Twenty-One and Invincible

It had been three days. I was allowed to go home after my first overnight stay in the hospital. They just wanted to make sure the stitches were healing the way they were supposed to. They advised me to try and stay off my feet though, so they let me borrow a wheelchair in case I needed it.

When I was at home, I mostly just stayed on the couch. I got time off work for understandable reasons. I spent most of my time going back and forth to the hospital though. The ladies at reception knew me so well that as soon as they saw me walking around, they immediately fetched me a wheelchair and gave me a good scolding as I wheeled myself to Grandpa’s room with a coy smile and a shake of my head.

I wheeled myself into the room and saw Grandpa lying there, still unconscious. I moved next to his bed and rested my elbows against the side of the bed, propping my head up in my hands.

“Hi, Grandpa.”

Silence.

“How are you today?”

More silence.

I knew he wasn’t going to answer. He’d gone into shock or something and the doctors weren’t sure when he would wake up. It would happen eventually, but they told me that they just needed to wait it out. They couldn’t perform surgery on him while he was in this state because apparently it was too dangerous since he was unstable.

I’d started talking to Grandpa even though I knew he probably couldn’t listen. I just wanted to stay by his side. I didn’t want to lose him.

“Grandma couldn’t be at the hospital today. I’m not really sure where she is right now, but she promised she would come by and visit today. I just wanted to be here to make sure you’re still well.”

The only answer I got was the slow beep of the heart monitor.

A knock came at the door. I turned and saw Patrick. I smiled. He would always come to the hospital either with me or shortly after I’d gotten there. He knew that I was scared and he was there to comfort me. He pulled up a chair and wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

“How’s he doing?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. The same as yesterday, I guess.”

We were quiet. All we could hear was breathing.

Finally, I asked Patrick, “Do you think he’ll ever wake up?”

“I think he will,” Patrick said confidently. “You’ve got to think positive.”

I sighed, leaning my head on his shoulder. “It gets hard sometimes. You know?”

“Trust me, I know,” Patrick grinned, giving my arm a light squeeze. “But you know, I know that it’s not really something you want to hear, but the whole Circle of Life thing...it’s not just a pretty song from the Lion King. When it’s your time, it’s your time.”

I sucked in my lower lip and chewed on it lightly. “That’s what my grandma said.”

Patrick looked at me for a while, as if trying to figure out if there was some sort of hidden meaning behind my words. When he couldn’t find one, he asked, “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know,” I said in a small voice. “I guess...I don’t want to believe that this is Grandpa’s time. I mean, before all of this, he seemed fine. Other than his minor senior moments, he was healthy. Maybe it’s the fact that he and my grandma are the only parent figures I’ve ever had. I guess I’ve always just assumed that they would be there no matter what.”

Patrick sent me a weak smile. “I know what you mean. My grandpa and I are best friends. I can’t imagine what it would be like if we lost him. It’s so hard to even think about.” He moved his arm and took hold of one of my hands. “Sorry for bringing it up.”

“You’d be a fool not to,” I stated. “I mean, look at him. I’ve never seen him looking so...mortal in his entire life.”

“Mortal?” Patrick repeated.

I gave a nod. “Yeah. Mortal. When I was a little kid, I used to think that my grandpa was invincible. I used to think he was a sort of superhero because I’d never seen him cry, never seen him sick, never seen him get hurt. Looking back now, he obviously did, being human and all, but he never let me see it. I guess it just warped my view of him.”

“You looked up to him,” Patrick told me. “Whenever you look up to anyone it automatically changes the way you perceive them. Even if your grandpa is sick now and looks like he might be close to his end, you will always have those memories of when he was strong and healthy. Right?”

I nodded, a stray tear slipping out of the corner of my eye. I wiped it away hastily. “I just keep thinking of all the things he used to do...all the silly things, like putting olive oil in the lawn mower, not plugging in the printer, leaving the empty pot on the stove while it was on...I used to think that taking care of him was such a burden. But now I’d give anything to be able to tell Gabie one of his stories again.”

“You still might be able to.”

I looked at Grandpa’s ashen face. “I don’t think so, Patrick.”

He nudged me with his shoulder. “Remember what I said about thinking positive?”

“But look at him,” I said, my voice starting to shake. “How is the power of positive thinking going to help anyone?”

“You never really know,” Patrick admitted. “But a little positivity never hurt anyone.” He nudged me again. “Come on. Let me see a smile.”

I looked up from the floor and saw Patrick’s elfish grin and couldn’t help but smile. A few tears tumbled down but Patrick quickly wiped them away.

“You’re beautiful when you smile,” he whispered, cupping my face with his hands. He moved closer to me and pressed a simple kiss to my lips.

He pulled away and I blushed furiously.

“You’re also cute when you blush.”

“Are you really trying to get into my pants in front of my grandfather’s hospital bed?” I joked, giving him a light shove. “Where’s your decency, Pat?”

“You know, I’ve seen a couple of episodes of Grey’s Anatomy thanks to my sisters. Wanna go find an on-call room?” he grinned cheekily, his eyebrows wagging back and forth. I burst out laughing and doubled over in my chair, doing my best not to look at him or else I’d have to wheel myself out of the room.

Once I’d calmed down, I sat back up and took in deep breaths.

“You’re ridiculous,” I said decisively.

“I made you smile,” he corrected.

I felt my cheeks heat up again. “I guess so.”

Patrick leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I let out an involuntary giggle but quickly silenced myself when I heard a low groan coming from the hospital bed.

Then came a hoarse growl.

“Do I really have to listen to this mushy crap all day?”

I sprung to my feet, the soles still sore. “Grandpa?”

Patrick saw me wince and made sure I could support myself before turning his attention to my grandpa.

“Grandpa, you’re awake!”

Grandpa turned to Patrick. “I want to have a few words with you.” Then he added, “Alone.”

I bit my lip and gave a quick nod, exiting the room. I stood outside the hospital room door, peering at the two of them talking through the window. I chewed anxiously on my thumbnail as I waited. I turned and looked down the hall to distract myself. Then I saw Grandma coming with two styrofoam cups in her hands.

“Here, have a hot chocolate, sweetie,” she said, handing me one of them. “How’s Grandpa?”

“Awake,” I said with a smile. “He’s talking to Patrick right now.”

Grandma raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yeah,” I confirmed. “Not sure about what though.”

I saw Grandma’s coy smile but didn’t comment on it. She didn’t say anything else. We just waited for Patrick to come and open the door.

“He wants to talk to you now,” he said barely above a whisper. I nodded and Patrick moved aside to let Grandma and I in. He stopped me and kissed me on the forehead. “I’ll be waiting out here, okay?”

I nodded briefly, looking over at Grandpa. “Okay.”

Patrick went out into the hallway and closed the door behind him. Grandma and I went over to Grandpa’s bed. I didn’t know what he wanted to say to us. Frankly, I didn’t care. I was just glad he was awake.