I was finally in the guestroom; showered, teeth brushed and clad in some pink pajama pants and a plain white tee. I had bid my parents goodnight then gathered my bathroom items and taken a nice, hot shower. The water was relaxing and had soothed my muscles, calming me some. After my nightly routine of lotion, moisturizer, a toothbrush and hairbrush, I was now curled up in the lounge chair in the bedroom. It was nearly 11 o’clock in Connecticut which meant only going on eight back in California. I wasn’t sure what Alex would be doing, but hopefully he’d be able to spare a few moments. I still felt a little guilty about not being able to keep our date though I was sure he would understand.

Directing my cell phone to call his number, I settled into the back of the chair and listened to the rings.

He answered on the third.

“Hello?”

I wet my bottom lip and smoothed my shirt some. “Hey.”

“Hey. How are you?” His voice seemed to soften a little.

I glanced around at my surroundings. “I’m…okay, how are you?”

“I’m doing alright. Is everything okay with you? I got your text.”

“Um…” I felt nervous and couldn’t explain why, “not really.”

“What’s wrong? Did I do something? I was going to text you back earlier, but thought I’d wait a bit and see if you called me.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s not you, Alex, you’re just fine. It’s um…my poppy…”

“Your poppy?”

“Yeah,” I could hear the tremble in my voice, “my grandfather; he had a heart attack last night.”

There was a second of silence before he spoke again, “Oh no, Morgan….”

I was fighting to keep my voice from breaking, “Yeah, he’s… he’s not good. I…I’m in Connecticut.”

“Well, yeah, Baby, you should be. Do you need anything?”

“Nothing that you can do from there.”

There was a heavy sigh over the line. “I’m so sorry, Morgan.”

I could hear the anguish in his voice and it made tears prick my eyes. “They don’t know if he’ll pull through. What am I gonna do?” It felt like someone was trying to rip all of my scars wide open.

“Shh, Baby, don’t cry. I know it’s hard; I know. I’ve been there. And nothing anyone says helps.”

“No,” I shook my head and wiped at my eyes, “it really doesn’t.”

“What hospital is he at?”

I reached over to the nightstand and grabbed a tissue from the box that sat there. “Um, Windham Community Memorial Hospital.”

“I bet they have really great doctors.”

I gave a nod and then suddenly remembered something. “Ooh no…”

“What?”

“Bernie’s surgery. I won’t be able to be there with you… ooh no, I’m so sorry…” Suddenly I felt worse and the tears wouldn’t stop.

“Ooh, Baby, you don’t even need to worry about that, right now. It’s okay; you need to be where you’re at. I have other people who can go with me.”

“I…I know, b..b…but I …you…” my shoulders shook and I pressed the tissue to my eyes, “you need me…”

“Not as much as your family does right now, or your poppy. Or as much as you need to be right where you’re at.”

I was surprised he could understand my words through my tears. I wiped my eyes and took a breath, trying to calm myself some. “Are you mad?”

“Why would I be mad? No, Morgan, I’m not mad.”

“I dunno when I’m going to be home.”

“That’s okay, take your time. I’ll still be here when you get back.”

I could hear the smile in his voice and that made me smile as well. “Good.”

He chuckled low. “Will you still call me?”

“Of course,” I balled the tissue up and set it aside, grabbing another, “will you call me?”

“I could call you so many times you’ll be sick of me.”

That made me chuckle. “I’d never get sick of you.”

“Oh, you just wait.”

I laughed a little more. “I think if I was gonna get sick of you, it’d have already happened. You’re so persistent and you don’t give up.”

He laughed. “I wore you down, huh?”

“Mmhmm.” I stifled a yawn and rubbed my eyes.

“Are you tired, Baby?”

“Yes, but I’m not ready to hang up yet.”

“Neither am I.”

I smiled softly. “What did you do today?”

“I hit up The Grove and did some serious shopping.”

“I love shopping. What’d you buy?”

“Things I probably shouldn’t have,” he chuckled low, “but um, I got some new shirts and jeans…a couple new hats, some more shades ooh and some shoes.”

“That’s a lotta shopping. Lately, I’ve been buying things that I don’t even know when I’ll wear.”

His grin was evident over the line. “You’ll just have to find somewhere to wear them at.”

“Yeah,” I peeked to the phone, “what are you going to do tomorrow?”

“Probably go out on one of my friend’s boats. He called me earlier and invited me.”

“That sounds really nice. I hope you have a good time.”

“I’m sure I will, though I don’t think it’ll be as much fun as going horseback riding with you would have been.”

