Like Real People Do - Jill Roord

Whatever Will Be Will Be

TW: illnesses

Hunter's POV

A day had passed though nothing much had happened, we were still none the wiser.

I'd practically forced Jill out the hospital after she'd fallen asleep sitting on the hallway floor, she wanted to be there for both Nana and I but I told her that we needed some family time and she needed some rest. 

Alexia and I had both slept in Nana's room, refusing to leave her side even when she'd pleaded with us to go home and sleep in a proper bed. 
Us three stuck together, we were a tightly knit trio like we'd been our whole lives. Alexia and I were equally terrified though Nana seemed indifferent to her test results, almost like she already knew the answers.

'Whatever will be, will be', she'd said and I loved that philosophy but hated the idea when it involved loosing one of the two people which had been by my side since I was born. I couldn't remember a life without Nana but Alexia had reminded me to remain confident in the fact that there wouldn't be one for a long time; I prayed to every higher power in the world that she was right. 

Though morning had arrived now, Nana sat eating her specially prepared hospital breakfast while Alexia and I snacked on vending machine sweets. 

"You girls should go and eat some proper food," Nana scorned looking at the sweet packets scattered across the blanket Alexia and I shared.

"I'm on a holiday," Alexia retorted, still treating Nana the same as usual while I found that difficult, never wanting to sound harsh or make a joke which leaned the wrong way because I was drowning in anxieties. 

"This is good food Nana," I piped up with hopeful eyes.

Nana chuckled, "Good food is my food, that is crap food!"

Alexia gasped, "Nana you cannot say that word!"

"I'll say whatever I want," Nana grumbled, shoving the spoon back into her jelly, "might as well say every word in the dictionary considering I could die tomorrow."

I knew she was joking but it still hurt, Alexia paid a quick glance to me before furrowing her eyebrows, "Hey! Don't say that either."

Nana sighed, growing tired of being stuck in bed all day while she'd rather be attending to her rose bushes or cooking up a beautiful paella, "I'm only being silly."

"Well I don't like it," I told her, feeling my eyes grow colder so they didn't turn to glass, "I think we should stay positive."

Alexia pulled me into a side hug, "I agree with the little one here."

I pushed my sister away, "shush," I complained.
It was a fact I needed to accept; I'd always be the baby. Alexia would always see me as a child, part of her didn't want me to grow up but another part of just wanted me to go back to being young and blissfully naïve before the world turned cruel and ruined that innocent part of my soul. 

Nana and Alexia both laughed, though their smiles quickly fell when the doctor opened up the door, clipboard in hand and that awkward doctorly smile; the one you can't read but somehow always looks like awful news. 

"Test results came through," he nodded. 

"Okay..." Nana answered, allowing him to go on as Alexia and I sat either side of her, in the bed, holding tightly onto her hands. 

It felt like we were the ones gripping onto Nana, her hands just lay there like she'd have slipped from our grip at any moment; the entire situation felt like that. 

"So from the tests we picked up malignant mesothelioma."

I narrowed my eyes, having no clue what that meant but long words usually weren't good news, my grip on Nana's hand just tightened, scared she'd disappear.