Kairi & Erik (My Alien Romance)

Kairi & Erik Chapter 4 Part B

"What" Zack said "you just thought to tell us this." He really looked offended though I couldn't fathom why.

"How long have you been holding on to this information and when are you leaving" Zack added looking a little sulky. I had no patience for him when he was like this.

"I'm leaving after school and I just found out this morning" I replied glancing at Erik again. He wasn't even trying to pretend he wasn't paying attention anymore. He was staring back at me intently with what looked like a sad and puzzled look on his face. Was it possible that he might miss me a little bit too? Lunch ended quickly and the rest of the day sped by. I was about to step outside to go to the familiar blue Ford truck that was waiting for me parked outside when a hand reached out and grabbed mine and whirled me around. I looked up as Erik looked down at me intently.

"Be safe, I'll miss you" he said quietly then reached up and gently cupped the side of my face with his large hand causing my heart to go haywire and my skin to catch on fire and then he was gone out the door. It had all happened so quickly I hadn't had time to respond. I could still feel the phantom burn of where his hand had touched my face as I walked slowly out to get in Nate's truck.

I walked into my grandfather's house I had spent the last summer in only to be assaulted with the smell of sickness and iodine. The once homey smells of tobacco and old spice that had filled this place had been replaced by the smell of hospital. I stopped in the middle of the living room setting my bags on the couch feeling a little queasy at the smell. It reminded me of the dark days when my mom was in the hospital. I looked around the familiar ranch like home that had been the setting of so many memories. Christmases spent here with me sitting in the middle of the floor surrounded by family and presents. Some memories were happy others were not.

The memories ran on up to this past summer when I had stayed here the whole time. Sleeping on the coach and taking care of Gramps. He had offered me the guest bedroom but that seemed like my Dad's room. I always slept on the couch when we both came up together and it would have seemed weird to change it now. I had been there when my grandfather had his second heart attack. I had just come back from the beach. I had smiled at my grandfather walking over towards him. My smile had quickly faded when I took in the pained expression on his face. I had barely been able to ask what was wrong when he had collapsed on the floor. I had quickly called 911 and started doing CPR on my grandfather. It had been one of the worst moments in my life feeling so helpless watching as his face took on a grey tinge. I had been sure that I was losing my grandfather. I hadn't cried though. It was the one time when I wished I was capable of crying but I couldn't. The tears had built up inside me filling me with pain I couldn't release. Later at the hospital, I had waited while they did a triple bypass surgery on him feeling on the verge of a nervous breakdown. When the nurse came out and told me that he had pulled through the operation I had collapsed.

I quickly shoved the upsetting memory out of my mind and went in to see if my grandfather was awake and to let Anne know I was here. I walked into my grandfather's yellow room. I smiled softly surprised to see Anne sitting in a chair fast asleep by my grandfather's bed. The bed was new I registered. He used to have a solid oak bed frame with carefully hand carved engravings on it. It had been passed down through the generations as a family heirloom of sorts. A lot of love and time had been poured into that bed. Its replacement was metal, a hospital bed that could be elevated to suit my grandfather's whim. My eyes then turned to the bed's occupant, my grandfather himself. He was awake but hadn't noticed my presence yet he was staring out the window with his blue nearly translucent eyes. He looked so... old. My grandfather was so full of life that I had never used that word to describe him before. His skin looked so thin and fragile, like rice paper. It looked like if you touched him he would fall apart. New wrinkles had formed in my absence as well carving their way across his face. How had such a transformation taken place since I'd gone I wondered? I shifted my feet and that seemed to catch my grandfather's attention as his head slowly turned in my direction.