That Night √

47» That Promise

I stopped then, knowing clearly well that I didn't meant it in any way. Except about the hospital bills thing. I'd pay them. But I really didn't want her or Luca to stop caring. It made me happy. They made me happy.

"Gracie." She smiled warmly at me. "Don't be stupid."

I felt a small lump forming in my throat. "I mean it."

I didn't know why they were helping me in the first place. I left them two years ago. Mom left without telling her, I left without telling Luca. And they still...cared.

I broke out from my thoughts when Marleen gently took my hand, giving it a light squeeze. "I've known you since you were a little girl, Grace. Don't act as if I'm a stranger. We were a family, remember? We still are."

Are we?

I looked away from her, wanting to pull my hand away. Would she not have said any of this if she knew the real truth? About my family? About my parents?

"Look, I don't know why you all left for Manhattan." I bit the inside of my cheek, looking down at my lap. "I know you must have reasons for that. Everything has its reasons. And I'll wait till...Jordyn or you finally tell me that."

I felt my eyes tear up when I looked at her this time. "Please don't say that." I was clearly aware of my voice breaking as I whispered.

Yet her eyes just softened even more. "I forgive you, Gracie. It wasn't your fault that you had to leave. And...you make Luc happy, even if things seem complicated right now. So you can't just expect me not to care for you."

I nodded then, blinking back the tears. "But I'll...pay the hospital bills."

She let out a small laugh at that, giving my hand another squeeze. "I've already paid the hospital bills." When my eyes widened at that, she held up her other hand to silence me and added, "We'll talk about it later, okay? You can repay them later or something. Right now, you need to get better. That's all I'm asking you to do."

I opened my mouth but closed it shut after a few seconds. "Thank you."

She smiled before pulling back and getting up. "All right. Now I need to go and check up on the other patients. Make sure you finish that soup."

I nodded and leaned back against the pillows, a small smile playing on my lips.

•••••

I didn't tell Alice the truth. Instead, I made up a lie that she seemed to believe. I lied about how this was just an accident. An accident that happened when I had been away from Hayward, meeting a relative of mine.

She seemed to believe that because she didn't know that I really had no relatives at all. Well, except one Aunt of mine who lived in Manhattan—but she didn't know that.

Alice visited me again after school hours, even if she must've been tired after her cheerleading practice. She wanted to drop off my school work and well, check up on me.

And I wouldn't say that I wasn't happy to see her. I was. Because being here in this hospital room –all alone– got lonely pretty quickly, even though I was used to that. But still, it felt nice to have some company. Especially since I didn't want to be alone with my thoughts right now.