The end of summer was fast approaching. Ivan had taken Maria out on an adventure date and then gave her the ring, which she loved. I haven't seen her take it off since. All too soon, the end of summer was upon us, and we were a week away from starting our Junior year of college.
While packing up some bags and enjoying the air conditioning in the house, my phone rang. "Hey Grandpa!" I greeted my grandfather who had video-called me.
"Hey there Princess!" he responded. Just then, Ella walked into my room. "Is that my little Nugget?" he asked.
"Grandpa!" Ella cooed. "We miss you! When are you coming downstate to visit?" she inquired, grabbing the phone from my hand.
"Wish I could, Nugget, but I'm a little detained," he stated. I looked over Ella's shoulder and noticed that he was on a hospital bed.
"What happened?" I asked in a panic.
"I have no clue," Grandpa casually responded. "They're running tests. I'm old, kiddos, surely you understand that," he pointed out.
"You're not old!" we both objected.
"What's going on in here?" Maria inquired, walking into my room.
"Grandpa's in the hospital," Ella stated, tearing up. Maria grabbed the phone from her.
"What happened?" she insisted.
"Hey, it's her Royal Majesty!" Grandpa joked. "I'm sure I'm fine. It was just a weird little spell I had, everyone freaked out, and here I am."
"Grandpa," I stated, taking the phone from Maria. "What do you mean a little spell?" I could feel the color draining from my face and felt the searing panic settle in my chest.
"If you must know," he sighed. "It was a heart attack," he finally relented. "But I'm fine!" he assured, no doubt reacting to the noises that Ella and Maria let out and the tears that immediately sprang to my eyes.
"OK," I finally stated. I was at a loss for words. After all, he was in his nineties. A heart attack could be fatal. And while we hadn't spent that much time with him lately, Grandpa was definitely the reason why we bothered to make the trip upstate to visit our family. We loved everyone, but we went for him. If anything happened to him, we weren't sure how often we'd try to make the trip after that.
"Hey, I'm not dead. I'm right here!" he stated, no doubt trying to lighten the mood.
"Grandpa, you have to be careful," Ella insisted, once again forcing my phone from my hand. "We want you around for a while."
"I'd love to stick around forever Nugget, but we all go at one point or another. I have no regrets. Nothing left unsaid or undone. And you've made my life so much richer," he assured her. "But, if I go today, I'll go with peace in my heart and a smile on my face. You'd better not wear black to my funeral," he warned.
"You'd better not have a funeral then," Ella shot back. It was partially in jest, partially true. She, more than the rest of us, adored our grandfather, and the feeling was mutual. She'd be the most devastated if he died.
"Wish I could promise that Nugget," he sighed. "Look, I only called to see your lovely faces. So can you give me a quick smile so that I get what I wanted?" he inquired. To her credit, Ella did try to smile. But she knew this wasn't just a casual call. This was a goodbye call. She handed me the phone and went to her room to cry alone.
"I'll go check on her," Maria offered, not bothering to wipe the stream off of her face.
"I miss you already," I stated into the phone.
YOU ARE READING
Weathered Love
ChickLit"You're not a burden," he said. "OK," I said, again, trying to play it off like I didn't care. I wasn't sure how much longer I could keep up the façade. I could feel the tears banging against the barricade just behind my eyelids, the sobs clawing at...
