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I abruptly remembered as I was pulling in to park that I had meant to call my parents. I snagged my phone out of the cupholder in the console, thinking I would call on my way in. I reconsidered, thinking it would be better to wait and call when I knew what was happening. Once I knew my grandmother was okay, I would find Alice.
Moments later, after I’d been directed to the waiting area, Holly came striding in. “There you are!” she exclaimed.
I stood from the chair, commenting, “I asked for you when I got here. They said you were busy. How’s Gram?”
Holly took a breath, letting it out quickly. “She’s going to be fine. But not for long. You know we’re just marking time.”
Sadness gusted through me, a fierce and cold wind. “I know. What happened?”
“It’s not because she’s dehydrated this time. She slipped and fell. You know they got her shower all set up with supports and everything, but she really should be using her shower chair.”
I rolled my eyes. “She hates that thing.”
Holly shrugged. “I’m sure she doesn’t like falling. Come on back.” She gestured for me to follow as she turned. We walked out of the waiting area, down one hallway and then another before she led me into a room, offering, “She’s already besties with her roommate.”
I chuckled. “Of course she is.”
“Hey, Gram,” I said as we entered the room.
She smiled over at me. She was propped up on a ton of pillows and looked completely fine. She gestured toward the woman in the bed to her side. “This is Callie. We’re almost up to speed on everything.”
I glanced at Callie. “Nice to meet you. I’m Jonah.” I thumbed toward my grandmother. “Her grandson.”
Callie, who looked a little tired, glanced up with a smile. “Nice to meet you.” Her voice was wispy. Frail as she was, she looked as if a gust of wind could blow her right out of her hospital bed. She looked over toward my grandmother. “If you want some privacy, you can pull the curtain closed.”
Holly snorted. “Bea will have you over at her house after you’re both out of here. Although, if you’d like things to be a little more private for yourself, just say the word.”
Callie shook her head. “Oh, no need. It’s nice to have visitors.”
Between my grandmother and Holly, I had all the details about Gram falling in the shower within a few minutes. “She’s lucky she didn’t break a hip,” Holly said, sliding a stern look in my grandmother’s direction.
Gram simply rolled her eyes as she looked over at me. “I hate my bath chair.”
“Oh, they’re not too bad,” Callie offered. “I was a little too proud to use mine at first, but now I can just sit down when I’m showering. It really is more comfortable, and you don’t have to worry about falling.”
“Listen to her,” I said, looking back toward Gram.
She let out an elaborate sigh before adjusting the blanket over her hips. “Fine. I’ll start using mine. Only because I don’t want to come back here for being stupid. I absolutely hate giving people a reason to tell me that they told me so.”
Holly tapped a few keys on the keyboard on the rolling cart beside Gram’s hospital bed before standing and resting both hands on her hips as she looked down. “You’re here for the night because we need to make sure you don’t have any swelling. In the meantime, I will be here until midnight, so if you need anything, you know how to use the buzzer.” She looked over toward Callie. “If she talks your ear off too much, just tell her to shut up.”
Gram giggled while Callie smiled. After Holly departed, I sat down in the chair between their beds. “Is Dennis back out at the house?”
Gram nodded. “He is. He’s making us dinner and bringing it in,” she said in a conspiratorial whisper-shout.
“I don’t think it needs to be a secret,” I replied.
We chatted casually for a bit before calling my parents and giving them the update. After we took care of that, my grandmother looked from me to Callie. “Tell him what you told me.”
“About what?” Callie countered.
“About being alone.”
“Oh,” Callie said slowly. She looked over at me. “After my first husband passed, my first love, who—” She paused before shrugging. “Well, life just happened, and it didn’t work out when we were younger. He got in touch with me. He wanted to try again. Because we were both widowed.” She shook her head. “And I was just feeling all too bitter about life. You see, my Johnny was sick for a long time, and I didn’t want to lose somebody again.” She picked at her blanket, adjusting it as she looked down. When her eyes lifted to mine again, there was a sheen of tears in them. “Then he died too, and I realized that was stupid. Sure, I have my children, but they’re living their lives. I’m mostly alone, just bouncing around that house. I wish I hadn’t passed up the time I could’ve had with him.”
“I was telling her that I don’t have an update from you on Alice yet, and I’m worried you’re going to be stubborn,” my grandmother interjected.
That band around my chest tightened. It felt as if a fist was squeezing my heart. “Gram, I have thought about what you said. I’m going to talk to Alice. I just haven’t had a chance yet. You do know I’ve been out at a fire the past few days.”
