Road Trip Day 26
Location: a hospital in Nabunturan, Compostela Valley

Alex's POV:

I've been keeping a watch over Flonne...it's been three hours since she lost consciousness. I'm so worried right now...especially about how her brother fares right now...he has a bad gunshot over his back...

"...hnng..." Then I hear her moaning...as her hand starts to move, and starts to wake up. "...ugh...huh? Where am I?"

"We're in the hospital, Flonne." I simply replied.

"HOSPITAL?!?! WHE-WHERE'S JAKE?!?! WHERE IS HE?!" Quickly, she sat up...and her emotion started to build up. "I WANT TO KNOW! HOW IS HE?!?!"

"He's on the other room, Flonne...but he's..."

But before I finished my side...Flonne starts to sob...

"...sniff...sniff..why...sniff...why does this happening to me? I just wanted...sniff...to bring my family back together again...sniff...but...sniff...why...sniff...why does somebody needs to suffer?!"

I stood up and approach Flonne...I hugged her very tightly...to console her sorrow...

"HUHUHU!!! PLEASE TELL ME...sniff..PLEASE TELL ME THAT HE WILL SURVIVE THIS...sniff...PLEASE...sniff...I DON'T WANT TO HAPPEN THE SAME FATE AS MY DAD. HUHUHU!!!"

"Don't cry, Flonne...be brave." I encourage her to calm her down. "I believe that he will survive this...just...just hold on..."

Flonne keeps on crying and crying on my shoulders for a minute or two...I felt how deep her sadness is...she wanted to bring her family back...but it seems that fate doesn't want them to do so...

"Alice. Alex." Then a familiar voice was heard on the room...it was Danica, holding a long piece of paper.

"Oh...hey, Danica." Accompanying Flonne, I approach her. "What's the update? Does his condition serious?"

"Yes, Alex. In fact, he's in critical condition." Danica explains. "The bullet that he endures rips off some organs of his body...but almost hitting his heart. If a surgery cannot be done within the next 24 hours, his chance of surviving will be decrease significantly."

Danica then let me glance through the piece of paper that she holds: it is a medical bill for the surgery...which cost P500,000.00!

"Hmm...there's no other choice but to...use all the money that we saved in the food truck." I make the only suggestion that we can to help Jake.

"But...it's not enough." Danica sadly refutes. "Do you know how much money do we have? It's just a half of the cost of the surgery! I don't know how will gonna get the rest of it."

As Danica explains everything, I looked back at Flonne...her tears continues to flow from her eyes...and is close to sobbing again...

"Flonne...just don't lose hope...when I say he will gonna survive this...he WILL survive this...I'm sure...very sure...that a miracle will gonna happen to us...just hold on, Flonne...please."

Then I wiped her tears to prove that I'm true to what I've said. Without saying a word, Flonne faintly smiled...as I bring her to where her brother is right now.

Alice Flonne's POV:

Lexi and Danica accompanied me towards the intensive care unit...where I saw my brother Jake...he is bandaged around his chest...his mouth is entubed in a ventilator...while is attended by so many doctors...visibly felt pity on what has happened to him. As my friends leave me for awhile...and as I watch the drama unfold on my brother's ward...I thought to myself, how in the world will miracles will happen? I mean...where in the middle of nowhere...so far away from home...we don't have enough money...andwe're just four of us...I don't even know where Azmina is right now...sigh...huh?

"Alice! Alice!" I hear another familiar voice from afar...I looked up and saw...Kuya Kyle!!! And he's running towards me.

"Kyle?! KYLE!!! HUHUHU!!!" I quickly run towards him and hug him very tightly...and sobbing. "Kyle! This is bad! This is so bad! Kuya...sniff...Kuya is dying now! Huhuhu!!!"

"Yeah...I'm felt so sorry for him..." Kyle quickly replied. "I just learned his situation when somebody called me when we arrived here...we're supposed to have a vacation in Davao...anyway, I want to pay all the expenses that Jake needs."

"But...Kuya Kyle...the expenses...it's too much to bear for you...we need a half a million pesos to cover all his expenses."

"Oh...I thought it was a bit lower" He then showed me his part. "I just brought P50,000...this is only me and my girlfriend can bring to you..."

"I see...you could still pay it together with our money." I smiled a bit to encourage her. "We will just find some other means to pay the rest of it."

We then sit at the bench right next to the intensive care unit...the doctors have left Jake's ward...nothing's changed about his state...

"Oh...if you're in vacation, where's your girlfriend?" Out of curiosity, I asked my brother Kyle.

