Chapter 1

Dr.Pojas, Dr Pojas!"

The young doctor who was casually making his daily rounds turned to face the head nurse of the oncology ward.

"Yes?"
"Sir, your secretary has been calling you for an hour already.She said you have a visitor in your office."

He fished out his pager and his cell phone from the pockets of his coat."Shoot!Low-batt!I forgot to charge again"

He mentally slapped his forehead, reprimanding himself for being absentminded again.
BLame it on being workaholic, when he steps in the hospital, making his rounds, checking on his patients at his clinic and handling the freshman
and sophomore health science classes, he would tend to forget about other things.

He paced in the direction where his medical office was.
He walked the glass filled hallway, and entered the brightly lit reception area of his clinic.
"Poy!"she called to the secretary slash head nurse of the Pojas Medical Center.
Poy Palma, his fellow castmate and one time singing partner, opened the door to his office and made a gesture that his visitor was inside.

"She's inside!" she softly said.
"She?"
"Yeah!She!"
"I thought it was?"
Poy shook her head."Gretchen made an error, it was Mrs Nichols, not Mr Nichols!"
Van rolled his eyes in disbelief at another error that the intern had made.
"Look on the bright side, it was just the name that she made an error on."Poy chuckled.
Van smirked."You want to join us inside?"
"Nah, you go ahead, i know she wants to talk to you."
"You know why?".
He had a hunch why Cris was there, he just didnt want to be right.
"Van, you've distanced yourself from those two for so long, why dont you just go in and see her."
"Poy, didnt i tell you already why?"he said softly
"Yes, you did and i'll keep saying what i told you after you relayed the story.Remember?
Van held the door knob and let out a big sigh.
Poy squeezed his hand and whispered goodluck then went back to her tasks.


"Here goes nothing". he mumbled as he opened the door and saw Cristina Nichols standing in front of his window.


She was still the same beautiful woman that he met in the Academy
The same woman that he had learned to love, the person that he couldnt have because he had to give way for his bestfriend. The reason why he chose to distance himself from them and follow his mom's wishes.

He cleared his throat.
Cristina turned to face him and she flashed a big smile once she saw Van.
"Bro!!!" she greeted!!!
"Cris!" he greeted in his attempt to stay professional and to avoid being emotional.
"Dont go all Dr, Pojas on me, Van Louelle, im not here for a check up, im checking up on you."
As if raising the white flag, Van surrendered to the clutches of being emotional.
"Alright" Van said as he walked back to the door. "Lets do it again!"
Cris laughed at the thought of a reenactment. "Come on, you dont have to!Just give me a hug, kid!"
Van wanted to protest, he hated it when Cris called him kid, but its been so long since he heard it from her that he just didnt care anymore and just wrapped Cris in a tight hug.

As he was about to disengage himself from the embrace, he felt Cris' body turn stiff.Cris' eyes looked troubled and then closed her eyes. In a second, he was carrying Cris' limp body to the couch and shouting for Poy to call the emergency room staff.