The phone is ringing off the hook. People magazine wants to interview my little sister. Good Morning America invites her on the show. Reporters want interviews so they can write stories.
Elise is becoming a regular celebrity.
After her speech, a huge group of student went to their teachers, relatives, parents, and other people they trusted with stories of their hurts because of Elise-because she was willing to face her fears. For the whole rest of the week, most of the student body continued to meet in the auditorium after class to listen to the sessions about how to deal with abuse. Elise, who has decided that her major in college is going to be counseling, also attends these meetings to gain more knowledge about how to help an abused person.
Slowly, Elise begins to open up more. It's like her speech gave her an open window to start expressing herself and sharing things with people. More than ever before, she smiles and laughs and the old Elise begins to resurface. She also manages to balance her new celebrity status, school, and counseling sessions pretty well. I catch her studying harder and harder as midterms approach. Sometimes she falls asleep at her desk studying. Other times, she comes home pumped because she's getting ahead of the other students in class.
"The teacher thinks I might be able to finish earlier than December because I'm getting so ahead," she says excitedly, setting her book bag on the table.
"I'm so proud of you," I say, wrapping my arms around her and kissing the top of her head.
"Where's Liam?" she asks after I let go. "He's usually home by now."
"I think he said he had to work late," I say.
"Oh, okay. Well, I'm going to start dinner and then work on my homework," Elise says. "Any other people call today?"
I shake my head. "Nope."
"Good," she says. "I need to start concentrating more on my studies."
I roll my eyes. "Elise, if you concentrated any more on your studies, your head would be glued to those books."
She grins at me. "Well, if I'm going to get into college, I have to get my grades up."
"Well..." I grab my toolbox from under the table. "I have another apartment to work on, so I'll be back soon," I say. After I finished with the Miller's apartment, the building owner hired me as the full-time handyman. Now I do all sorts of work in and around the condos.
"Sounds good." Elise drops a few chicken breasts into a hot pan to fry.
Liam is walking up the stairs just as I'm heading down. "Hey, Chan."
"Hi! How was school?" I ask him.
"Oh, good," Liam says, sounding a little breathless, but carefree.
I stop. "What's going on with you?"
"Hmm?" Liam asks, his green eyes bright.
"You don't usually act like this," I tell him. "What's going on?"
A smile as big as all of Manhattan spreads across Liam's face. "Well, you'll find out."
Now my curiosity is peaked.
"Find out about what?" I ask impatiently.
"Just what I said," Liam says. "You'll find out tomorrow night."
I shake my head. "I hate it when people keep secrets from me."
Liam just grins mischievously and heads inside while I walk down two flights of stairs, almost tripping over my own feet. It drives me crazy that I don't know what Liam's talking about.
Well, I was soon to find out.
"It's a girl," Elise whispers to me in awe as Liam answers the door. I see a flash of caramel brown hair and a smiling young woman enters.
I snort. "Shoulda known Liam would find himself a girl sooner or later."
Elise smacks me. "Be nice. Don't say anything stupid." When I shove a finger into my chest with wide eyes, Elise says, "Yes, you."
As if.
Well, maybe.
"Chan, Elise," Liam says, coming forward with his surprise visitor, "This is Lauren."
Elise smiles and shakes her hand. "It's so nice to meet you, Lauren. Liam didn't tell us that he had a girlfriend."
Lauren turns and smiles at Liam, who blushes. I bite back a huge grin. Liam's acting like an elementary school kid who doesn't know what to do with himself.
"I'm Chan," I say, shaking her hand. "It's nice to meet you."
"It's very nice to finally meet both of you," Lauren says. Her smile is contagious. "Liam has told me so much about both of you that I feel like I already know you." She turns to Elise. "It's an honor to meet you, Elise. Almost everyone knows who you are."
This time it's Elise's turn to smile modestly. "Well, thank you, but that was months ago. Thankfully, I'm back to a state of normalcy now."
"I'm glad to hear you're doing much better," Lauren says. Her eyes are warm and inviting.
Elise smiles again and takes a deep breath. "Well, won't you come in? Dinner will be ready in just a minute."
Liam ushers Lauren to the dining room and seats her like a gentlemen at the table as I help Elise bring in the food. My Grandma comes out from her room.
"Hey," I say. "Do you want some food?"
She shakes her head. "No. I'm not that hungry. I'll just have a glass of water."
"Okay." I suddenly become a little worried because I've never known Grandma to pass up a meal and come to think of it, she hasn't eaten a lot of food lately.
"Are you feeling okay?" I ask her.
My Grandma shrugs. "Just a little stomachache. I should be fine."
"If you're sure," I tell her.
She gives me a tiny smile and helps herself to a glass of water as I carry in a bowl of salad.
