"I have a hunch what you might wanna talk about, "I meekly spoke out. I kept my gaze low counting the number of ants moving around. Silence remained for a few moments before a burst of laughter filled the air.
I stared at him with amazement as he wiped off the tear slipping off his eyes. He tried to reply in between his laugh, "Haha..Yeah, You can say that, dear, Hahaha.."
When he finally stopped, he continued, "Your weird sense of humor was one of the reasons I liked you, little pea." I could not help but smile at his comment.
Granda Albert had a down-to-earth personality, treating everyone with respect irrespective of their age, gender, or race. A kind person who always looks out for others, and somehow, with time, I also started calling him grandpa even before I got married to Dave.
I always remained open to him, but after marriage, it all changed. I did not want to trouble him with my problems, so I stopped sharing things with him. This led to a few rare meetings, and we got apart.
And now, seeing him in front of me after so long made me a little emotional. I gulped down the lump forming in my chest as I asked him, "How are you doing?"
His eyes softened as he nodded his head, "I am fine, darling, but you.." He paused as he observed every inch of my face. Trying to know everything just by looking. This trait ran down in their genes, as Dave also did before drawing a conclusion.
"Are you doing fine?" I shook at his words. Like grandfather, like grandson.
I took in a deep breath as I contemplated the number of answers I could give to him without making him worry, but nothing seemed fine to me.
At last, I just shook my head and said, "You know I cannot lie to you." His expression dimmed before he whispered out, "Oh dear, why did I not notice this before?"
I just shrugged it off, not knowing how to react to his statement.
Maybe we got so lost in our happiness that we did not notice that we were forcing our decisions onto him.
He massaged his temples as he gestured for me to come into the car, "Come in, sweet pea."
I looked back at Caroline, who hurriedly backtracked, "You go ahead, I still have some things to grab," she pointed towards the list. I just nodded at her with a small smile. With this, she went inside the grocery store where the staff were still looking in our direction.
After Caroline spoke to her, she let out a sigh and focused on her work. Saying goodbye to her, I got into the car. The surroundings felt familiar, but the circumstances had changed. I kept looking at anything but him.
"Ele..." He just spoke my name, and all the emotions started to unleash. Hot tears spilled down my face as I cried out. He did not console me or try to make me stop crying, to which I was thankful.
"I..I am sorry. I could not.. fulfill my duty." I kept repeating it until my cries turned into sobs. I don’t know how much time has spent, but when I came to my senses, he sat there patiently. I sniffed as he finally spoke up, " Josh already told you about Dave’s situation."
My body froze. It was not a question. I calmly sat there waiting for him to continue. He bent as his voice echoed into the car, " I need your help, Ele." The words came out of his mouth as I felt a heavy weight on my chest, making it harder to breathe.
"I want you to act like before. Before you decided to divorce him."
His words came out strained, as if he didn’t even agree with what he was asking. "The doctor said he has to live normally. Even a little strain on his mind could lead to serious brain damage."
My blood ran cold listening to his words. Was his condition this serious?
Albert then retrieved a tablet and connected with their doctor.
As he accepted the call, he started to explain Dave’s condition thoroughly. Half of the stuff went over my head with all the professional medical terms, but at the end, he summarized it in a few words.
"If we want to regain his memories, we have to provide a calm environment and some crumbs of memories so that his mind could try to recall it, but..." He stopped in the mid way as he adjusted his glasses, "Pressuring his mind could also lead him to a coma or worse."
I did not know what to say. No words came out of my mouth. On the other hand, Albert’s hand started to shiver frantically. Small sweat beads started to form on his forehead. His breath became shallow.
My eyes bulged out and I gasped in horror when the driver, who had sat silently until instructed to give him some water. I looked around and found some kept aside. I retrieved one of it and opened it for him.
He drank half of the bottle as he took in some deep breaths. He slowly started to calm down, and I, too, sighed in relief.
As I tried to calm my heartbeat, he again looked at me with hope as if I could be the one who could magically correct everything.
And even I know I could just make things nothing but complicated. Especially, if it’s about Dave.
I was still in my thoughts when he said, " I won’t force you, dear, but your support would really be helpful to us."
I wanted to deny him, but his words made me a lot more guilty.
I scratched the back of my neck, taking a moment that felt like an eternity. At first, I thought to spin some story, but the time when I stared at him, the words could not get out of my mouth.
Instead, I replied, " I need time." I just spat out.
He seemed surprised at my reaction, but then nodded his head in agreement, which almost made me relax, but the next moment, my whole body jerked up as he stated, "Sure. Then tell me your decision by tomorrow morning."
"What?" I kept staring at him, but he smiled as if he gave me ample time to think.
Why in the world are you doing this to me, God?