell right away that his family was definitely not financially deprived.

“Where are your mom and dad?” Regine asked.

“My dad is downstairs getting his happy pills,” he said once more in this most adoring little voice.

“Oh, don’t you think your dad will worry that you’re here?” Regine enquired.

“No...he’ll find me...he always finds me...” He said guiltlessly, moving closing to her.

“Don’t you think we should let your dad know where you are?” suggested Regine.

“He takes so long in the doctor’s office. My new yaya is no fun...” he said in a non-committed manner, looking on the other humming computers with utter glee.

“What if they are out looking for you?”

He just shrugged his shoulders. He took out his toy car and showed it to her.

“This is my favorite car. His name is Max,” he beamed at her. He then handed her his model car.

“Nice car, do you like cars?” said Regine, looking at the well-played toy.

“Yes, I do. I collect them. My dad buys me one every month. He said by the time I’m 20, I’ll have more than 200 of them. Can you imagine 200 cars?!!”

“I guess if you get one every month, that will be 240 altogether when you’re 20! How many do you have now?”

“Uhhmmm...about fifty?”

“I guess you must be four now, huh.”

Thomas nodded, “Four years and six months! Dad said I should have about 54 by now, but I gave away some of them.”

“Thomas, you’re so bright. You don’t seem like four years old to me. You speak like a seven-year-old.”

“Thank you...” Thomas replied.

Regine observed that despite his precocious nature, he was very respectful. This boy’s upbringing was excellent! His manners alone could easily shame brutes three times his age. Even at that young age, his idea of giving thanks to a compliment amazed Regine. It really made her think of the way the parents brought him up. They must be really good and caring to him. She can almost tell they were awesome parents.

Regine thoughts were cut off by a thundering voice coming from down the hall.

“Thomas!” a loud booming voice echoed in the halls.

“It’s my dad!” Thomas said with glee. He snatched the toy from her hands and ran towards the hall. Regine ran after him.

The dad Regine was hoping to see was way younger than she expected. He was no more than 22 or 23, she guessed. He had the same kind face, but their eyes were different. The dad’s eyes were more deep set and sallow. He had a more troubled look about him. Yet, he was very, very attractive.

“Thomas, how many do I have to tell you never to run away from your yaya,” said the man firmly, kneeling down to the boy’s level.

“Sorry, dad, you were gone too long. I came up here to meet a friend.”

“A friend?” asked the father.

The boy turned around and pointed at Regine. The young father looked up at her accusingly. Regine felt instantly ill at ease.

“Uhmm...he wasn’t gone too long, was he? He came up to the station a few minutes ago, we talked only very briefly... that was just before you showed up,” explained Regine.

“Nurse, you should know better to page the parents of a missing child, shouldn’t you?” reprimanded the man.

“I guess I should have....” Regine admitted, feeling so ashamed of herself.

The father turned his attention back to his little boy.

“Tommy, you almost gave daddy a heart attack,” the young father said. “Don’t ever do it again, understand?”

The young boy nodded, his eyes almost tearing up, now realizing the gravity of his actions. He then hugged his father, and then all seemed forgiven.

Regine, meanwhile, observed them happily on the side. It was very heart-warming to witness such a tender moment between the two of them. Their love for one another was very strong, just witnessing it, made Regine’s heart ache.

“So, you’re really his daddy?” Regine voiced out her curiosity before she could hold it back. The moment those words came out, she almost regretted it.

“Miss, I know what you’re thinking. I had him when I was eighteen, okay?!” he said with more than a tad of irritation in his voice.

Regine was very much dismayed. The older man was the exact opposite of his child. As cheerful as his son was, this guy was too acerbic and despondent. He was indeed very good-looking, but he was just too caustic for Regine’s taste. “Sayang” was the only word that came to her mind.

The man picked up his little boy and he turned away from her without even a by-word. Regine sighed and walked back to the other direction. She was thinking to herself, “He didn’t even say thank you, rude man!”

As she walked away, she heard little footsteps coming up behind her. She turned around and the little boy came rushing at her with a big smile on his face.

“I want you to have my car!” Thomas announced.

“Oh no, I can’t...he’s your favourite!” said Regine, kneeling down to face his little angelic face.

“Don’t worry my dad will buy me another one today,” he remarked.

“Thank you...” Regine said gratefully. “Do I get a kiss?”

The little boy nodded as she gave him a quick peck to the head.

“Don’t worry he’s not angry at you,” said little Thomas, looking back at his dad. He was waiting impatiently for him by the elevator doors. “He’s just like that sometimes. But...he’s really cool if you get to know him...!”

“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind,” said Regine.

“Bye, now! My dad and I will watch a movie today.”

“Great!” exclaimed Regine. “I love movies! But, you better go...or else you’ll miss it!”

“Okay, see ya!” Thomas replied, as he ran back to his dad. But before he got to him, Thomas shot back at Regine, “By the way, my dad’s name is Gerald...Gerald Garcia!”

Thomas ran back to his father as fast his little legs could carry him. Regine could see from far away how the older man shook his head from his little boy’s antics. He shuffled Thomas’ hair as they disappeared into the elevators. Regine thought of how smart and endearing Thomas was. If only that Gerald guy took a little piece of his son’s disposition, then he would have been perfect too. She just couldn’t get him out of her mind. The boy’s father, that is. She had to cast the thought aside as her cell phone rang.

It was her boyfriend David texting her. Just as she was about to text him back, she heard a big loud growl behind her.

“Aha! Ms. Angeles, how many times did I have to tell you, texting is not allowed during shifts!!!”

The nagging voice belonged to no other than Nurse Espiritu. Regine’s spirits instantly plummeted as her day turned for the worst. She clutched Thomas’ toy car and placed it in her pocket. She’ll use it as a keepsake to drive away all the negativity she has been experiencing lately, and rightfully so, just by thought alone, it made her optimistic already.
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Sorry guys, bibitinin ko muna kayo ng konti. Preview lang to (naks, parang movie ah...he he he).

This is a Kimerald FF. Kim will be in the succeeding chapters, promise. Minor character lang si Regine dito(Buti nang klaro! Baka kasi giyerahin nyo ko).

This story is the total opposite ng Happy Pie! Para maiba naman. Basta, I know you'll enjoy it.

I'll try to get Chap 1 in, but as promised, not until I finish SIREN.

Thanks again for reading (especially to my avid readers binggirl, mari and sosci)!!! See you guys soon.