Why do I feel like history is repeating itself in this moment? I can still remember when Elise brought Josh home for dinner.
It feels like a lifetime ago.
Dinner goes well. I happen to really like Lauren. She's down to earth, sweet, funny, and I just want to see her around more often because seeing Liam's face turn so red every time she looks at him is, by far, the most hilarious thing I've ever seen. Just by looking at him, you can tell that Liam is pretty much smitten.
First impressions are important and I have to say, I wouldn't mind having her in the family.
Since Elise is so far ahead, she gets off school three weeks early. By the time April is coming to a close, she's already finished with her first semester and working on getting a head start on her second semester.
Dad is getting ready to fly home soon. Thank goodness, because maybe he can find out what's going on with Grandma. She continues to get weaker and weaker, always saying she's not hungry. She drinks lots of water, but once in a while I force her to take a few bites of some food, which she reluctantly does.
"Chan, I'm just not hungry," she complains, frowning.
"You haven't been eating half enough food lately," I tell her. "Too bad, so sad because while I'm here, you're going to eat food, okay?"
She gives me the stink eye, but says nothing more. Nothing else happens.
Until a few nights later.
I hear a loud thump outside my bedroom door. Puzzled, I open the door to find Liam peeking his head out of his own room.
"What was that?" he asks.
"I have no clue," I say.
"Sounded like it came from Grandma's room," Liam says.
"You don't think...." My voice trails off.
There's a pause before Liam and I dash for the door to her room. We both enter to find my grandmother laying on the ground, face-down.
"Liam," I say quickly, "Call 911."
An ambulance transfers my grandma from our condo to the hospital where she is whisked away under a doctor's expert care.
"Wow. It's been a while since I've been here," Elise says quietly from beside me.
"You don't have to stay," I say.
Elise shakes her head stubbornly. "Grandma is more important to me than that."
"Okay," I say with a little smile. I hold her hand as we sit.
Liam walks in a few minutes later. "Parking around here is murder," he mutters as he sits down next to Elise.
"How was Lauren doing today?" Elise asks.
Liam makes a face at her. "She's doing good."
"Kissed her yet?" I ask him, knowing it'll make him blush. My prediction is accurate. Liam's cheeks turn pink.
"No, Chan," he tells me disgustedly. "For goodness' sake, I've just met the girl."
Elise counts days off of her fingers. "It's been three or four weeks-a month? since you brought her to dinner?"
Liam glares at the two of us. "Well, I'm not going to get fresh with her."
"Yet, you mean," I say, as if I understand. Liam's cheeks turn an even redder hue than before. Elise and I look down at the floor to hide our laughter.
At this moment, the doctor chooses to come through the door. Looking at us, he asks, "Are you here for Helen Straub?"
"Yeah," I say. "Is she doing all right?"
The doctor fixes us with a serious expression. "I'm afraid your Grandmother doesn't have long to live."
I'm stunned. "What?"
"Gastrointestinal cancer," the doctor says sadly. "Stage 4."
"What?" Elise says. Her mouth is wide and I see tears forming in her eyes.
The doctor nods. "I'm sorry to be the bearer of such bad news, but she's in a very critical condition."
"Can we see her?" I ask faintly.
"Yes, but only for a short amount of time," the doctor said. "She's not expected to live past tomorrow."
I'm in such shock that I can barely think straight.
Elise looks down at her lap. "Grandma's going to die," she says quietly. "I can't believe it."
I squeeze her hand. "Let's go say goodbye."
Elise takes a deep breath. "I wish Dad could be here."
"Me too," I say quietly.
Liam has whispered a quiet goodbye to my Grandma. Elise has kissed her and held her hand, doing more crying than anything.
Now it's my turn.
I sit down in the chair by her bed and hold her hand in mine. It's cold and wrinkled, almost as white as the sheets on which she lays.
"Grandma," I say quietly. "I think you can hear me even though you're not conscious. I just wanted to say...thank you. Thank you for everything you did for me and Elise when we were little. You know, for taking care of us and acting as the role of Mom when ours abandoned us. We will never be able to repay you for any of it. You sacrificed a lot to take care of us and I appreciate it more than I will ever be able to say."
I squeeze her hand. "I wish Dad could be here to tell you goodbye. He's somewhere overseas, preparing to come home. We're sad you have to leave us, but I know that you're going to be a better place. You don't have to hang on any longer. I love you." And I lean down and kiss her weathered cheek, my heart hurting.
"Goodbye, Grandma," I whisper, getting one last glimpse.
The steady beeping of the heart monitor suddenly drops into a continuous shrieking sound. It takes me a few minutes to realize that she's gone.
My Grandma's gone.
And my dad wasn't here to say goodbye.