A funny word called Love

Chapter 22

The rest of the time that Yuri was in Barcelona was quite blissful. It was mainly spent with Otabek, and occasionally a few other skaters who decided to tag along with them on their site seeing adventures. However, as Yuri was painfully aware of, happiness could never last for very long. He had just forgotten this time around, gotten swept up in the happiness, that the sadness inevitably came crashing down on you, no matter how happy you might've been earlier.

But this, this wasn't expected. Maybe it should've been expected, his grandfather was getting quite old, but the news that Yuri found out, a little before Yuri would compete in the Cup of China season, but Yuri was dumbfounded when he found out. "What!" he yelled into the phone.

"Yes, you were on your grandfather's emergency contact list," the nurse that had called him said calmly, "Your grandfather had a stroke yesterday. Thankfully, one of his friends was with him so he got to the hospital quickly enough. It's still unclear whether he'll make it or not, but he's currently in stable condition."

"What hospital is he at?" Yuri asked quietly, and the nurse responds that he's in some hospital in Moscow.

After Yuri hung up and collapsed onto the floor. He couldn't believe what was happening. He couldn't fucking believe it. He should've be able to believe it. His grandfather was 79 after all, old enough that him having a stroke shouldn't have been surprising. And yet it was. Yuri hadn't bothered to think about the future that much. He hadn't the faintest idea of what he would do after retiring from skating or anything like that. But there were things that he assumed would always be a constant in his life. His grandfather's presence was one of them.

"Actually, you know what, this isn't happening," Yuri said to himself. "No, it's not. I'm going to get on the next flight over to Moscow and I'm going to see Grandfather and he's going to be fine. That bloody nurse just doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about."

Next he picked up his phone and called Yakov. "What!" Yakov screamed when Yuri told him that he was going to go to Moscow. "No! There's only a week until the Cup of China! You need this time to train, not to fly across the country!"

"I just need to go there and check if my grandfather is okay. As soon as I know that he is, I'll come back. I can guarantee that I won't be back for the entire week, and if I'm gone for more than a day, I'll make sure to find an ice skating rink in Moscow to practice in if I have time. Please, Yakov. I need to check up on him. If he passes while I'm away..." Yuri said, his voice trailing off at the end.

"Okay," Yakov said, heaving a sigh as he gave in, "But if you're not back in time for the Cup of China...''

"I know, I know, don't worry, I will be. Thank you Yakov."

"You're welcome Yuri," Yakov responded, taken aback by Yuri's politeness. Actually, he was taken aback by a lot of things. This was the first time that he had seen his student plead for something. Normally, Yuri was much harsher and opted to demand what he wanted rather than pleading. Yakov was quite perplexed when it hit him. 'Oh, right. Yuri's grandpa raised him. No wonder he's so worried.'

Worried was an understatement as Yuri frantically tried to find a flight. He found one, though, leaving in just 2 hours, and he packed a few clothes, some toiletries, and his skates before racing to the airport and onto the plane.

While on the plane Yuri got several glares due to the incessant tapping of his foot. But whenever somebody glared at him he shot them a glare so fierce that they knew that it would be a very poor decision to so much as glance his way again. Besides, he couldn't stop tapping his foot. Worry was coursing through his veins, his brain coming up with thousands of worst case scenarios with every passing minute. He didn't know how to rationalize his thoughts. He didn't know if doing that would even help. What if doing so just gave him false hope and then something terrible did happen. It would be even harder to bear. So, Yuri tapped his feet as a way to release his nervous energy. If he was anywhere else he would've practiced the movements of his short program or maybe his free program. But no, he had to be stuck on a cramped, useless airplane with no space to dance away his emotions. So he tapped his feet and let the millions of scenarios clutter his mind.