Athena’s P.O.V.
Shit! Pumailalim na ‘yong katawan niya sa tubig, anong gagawin ko? I didn’t see any bubbles as well, which added to my anxiety that he could no longer be breathing.
Without any second thoughts ay tumalon ako sa pool, lumangoy nang kaunti at dali-daling inahon ‘yong katawan ni Cristoff mula sa tubig. Damn! He’s heavy!
I gently laid his body on the marble side of our swimming pool—careful enough not to hit his head. “Cristoff, are you okay?” I asked but he was not opening his eyes. I was gently tapping his face but still, no response came from him.
It was a good thing that I was a trained medic and I knew how to do *CPR. Hay, bahala na!
First, check for ABC—airway, breathing and circulation. So I looked at his nose and opened his mouth. So far, he looked okay. He had no airway obstruction but I was not sure if his breathing was still normal. Maybe because of fear that I couldn’t locate his pulse… so that’s when I decided to perform CPR.
I was on my third cycle nang pagbibigay ng hangin sa kanya pero wala pa rin siyang response, so I pumped his chest again and from there, started the fourth cycle. When I removed my lips from him after I gave a blow, I saw his stare na talaga namang nakakaloko. Kinakagat-kagat pa niya ‘yong ibabang labi niya which really freaked me out!
Damn him! He just tricked me! He tricked me from the very start!
“How dare you?” I growled as I pushed him back to the pool.
That was when I remembered that he was one of the best swimming athletes in school. I haven’t watched any swimming competition in St. Augustine’s Academy yet, I had only seen his face on some posters.
Napahawak tuloy ako sa ulo ko. Hindi na sakit dala ng trangkaso ‘yong nararamdaman ko ngayon kung hindi sakit na ng katangahan. The thought of him being drowned still lingered in my mind. Ni hindi ko nga alam kung anong gagawin ko kanina. I worried so much about him, then… I would have found out later that he was only acting and pretending?
Shit! Ang tanga mo, Athena! Masyado kang nataranta! How did you let yourself be fooled by someone like him?
This time, tumatawa na siya habang lumalangoy sa pool. He was even doing different kinds of strokes such as butterfly, front crawl and backstrokes just to catch my attention. I must say that whatever he does involve rhythmic and coordinated movements of all his major body parts.
Damn you, Cristoff! Enjoy that happiness… because I won’t let this day pass without getting even!
“Helena, sorry na! Malay ko ba na sa katarantahan mo eh nakalimutan mong swimmer pala ako? Halos lahat ng swimming posters sa school ay may mukha ko!” Binigyan niya ako ng ngiting nakakaloko. Nagso-sorry nga siya, but at the same time… nang-aasar naman!
I stomped off my feet dahil bwisit na bwisit ako sa kanya. “Wala akong pakialam kung swimmer ka! Pero bakit kailangan mong magpanggap na hindi ka marunong lumangoy? Bakit kailangan mong umarte na nalulunod ka na? Malamang, sasagipin kita. Nandito ka sa pamamahay namin and we will be the one in charge of anything that will happen to you! Alam mo namang may trangkaso ako, but what did you do? You made me jump to the pool!” malat na sigaw ko.
“Hindi ko naman sinabing tumalon ka tsaka malay ko ba na ayaw mo pala akong mamatay? Pero kung ikaw naman ang palaging magsi-CPR sa akin eh parang gusto ko na lang din magpakalunod nang paulit-ulit.” Alam kong namula ang mga pisngi ko nang dahil sa sinabi niya pero hindi ko siya pinansin. Nanlalamig ko na lang na piniga ‘yong basa kong damit.
After a few minutes, he climbed at the side of the pool. He took off his uniform as well as his inner T-shirt. I could now see that he was half naked as droplets of water continued dripping all over his body and I just couldn’t take my eyes off him. I must admit, my focus to wring my wet clothes suddenly left me.
In fairness for a sixteen-year old guy—he was already having firm muscles and six-pack abs. Though his body was not yet fully enhanced, I must admit that he was quite a head turner and once you saw him, you wouldn’t even believe that he was only sixteen. And when he jerked his head to brush his hair up, it felt like everything abruptly moved in slow motion until…
“Enjoying the view?” he asked that suddenly made me aware of what was going on. I then blinked for a few times.
Shit! Did I just drool on him? No. He’s my rival and I hated him most of the time!
“You wish! Enjoy the pool, you have to clean that later. I’ll go ahead because I need to dry myself. If my fever gets worst, it is all your fault! Hmp!” Pumasok na ako sa loob ng mansion at umakyat sa kuwarto ko. I needed to escape my flushing cheeks from him as fast as I could. Mahirap na, baka lalo pang lumaki ang ulo niya!
Pagkapasok ko sa kuwarto, I didn’t know why but I suddenly smiled reminiscing all the things that happened today. I even placed my fingers on my lips while feeling the incredible sound of my heartbeats. The sensation was tingling and I just couldn’t get away with it.
It feels good. Of course, not the kiss. Actually, it wasn’t even a kiss. It was only CPR. What I mean is, it feels good to be with him!
Wait, what did I say? What is wrong with me? I poked my forehead.
I held my chest as I was feeling something inside me that I couldn’t totally explain. Racing pulses made me light-headed that I couldn’t think straight anymore. It was as if my mind was floating around while my heart was beating so fast. This feeling was so foreign to me, and I guessed I didn’t know how to deal with this one.
Am I falling in love?
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CardioPulmonary Resuscitation or CPR* is an emergency procedure that combines chest compressions often with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person who is in cardiac arrest.