Her Last Wish

Her Last Wish - Chapter Five

Chapter Four
Sang
(Wednesday)

The next morning, I'm up before the sun is and I got right to work on getting Nan a bag together—and her books, cannot forget those—laundry, dusting, and everything else Nan would normally do on a Wednesday morning.

It felt strange not having her around, having the TV turned up loud so she could hear it, or see her peeking out the window over the road at the cougar and what young boy she'd take advantage of today. I miss Nan being home, that's for sure.

Going up the stairs and into Nan's room, I go straight to her dresser and pick up her most treasured photo. I know she'd want that with her for the next week. Looking down at it, I smile. Nan sure was a lucky bird having three men in her life to love completely and wholeheartedly.

The picture was taken when I was just a young child. I'm not in the photo and I don't think I would have wanted to be, it would have ruined it. Nan is standing in the back yard by her favourite rose bush and on her left side is my Grandad Bernie.

When he was younger, Grandad Bernie had short black hair, but in the photo it's completely grey. His eyes were this incredible navy color and he stood at almost six feet tall. He spent his years working at the hospital, mentoring those who wanted to become doctors, just like Dr Phil Roberts. When he retired in his sixties, he still made it his day job to go and give a helping hand around the hospital and put smiles on his patients faces with his lame jokes. He died when I was sixteen.

On Nan's left side is Grandad Joey. I used to call him Grandad YoYo—much to his dismay—in front of Nan and my Grandads. When it was just us, he would tell me how much he loved me calling him YoYo. Grandad Joey somehow managed to keep his brown hair throughout the years with only a small amount of grey at his temples. Like me, Grandad Joey was raised around the Academy, but he didn't join until his parents died when he was fifteen, making him an orphan.

Grandad Joey joined the Academy and lived with an older Academy family up until he met Grandad Bernie and Grandad Ronnie around the age of seventeen. They immediately hit it off and ended up telling both of my other Grandad's about the Academy, then taking them to the yearly boot camp six months later. They were inseparable. Grandad Joey spent his later days as an English Professor at the University until it was time for him to retire.

Behind Nan in the photo is my six foot five Grandad Ronnie. I don't know much about his upbringing as a child—apart from the fact that it wasn't a pretty one and that he didn't want to taint my young mind with something that he didn't even think about anymore. Not that I blame him. In his younger days, he used to have blonde hair, but it grew dark after hitting his fifties where it became a dark grey. It never lightened to a white grey, or even a lighter grey. He had these incredible light grey eyes that I once became envious of as a young girl. I wanted his eyes, until one day he said to me, 'Muffin, grey is a boring color. With brilliant green eyes like Nana, you can see the world in brilliant colors.'

After that, I never asked to have the same grey eyes as his, but I have yet to see some just as beautiful as his, if not more beautiful.

Clutching the photo frame to my chest, I leave Nan's room, inhaling her rose scent deeply. I love Nan's smell. Downstairs, I slip the frame in her bag just as my phone vibrates in my pocket. I slip it out and I smile when I see a message from Sean.

Dr Sean Green: Miss Sang, do you like apple pie and seeing newborn babies?

I frown, wondering why he would ask such random questions. I tap out a reply.