Standing Up to Life

Chapter 13:

THE NEXT WEEK actually passed by rather quickly. I was amazed at just how close we were getting to our summer break. The next Tuesday I couldn't stop thinking about how we had just three weeks until we were going to be on break. As I was sitting in my English class talking and enjoying myself with my friends when the office came over the intercom and said, "Would you please send Brandon down?"

I went down to the office wondering what was going on. I had managed to avoid that part of the school for the entirety of the semester and didn't want to start dealing with more problems again. I was actually more worried about a gut feeling I had that something must be wrong.

When I got down to the office I found my mom was standing by the reception desk. She looked really stressed. She was able to pull me into a conference room that was attached to the office and said, "Brandon, sit down."

"What's wrong Mom?" I asked

"Well... your Grandfather had a heart attack a couple hours ago."

My mouth dropped, "Is he okay?" I asked with the shock showing.

"For now, they flew him to Phoenix for treatment. They think he's going to pull through, but Dad and I want to go out there with Grandma to Phoenix to be with him."

"When do we leave?" I asked, tears coming out of my eyes.

"Well, that's what I came here to talk to you about. We want to leave at 4:30, but Dad and I think you should stay here."

"But..."

"Brandon there's nothing you'll be able to do there. We called and they said they wouldn't allow anyone under sixteen into the ICU where he's being kept... Plus you have your project due tomorrow."

"Are you sure there's nothing I can do?" I asked worriedly.

"Yes, I'm sure. Listen, I called and talked to Amy's mom and she said that they would be happy to have you stay there until we get back. Would you be okay with that?"

I sat there and thought for a moment. I really wanted to be there for Grandpa, but I figured my parents had their reasons for not wanting me to come along. And, if I stayed I wouldn't miss out on the project either. Plus, I could only imagine how much fun it would be to stay with Amy for a while... I immediately felt guilty about thinking of having fun when Grandpa could die from the heart attack.

"I guess that'll work, Mom. But why did they fly him to Phoenix instead of Albuquerque?"

"They were supposedly better situated to handle him. I asked the same question. So you're okay with staying with the Hancocks?" She asked.

"Yeah, but you have to call me and keep me updated about him okay?"

"Of course I will. Well, we need to get your stuff packed up. Amy's mom told me to go ahead and pick her up too – that way she could let you into their house."

"Okay, I can go get her." I cleaned up my face really quick with my shirt. While my mom was signing us both out, I went back to class to get Amy.

"Umm... Amy my mom is checking us both out for the day," I said as I pulled her from her desk to come with me. She looked at me with a concerned look and came with me. I told her what was going on as we both grabbed our backpacks and stuff from our lockers.

When we got outside and were getting into my Mom's car, Amy gave me a hug and said, "I'm so sorry Brandon, but I'm sure everything will work out."

"Thanks Amy." I replied returning the hug.

We drove to our house and I quickly packed several days worth of clothes into a suitcase, along with my toothbrush and all that jazz. Mom spent a while triple checking on things and writing out a letter so Amy's mom or dad could take me to the hospital or a doctor if they needed to. Though having Amy's mom being a doctor would probably be enough to smooth any of that over anyway.