I chuckled. “Are you trying to get points?”

“Is it working?”

I tried to hide the smile that wanted to grow. “Maybe.”

“Hmm, better than a no; I’ll take it.”

I giggled low and we chatted for a few minutes longer, just making simple small talk which helped to keep my mind of things. Finally though, we had to hang up and after I climbed into the bed and switched the lamp off, darkness invading the room, everything that was going on came back and I pulled the covers over my head. It was going to be a long night.

~*~*~*~*~

I was more tired than I realized and was asleep in minutes and I didn’t move until morning when the sun hit me square in the face. I gave a groan and buried my head under the pillow for a moment before remembering where I was. Then I quickly pushed the blankets off and sat up, smoothing my hair and rubbing the sleep from my eyes. The clock on the dresser read 9:22am and I wondered if that was right. How come no one had woken me up earlier? I was sure they would have wanted to be back up to the hospital well before ten.

Those questions still in my head, I slipped from the bed and gathered some jeans and a clean shirt, then I crossed the hall to the bathroom and took a quick shower before drying my hair, brushing my teeth and getting dressed. I did a light bit of makeup, hoping it would help me look better than I felt, then finally put my belongings away and made my way downstairs.

I could smell the food cooking well before I entered into the kitchen to find my dad and mimi sitting at the breakfast table enjoying English muffins, fresh fruit and coffee.

The minute I laid eyes on my formerly raven haired grandmother my eyes grew misty. “Mimi…” I choked out.

She looked up from her coffee and my bright eyes met her sapphire colored, crystal clear eyes. “Morgan.”

I was across the room before she even stood and enveloped her in a loving, firm hug. “Mimi, you’re here. How are you? I’ve missed you. You look great! Are you okay? Do you need anything? Why aren’t you at the hospital?” I rattled the questions off without a pause as her thin arms held me close.

“Goodness, Child,” she chuckled and pulled back, smoothing a hand on my cheek, “one question at a time, but let me get a good look at you.” Then she took a step back and looked me over, turning my hips side to side like she was scrutinizing me. “You’ve lost weight, but you’re a lot tanner then last time I saw you.”

“Yeah, I’ve been getting outside more.”

She smiled then kissed my cheek. “You need a good, healthy breakfast.”

“You sound like my mother.” I chuckled then looked over to my dad as he rose from his seat, telling me he’d make me up an English muffin. Mimi directed me to a chair and nudged me into it before taking her own seat.

“I’m glad you’re here, Morgan.” Her dainty hand reached over and squeezed my arm. “We’ve all missed you so much.”

A few tears dotted my eyes. “I know. I’ve missed you guys, too.”

“You can’t stay away for so long, my dear.”

“I know…” I fiddled with a napkin there on the table then glanced over to my dad, clearing my throat some. “So, um, where’s Mom?”

“She took your brother’s car back to him at the hospital,” he replied as he put an English muffin into the toaster.

“That sweet Grayson stayed all night with your grandfather.” My mimi sighed and shook her head some, a forlorn expression covering her face.

I reached over and squeezed her hand. “Mimi, you look so good.”

“Oh, well, thank you,” she touched the still beautiful skin of her cheek and smiled, “I got a new face cream.”

I smiled, leaned over and kissed her cheek.

“We were going to wake you in a little bit if you didn’t get up on your own,” my father explained as he set the different types of jellies next to me on the table. “After you eat, we’ll three head on up to see your poppy.”

I gave a nod and selected the raspberry jam from the variety of choices my father had provided me with. “Is Grayson going to come back here?”

“Yeah, his stuff is here and he’s too tired to drive back to New York right now. He’ll probably head back this afternoon or sometime tomorrow morning.”

I glanced over to my father. “He’s not going to stay?”

“He has his job to get back to, Sweetheart.” He plucked my English muffin from the toaster and dropped it onto a small plate.

Speaking of jobs, I had to remember to call Zoe tomorrow morning and let her know what was going on. Hopefully she could get in touch with my clients and either pass their appointments off to someone else or reschedule them.

“He’ll probably be back out here Friday evening.” He set the plate down in front of me. “Do you want any fruit? Toast? Coffee?”

“Just coffee, please.” I opened the jam and took a knife, going about preparing my muffin.

“Just a muffin and coffee?” My grandmother frowned. “Neil, bring her some fruit. She needs to put a little meat on her bones.” For emphasis she lightly pinched my arm.

I chuckled and set the knife down. “Mimi, I’m fine.”

