The Why Behind What We Feel

Chapter 28- Won't Be Long

I never in a million years thought I'd be making the journey to graduate school with my grandma, but here we are. Tyler drove us to the airport and we're getting ready to board a plane to Baltimore in less than two hours.

A lot has happened in the past day; things I never saw coming.

Or maybe it's just that I didn't want to see them coming.

For months, I worried about leaving my grandma behind in Louisiana for various reasons. While I felt in my heart she would be just fine without me, I couldn't bear the thought of leaving her in the care of someone with a target on his back. And I didn't really know about that target for sure until last night.

I haven't even had time to process everything that's happened. I still don't know exactly how bad it is or how bad it's going to get. I'm relieved that my grandma will be safe, but what about Tyler? What if something happens to him while I'm hundreds of miles away?

The thought alone makes me feel sick to my stomach.

"I haven't been on a plane in at least twenty years," grandma says, looking around the airport like it's a foreign place to her.

"Not much has changed since then," Tyler shrugs, rolling both mine and grandma's suitcases behind him as we make our way to security. "It's still just as noisy and uncomfortable as ever, but at least you only have a three hour flight."

"I've never been to Maryland before. I guess that's one more state I get to cross off my list," grandma smiles.

I smile back at her. She's wearing a winter coat, even though it's the end of August. She thinks the plane will be cold and she wants to be prepared. She seems so excited to be making this trip with me, but I hope her excitement doesn't dwindle away when she realizes how different Baltimore is from the bayou.

Or when she doesn't know anyone and will have to make new friends.

Or when she gets sick of the cold weather.

I shake my head to rid myself of all the negative thoughts and worries that are bouncing around. I can't just assume things will turn out bad. Tyler could fix things with his siblings and everything can go back to normal.

But wow, that is easier said than done. I think I'll worry about Tyler every waking hour of every single day until I can actually see him again and know that he's safe.

We arrive at airport security and my heart sinks. This is where I'll be saying goodbye to Tyler, for at least a few weeks. And since there's a small chance things could go bad before I get the chance to see him again, saying this goodbye is going to be hard.

"Well, this is it," I sigh, stopping in front of him. "Thank you for the ride."

"You're welcome," he replies, forcing himself to smile.

"I expect a phone call every day. Don't make me worry about you."

"I promise, I will check in daily. No need to worry," he chuckles.

I fall into his arms, trying like hell to hold back the tears I feel coming. "Please take care of yourself."

"I will, I promise," he whispers. "And as soon as I can get away, I'll come and visit."

I hold him for as long as I can, wondering if this could be the last time I ever feel his arms around me. And that brings the tears on strong.

"Sessy, please...don't cry," he says, holding me even tighter. "Everything will be fine when you get to Baltimore. You're gonna make new friends, probably become a teacher's pet again...and at the end of it all, you're going to become Dr. Cecily Martin, and thousands of lives will change for the better because of you. Just like mine did."