The Heartbreak Factor - Part Three

Chapter Thirty.

“Do you ever get that feeling where you know something is going to happen but you just don’t know what it is that is going to happen?” I asked George as we laid on the bed, side by side.

“Yeah.”

“I’ve got that right now,” I smiled to him.

“Nothing’s gonna happen though,” he grinned to me.

As I nodded, my phone on the bedside table rang. “You were saying?” I laughed.

Answering the phone, George stuck his tongue out at me. “Hello,” I smiled, extending the ‘o’.

“Sammy, it's mum.”

“Why aren’t you ringing off your phone?” I asked, sitting up properly to talk to her as George ran his finger down my spine.

“You need to come home now,” she said, sounding worried.

“Mum,” I asked, getting concerned. “What’s happened? Is everything okay?”

“Granddad’s in hospital.”

My heart sunk. “Wh-wh-what? Is he okay?”

“We don’t know, but please come home,” she said, getting emotional.

“I’ll come home. Tell him to hang in there.”

Before I even had chance to hang up, I had already began to put some stuff in a bag. It wasn't even stuff that I'd need to take back home like clothes and such - it was stuff like a blanket and the television remote. I wasn't focusing on what was entering my hand and putting into the bag. I just needed to get back to York.

“What’s happened?” George asked me, sitting up in bed as I rushed around the room, piling a few things into my bag.

“My granddad’s in hospital,” I said, faking a half-hearted smile.

George’s jaw dropped. I could see in his eyes that he was trying to find something to say to me that would make me feel remotely better about the situation. But we both knew nothing could make this situation any better. Granddad had been in and out of hospital for the past few months with various ailments but mum had never requested me to go back home. It must have been bad. He looked up at me before getting up off the bed and walking over to me. Wrapping his arms around my shoulders, he hugged me tightly. “I’m coming with you,” he whispered.

*

The drive back to York seemed to go on forever. But it wasn't long before we were barging our way through the doors of the hospital into the waiting room where I saw mum and Kate sat on the chairs at the back of the room, looking devastated. “Sammy,” mum smiled to me as she got up off the chair and hugged me.

“Mum,” I said, trying to put a brave face on for her. “What’s going on? Is he okay?”

Mum looked at me and then at George. “I’m so glad you came,” she smiled, hugging us both but ignoring my questions.

“Mum,” I said sternly.

“The doctors have told us to prepare for the worst,” mum said, looking like she was about to break into tears at any moment.

“I’d better go see him.”

As I turned to walk out of the waiting room, George grabbed hold of my hand. “Do you want me to come with you or should I stay here?”

“It’s okay,” I smiled. “I just want some time alone with my granddad.”

He nodded and gave me a reassuring smile.