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14. INT. MAKATI MEDICAL CENTER – CHAPEL – A SHORT TIME LATER

Lilith sits in the silence, still, beatific, feeling-- as she always does when there is no one to see, no one to expect-- nothing, a blank void she does not even acknowledge as a lack.

She had come here because Ruben had said they should pray for Luis’ health, and they had (come here) and she had (prayed). Though, in the praying, the miming, subtle counterfeit of Ruben’s genuine and fervent plea, Lilith had wondered if she was doing it correctly, this “praying,” and if the tortured man on the cross could indeed hear her.

So, when Ruben said he was hungry and was going to get some take-out from Burger Machine, Lilith professed a desire to stay in the chapel, to continue praying for Luis’ recovery. Ruben rolled his eyes, looked naughtily thrilled, then hurried off, with a promise of a swift return.

And the instant Ruben was gone, that urge to pray for Luis, that sense of deep caring for his welfare, was gone as well, leaving nothing in its stead.

So, when MARCIA TUASON enters the chapel, she can be forgiven if she initially mistakes Lilith for a statue.

Lilith turns her head at the sound of the opening door, and Marcia starts, her hand flying to her chest.

“Oh!”

Lilith smiles at the old woman in the white hospital gown. “Sorry, po.”

Marcia looks slightly embarrassed. “That’s all right,” she says, walking slowly towards Lilith, who stands and hurries to help her. Taking the woman’s arm, startled at the thinness of it, Lilith leads her to the nearest pew.

Taking a seat, Marcia exhales, pats Lilith’s hand. “Salamat.” Then, she regards Lilith with the look.

“I know you.”

Lilith blushes. “Artista po ako.”

Marcia’s eyes widen. “From Habagat! Ay, pinapanood ng mga apo ko ‘yan. And the Habagat komiks, notebooks, T-shirts. Lahat, pinapabili sa anak ko.”

Marcia studies Lilith with an admiring eye. “Maganda ka, alam mo?”

“Thank you, ho.”

“And Luis… ang guwapo-guwapo! Bagay kayong dalawa.”

Lilith blushes deeply, and is all but squirming in her seat, when Marcia suddenly says, “Ay! I’m Marcia Tuason pala. It’s so nice to meet you, Lilith.”

“Wow. Naalala mo yung pangalan ko,” Lilith says in wonder.

“And why shouldn’t I?”

Lilith smiles sheepishly. “Minsan kasi, ho, since baguhan pa lang ako, yung sinisigaw ng mga fans yung pangalan ng character ko, si Lillian.”

“May sakit nga ako, dear, “ Marcia says, smiling sadly, “pero hindi pa naman ako ganoon ka uli-anin.”

“Aah… ano ho…”

Marcia looks at Lilith, as her voice trails off.

And the woman’s smile grows sadder still.

“Cancer.”

Lilith’s hands fly to her open mouth, as if to stop some sound too agonizing to hear from escaping her lips.

Marcia looks towards the cross, her eyes wet. “I came here to pray, for God to give me the courage.”

Lilith stands, slowly. “I should leave you na lang, ho.”

The old woman nods, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Thank you.”

Lilith has already taken a step away, then, thinking better of it, returns to Marcia’s side, and gently kisses the top of the old woman’s head, her nose filling with the scent of shampoo and baby powder (there is something else beneath that smell, something rank, and old, but Lilith ignores it).

Only then does Lilith leave, walking away, towards the door, without once looking back.

15. INT. MAKATI MEDICAL CENTER – HALLWAY – CONTINUOUS

Softly shutting the door behind her, Lilith is mildly surprised to find herself in the muted bustle of a hospital corridor, having just come from the hushed solace of the chapel.

For a strange instant, a brief sliver of time detached and isolated from all the moments to either side of it, Lilith goes unnoticed by the nurses, patients, doctors, and visitors in the hall, unseen by the dozens of pairs of eyes focused on other things demanding their attention.

For that instant, Lilith is an animal speared by oncoming headlights, frozen, mindful of the approaching threat barreling towards her: of being hollow in a place so filled with other, vibrant lives.

Then, a nurse spots her, whispers to her fellow nurse, and those eyes begin to track towards her, and she feels herself fill with some sense of purpose. She smiles at the nurses, who giggle and whisper.

Lilith readies herself for trivial pleasantries, perhaps an autograph or five, when, like a hot knife sashaying through butter, Ruben speedwalks down the hall towards her, plastic Burger Machine bag swinging crazily from one hand.

“Ay, mother, dali, hinihintay na tayo ni Kuya Sis sa Shang. We must fly away, skyline pigeon fly, towards the dreams we left so very far behind.” He grabs Lilith by the wrist. “Or else,” he says portentously, “dedbol tayo.”

And as Lilith allows herself to be whisked off by the insanely frenetic demands of her life, she looks back, once, to the chapel doors.

16. INT. MAKATI MEDICAL CENTER – CHAPEL – CONTINUOUS

Within, in the silence, the tortured man on the cross looks down impassively at Marcia Tuason, slumped in her pew, as if asleep, her corpse already beginning to grow cold.

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