Alone In The Big Leagues

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

      "Are you sure you have to go?" I ask, wiping away a tear.Grandma nods her head. "Yes, child. I must go now." She takes my hand and kisses it softly. "Tell your father to get you something nice for me." I nod my head and slip my hand out of hers. I start to head for the door when Grandmother stops me. "Wait, I almost forgot." I walk back over and watch as she digs into her hospital gown only to pull something gold out of her pocket. She takes my hand and turns my palm up. Carefully, she drops the object into my hand and curls my fingers around it. 

        She takes a ragged breath and whispers softly. "Take good care of it." I nod my head and gently put the object into my pocket, careful not to look at what it is just yet. I look back up only to meet my grandmother's still eyes. Her smile is faint but there. Her fingers are curled as if she is still holding the object she gave to me.

       Grandma?" I ask, my voice coming out shaky. "Grandma? Are you doing okay?" Silence. As a six year old, you would panic at the fact that your grandmother looked like one of your dolls with the glassy looking eyes. Hair soft and recently brushed, no movement or response. I pat her hand softly trying to wake her from her doll like figure. Again, nothing. I huff and run out of the room and right to my father's lap. "Father! Father! Something is wrong with Grandma!"

       His eyes widen and he picks me up off of his lap and sets me down on the floor. He runs to Grandma's room. I stand there for a minute, prossesing what just happened before running after him. I stop just before going into the room to catch my breath. I peer inside, my long brown hair that was tucked behind my ears falls from them to frame my face. Father sits on the chair he pulled up, holding Grandma's hand. Tears stream down his face and his lips are moving but no sound comes from them. I slowly creep inside and stop at my father's side, waiting for him to speak. Nothing happens for a good five minutes. No one talks. No one even moves

      "Stay here with Grandma while I go get the doctor. Okay, Jewel?" Father pats my head and leaves the room.

       I slowly step forward and sit in the chair that my father had pulled up. "Grandma?" I ask again just like before. Her eyes are now closed but everything else is the same. I open her curled fingers and lace my little fingers with hers and wait for my father to come back. "Grandma? Can you tell me the horse story again?" I look at her with wide eyes. She always loved to tell me that story and would never pass up telling me it again and again. She doesn't move. "Come on, Grandma. I want to hear the horse story." By this point I was getting really scared. I convince myself that it's all going to be okay cause my father is getting the doctor.

      "Jewel." I look up from looking at Grandma's face to see my father standing in the doorway. "It's time to go." I look at Grandma again and see the doctor walking around and checking on Grandma. I pat her hand. "I'll be back later, okay?" I let go and walk over to my father, who just stares at Grandma. "Come, Jewel." He grabbed my shoulder and leads me out of the hospital and to our car. We never went back. I kept wondering when I was going to see Grandma again, but I never did. Three weeks later I was dressed in black and went to stand around a box.

        I didn't understand. I looked up at my mother. "Why is Grandma in the box?" I asked her.

      She looked at me with anger in her eyes. "Hush child! Be quiet, and don't play dumb!" I looked back at the box, watching as they started to lower it into the ground. After that day, I never saw my Grandmother again, the one nice person that I had had in my life.