"Oh, she's with Alex and Danica right now...though I don't onow what they are talking about." Kyle then puts out something...a small envelope, to be exact...from his pocket. "By the way, Alice. I need you to listen to me...I got something that you need to know."

"Hmm? Okay...I'm listening."

"Here..." Kyle then hands over the envelope to me. "Mom always wanted you to read her message for a long time..."

A letter from my mother...perhaps before she got insane...I need to open it! Perhaps...this would answer all of my questions that bothered me during this entire road trip...did I do something wrong that led to this?! Did I already pursued my passion in cooking...or do I need to stop...

Dear Alice,

Congratulations for reading this, sweetie! One of your brothers have keep this letter for a long time...and finally given to you because...you are now ready for the next chapter of your life.

I wrote this letter to you because I have something I wanted to say this to you...

Do you remember those times that I teach you how to cook? Yeah...those were the good times together. I'm always proud that you've excelled greatly on the talent that I gave you...but...it's not just about a skill.

I taught my cooking skills to you because...you are now brave enough to carry the responsibilities of holding this family together. Ever since your dad died, I grew weak by the day...and I thought to myself...one day, I will lost my taste on cooking...the only one why your father fell in love with me...and makes this family the happiest that I could see...and so...I trusted you...to do it.

It will be hard for you to bring and keep this family together once something bad happens to me...Jake is very strong but fights like a rebel, fighting just for himself...and Kyle is the exact opposite, he's a bit shy but playful. I saw once how they fight over random things and I managed to make them up...but once I'm no longer here...they will fall apart...and only you can save them through your cooking...I remember the last time that I make them up through a delicious food...the one that I first taught you to cook. Remember, when your brothers fight again, just make them that secret recipe and they will come back to their senses in no time.

I see a bright future ahead of you and your cooking...you will meet friends...and some enemies in between...making people smile, just like I make all of you smile in my cooking, and perhaps you will learn a lot of lessons from it. Sweetie, don't let your problems keep you down...prove to me that all of my teachings for you has paid off. I want you...even before I die, to keep our family together. Stay strong...be faithful...pursue your passion...believe in miracles. I know that you have shortcomings but...if you believe in miracles, I'm pretty sure that you're heading to the right track...for all the people that you make them smile, they will pay you back something special...just believe to yourself.

Well, that's all I could say to you. I'm entrusting our family to you, Alice. You're free to add your friends, by the way. Hehehe! I'll be in touch, sweetie. Good luck.

Your beloved teacher,
Mom.

As I read my mom's letter, I am started to feel enlightened. I believe that Mom has foretells on her letter about everything on mind right now. Right, I promised that I will find my family and bring them back together! Mom has already entrust Kyle and Jake to me...and I will do whatever it takes to keep them together! But...but...how should I start? I don't have enough money...enough ingredients...to make that dish that Mom is telling me! Ugh! Why life's been so cruel to me!

"Alice! Alice!" Then, from out of nowhere, Danica came running towards me...holding another long piece of paper...and she's smiling. "Alice! I have some great news for you!"

"Huh?! What is it, Danica? Why are you smiling?"

"Well...you see...somebody has already paid all of the expenses for your brother's surgery!"

"WHAAAT?!?! RE-REALLY?!?!" Kyle and I shouts with joy when we heard the news.

"Well, why don't you look the slip for yourself?"

Danica let's us glance through four payment slips that Danica brought...

Emergency Operation: P500,000 (PAID)
Paid by:

1. Muhammad Diamla - P150,000
2. Frederico Palompon - P150,000
3. James Carlos Villanueva - P100,000
4. Christian Carlos Gutierrez, PhD. - P100,000

These people...these are the ones that I've helped before! They're so kind...so kind to me...

"Bu-but...how did you do this?"

"We did...Flonne."

I looked back and saw Lexi and Claire, holding their cellphones and smiling at me...

"Hehehe! Do you forget, Alice? I have all the numbers of the significant customers that we had!" Claire simply explains. "And well...ehehehe...I dragged your boyfriend to help me to call some of them. Sorry that we just lost our cellphone loads."

Hearing all of this...all of what. They have done to me, tears fell from my eyes...but they're not just ordinary tears...they are tears of joy...tears of gratitude. Lexi and Kyle approached me...and wipes it once more...

"No more crying, Flonne." Lexi smiled at me. "Be strong, believe in miracles...just like your mom has said to you..."

I have nothing else to say...but hug him as hard as I can...I finally believe in miracles...and my friends...Lexi...and my mom...has helped me to believe with it...

"Umm...Flonne...you're hugging me too tight!"

"Huehehe!!!"