A Stone Turned Soft

Chapter 7

After the girls updated each other on their adventures since last night, breakfast was ready. They chowed down on banana bread muffins, orange juice, eggs, and sausage. In mid bite, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. It was the call she had been waiting for.

"I've gotta take this," she said, walking towards Layla's room, "Mom?"

"Chloe, you and Layla need to come to the hospital," she said desperately, sounding like she was crying

"We're in Vallejo right now."

"What? Why are you there?"

"Don't worry. There was some drama but we got it resolved. We're with Elias right now," she explained, "We're headed to the hospital in a few minutes. How's Grandma?"

"Not good. We just came out from a meeting with the doctor. You..." her voice broke, "You need to come say goodbye."

"What?!" she cried, "The heart attack was that bad?"

"The initial one wasn't, but then she had another one. While you were gone. This one was really bad. Her organs were already failing before but this one just sped it up. They don't know if she'll last till Christmas."

Chloe was speechless. She tried to remember what her grandma said last night. Wow. Last night. It seemed like so long ago. Be strong for everyone. She was trying to be, but how could she when the strongest person she knew was just giving up? She had fought everyday of her life. She fought to be successful in life, she rebelled against expectations, and she defied many odds. But now, when she needs to most, it doesn't seem like she's fighting at all! She's just given up! Chloe didn't understand it.

The rest of the conversation was a blur. The entire phone call she was holding in unshed tears, but the second she hung up she let them burst. She didn't know how long it took, but eventually Layla found her. She sat with her on the bed, put her hand on her back, head on shoulder, and let her cry. She wanted to say something but she didn't know what. She didn't think anything she would say would help her. Layla had only spent a few months with her Grandma. Chloe had spent her whole life with her. She couldn't imagine how she was feeling. After she calmed down a bit, Layla finally asked what happened. In between sobs and voice breaks, Chloe did her best to explain what happened. Layla expressed her sympathies but she knew it probably didn't mean anything to her. If ever she told people about her family or her foster care horror stories, they would always say the same blanket statement. I'm sorry. Even if they genuinely meant what they said, the words still felt empty. She genuinely felt bad for Chloe, but she still felt like her words were flat. Then she went on to say another blanket statement. How can I help? Just like the phrase before, this was said because she felt obligated to. She wanted to be of use to her friend but in a time like this, she just didn't think it would be enough. But to her surprise, she responded.

"Come with me," she said wiping her tears, "To the hospital."

"I don't know if that's the best idea. You need to be with your family."

"I thought we just went over this! You are familyー"

"Your immediate family," she said quickly, "I can keep the house in order, get Christmas presents for you guys, be there to tell people what happened, I don't know. But I can be on my own. I've done it before."

"You need to stop, Layla," she said firmly. "You are coming with me," she demanded, "My mom said me and you need to come to the hospital. It doesn't matter that you haven't been here for long. My grandma knows you. She loves you, in fact! She literally has a cutout picture of you on one of the frames," she laughed, "I know for a fact that she would want you at the hospital."