“For dinner you should have a nice, big steak.”

I wrinkled my nose. “I don’t like steak.”

“Oh, that’s right, I forgot,” a pause, “a burger then.”

I chuckled at her persistence and looked back to my father. “How come Candace didn’t come with him? I was going to ask him last night, but forgot.”

“She’s in Arizona and won’t be back until Tuesday or Wednesday.” He set a plate of fruit down next to me.

I made a face at it, but didn’t say anything.

My father caught it however and chuckled. “Eat it. Your mother will kill me if she finds out all I fed you was an English muffin.”

I relented and stabbed a piece of cantaloupe with my fork. “So, how long have you been here, Mimi?”

“Your mother dropped me off before heading on up to the hospital. I wanted to see you before we got there.”

I smiled at her. “I’m glad you did.”

“Me too.” She winked at me before taking up her mug and sipping her coffee.

We were quiet for a few moments, each one of us apparently lost in our own thoughts, then I broke the silence.

“So, how’s Poppy?” It was the subject we were all thinking about, but no one wanted to bring up. I didn’t either, but I needed to know.

“No change,” my father replied over the top of his coffee.

My eyes darted over to my mimi and I pouted at the way her shoulders sagged at my father’s words. Without speaking, I reached over and took her hand in mine, giving it a comforting squeeze.

She squeezed mine in return and then patted the back of my hand with her other one. “Tell me what California is like, my dear.”

I swallowed my bite of strawberry and sat back in the chair. “Really warm and sunny. I don’t have to wear any of my winter clothes and when it does get chilly, I just pull on a sweatshirt or hoodie.”

“That sounds so nice.”

I smiled and gave a nod. “It is, and the ocean is beautiful, Mimi. You’d love it.”

“I hear it’s different than the Atlantic,” she mused, releasing my hand and sipping on her coffee.

“It really is. They’re both beautiful, but there’s just something about the sun setting over the water and the way it reflects off the surface.”

“Your grandfather and I have seen many a sunrises over the Atlantic.”

“Well, after he gets out of the hospital and is strong enough to travel, you’ll both come out and visit and get to see the Pacific Ocean sunsets.” I knew that they both thought if on that one, but didn’t care. I wasn’t going to talk about the possibility of him leaving this world; that would only make me upset and sad and depressed and I was tired of feeling that way.

My mimi watched me with her striking eyes. “Rather your grandfather goes or not, I’ll come to see you.”

I smiled. “I know you will.”

“And we can go try to find Tom Cruise.”

That made me laugh. “Mimi, you know he’s a nut, right?”

She waved a hand. “Oh, I know he is, but he’s still gorgeous in my book.”

I giggled and ate some more fruit, looking towards the front of the house when Grayson’s voice rang out.

“Hello?”

“In here, Son!” My dad called out to him.

A moment later my sleepy-eyed brother appeared in the doorway.

“Hey,” He greeted us as he sauntered into the room and took a mug from the counter.

“Good morning.” My father watched him over his newspaper.

“How is everyone?” He poured himself a cup of the hot java then set the pot back in the coffee maker.

Mimi smiled warmly at her grandson. “We were just talking about going to visit Morgan in California.”

“Oh? Who’s we?” He joined us at the table and kissed Mimi’s cheek before taking his own seat.

“Well, myself for sure.” She smiled at me with her eyes.

“I’ve invited Morgan to come out to Arizona once we get settled out there.”

“Ooh, that sounds nice.” My dad lifted his brows and looked between us kids.

I gave a nod and finished up my breakfast. “Yeah, just lemme know when you guys are all moved out there.”

“Will do.” He sipped his coffee.

I wiped my mouth then began gathering my dishes. “I just need to run upstairs and brush my teeth again and we can go.”

My father nodded then looked to my brother. “When are you gonna head back to the city?”

“Probably like four or five. It’s a Sunday so there shouldn’t be much traffic.”

“What are you going to do until then?”

Grayson checked his watch. “I’ll probably sleep a couple hours and then join up with you guys again. I didn’t get much rest in the armchair.”

“Mmkay, you know where to find us.” My father rose from his seat.

I did as well and placed my dishes in the sink. “Okay, I’ll be right back.” Then I hurried from the kitchen and through the hall to the stairs.

It was going to be another emotionally trying day and I was going to do my hardest to stay strong; if not for myself then for my mom and grandmother. They needed me and I needed to not fall apart. I hadn’t had much practice in the not falling apart category, but I’d do my best. And in case I wasn’t successful, I needed to remember to bring a lot of tissues.