"ONE MORE," I SAID, HOLDING the spoon up to the man before me. He smiled before opening his mouth, taking in the spoonful of peas. I returned the smile as he chewed and sat his spoon down on the empty plate. I was proud of him. It had been a while since he had eaten everything on his plate. The nurses here were not nice to my grandfather like I was and whenever I came to visit, I insisted on feeding him myself. He always ate everything on his plate when I fed him. Because he was paralyzed from the neck down, he was unable to feed himself or do anything for himself. I wanted him to know I was there for him no matter what. Drool had managed to escape the corners of his mouth as he chewed and I grabbed a napkin to clean him up. He swallowed and I held his glass of apple juice to his mouth. He took a couple sips and when his mouth closed, I knew he had had enough. I wiped his mouth once more even though there was not anything there.
"You're looking more and more like your mother every time I see you," he said, his blue eyes shining as he looked at my facial features.
I shook my head, "I'd like to thank you for giving us our ravishing good looks." He laughed and then started to cough. I immediately stood up and looked around the room. "Have you had your medicine for the day? I swear, those nurses barely do anything around here and we're paying them a good amount of money—"
"I've had my medicine," he reassured me. "Sit down, will you? Talk to me."
"Every pill?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Maybe Carla forgot to give you all of them. You know how forgetful she can be."
"Jillian," he frowned. "You worry too much. Your old man is fine."
I sighed before sitting back down and I took his hands in mine. They were extremely soft and it pained me that he was unable to feel me holding him this way. He looked uncomfortable in his wheelchair but it was okay. I had been saving up my money to buy him a new one. I wanted him to be comfortable. Everyone deserved to be comfortable, even if they had done the dirtiest amount of things. I ran my thumb along my grandfather's hand and exhaled slowly.
"Tell me," he said. "How are you?"
"Oh, you asked me this when I first arrived. I'm fine."
"You look like something's troubling you, sweetheart."
"No," I quickly shook my head. "Nothing's wrong."
"This doesn't have anything to do with that boy?"
My blue eyes met his matching ones, "H-Harry? No, this doesn't have anything to do with him. We're doing perfectly fine. In fact, we're having dinner together tonight."
It was a lie and I had never sounded more convincing.
I had no idea where Harry was. I called him and sent him multiple texts. He never returned any of the calls and I just assumed he was busy at work. I called Clare and she told me he was at home sick. On my way here, I drove by his house but his car was not in the driveway. Sydney's was, though, and I felt as if they were together somewhere. I tried not to be jealous. I had friends that were guys and Harry was okay with that. I should be all right with him being friends with Sydney. She seemed like a fun person to be around. I just needed to get to know her more. Every time I brought her up to Harry, he simply called me obsessive. I was not. Was it a crime to get to know the person my boyfriend was spending so much time with?
"Dinner," my grandfather raised his eyebrows.
"Yes," I wheeled him to the entrance of the kitchen before taking his empty plate to the sink. He preferred to look at me when we spoke. "I have to go get ready after I leave here."
YOU ARE READING
Candles
Fanfiction[C O M P L E T E D ✓] They were curious. They both had their own share of secrets. He was a man living in the present. She was a woman living in the past. He was a candle, ready to see everything she was keeping in the dark. And she was the w...
