Alexandria Anderson
After hanging up, the boys keep on calling me but I just ignore them and put my phone on silent until I arrive at Somerset. I take a taxi to the hospital and head straight to the information counter, where a girl talks to someone on the phone.
“Good evening, may I ask where the ICU is?” I ask, when she finally puts the phone down.
“Oh, it’s on the third floor; along the hallway to your left once you get off the elevator.” she answers.
“Thank you so much.” I reply with a small smile which she returns, before I leave and take the lift to the third floor.
I get off the lift and slowly walk down the hallway, looking through the window until I see Mom – sleeping on a chair near the bed. I take a deep breath, before quietly stepping into the room and walk over to the bed.
“Hi, Nana.” I say to her even though she was still asleep.
My eyes brim with tears, as I look at her – there are a bunch of tubes hook to her and an apparatus on her mouth to assist her breathing.
“Alexandria?” I hear Mom asks groggily.
I turn around and just hug her without saying any word and that is when I just start to cry.
“Shh, don’t worry, sweetheart, she’s going to be alright.” she reassures me.
I nod and wipe my cheeks, as I pull away. Mom starts to fill me in with everything – what the doctors said about Nana’s condition before and after the operation, how the stroke will affect her and her body, and the possible things that might happen to her.
“But she’ll be okay, right?” I ask after she explains everything.
“Yeah, of course; the doctors even said that she’s strong for someone who had a stroke, so the possibilities are really high.” she replies, smiling at me reassuringly.
“I am really happy to hear that.” I glance at my grandmother and back at my Mom. “You’re probably tired from yesterday, mom. You should go home and rest, I’ll just look after her.”
“Thank you, but I am alright, sweetheart, don’t worry about me.” she smiles and fixes my hair.
Mom sits on the chair and before I sit down next to her, I pull my phone out from my pocket and unintentionally unlock the screen – showing me all the notifications.
9 unread messages
14 missed calls
I just ignore them and lock the screen, putting it down next to me on the armrest.
“Aren’t you going to call or text them back?” Mom looks at me questioningly.
“Nah.” I shake my head, just looking at the monitors at the side of Nana’s bed.
“Alexandria..” she says, causing me to look at her.
Though, I look at her as if I didn’t know what she wants me to say.
“What’s the matter?” she asks in concern, furrowing eyebrows.
“Nothing.” I reply.
“You don’t ignore people because of nothing.” she protests.
“I don’t want to talk about it, Mom, and I don’t want to add up to your worries.” I tell her as I look away.
“Alexandria, it doesn’t matter, just tell me.” she presses.
I shake my head, “Hey, uh, it’s already late, Mom, why don’t you go home and take some rest, I’ll just look after her.” I change the subject and she just looks at me for a couple seconds, before letting out a breath.
“Alright, sweetheart.” she says, getting up from the sofa. “I am actually quite tired already, call me if something comes up, okay?” she asks and I nod, “Thank you, I’ll see you in the morning.”
I just nod and smile at her a little, before getting up from the sofa to hug her. She kisses my cheek, before she leaves the room. Breathing out, I pull the chair next to Nana’s bed and take her hand in mine as I look at her.
• • •
Mom came back early today and just an hour after she did, I fell asleep since I didn’t get to sleep, looking after my grandmother. When I wake up, it’s already one in the afternoon. I look around the room and just in time, Mom walks in.
“Oh, hi sweetheart.” she smiles. “Did you sleep well?”
I nod and get up from the chair, “I am just gonna go to the bathroom.”
“Alright.” she replies, nodding as she checks on Nana’s vital signs.
I go to the bathroom and wash my face to somehow reduce the redness and puffiness of my eyes. After fixing my hair, I start to walk back to the room but before I could even reach the door; I see the boys inside – talking to my Mom.
God, I totally forgot that they were coming over today.
I start to walk the opposite direction and found myself at the cafeteria, I just buy a coffee and sit on one of the vacant tables next to the window. As I was sipping on my coffee, my phone – which I had put on top of the table – lights up along with a text.
fr: Mom
— Hey, the boys are here and they’re looking for you.
I bite my lip and just ignore it, putting the phone down on the table again, sorry Mom. I stay at the cafeteria for half an hour, waiting for the boys to leave before I go back upstairs.
“Alexandria, have you seen my text?” she asks as soon as I walk into the room.
“Yeah.” I casually reply, sitting down on the chair.
“Why didn’t you come then?” she raises her eyebrows in question. “Rye was actually waiting for you, but he had to leave already because they had to go to a meeting with Blair.”
I just shake my head and put my phone out, I start to read the boys’ messages from last night – asking me if I am okay and to pick up my phone – then, a new text comes in.
fr: Ryan Beaumont
— I want to talk to you in person, but I guess you don’t want to talk to me yet. I understand Alexandria, I just hope that you give me a chance to explain one day. For now, I want to say sorry for everything, for hiding the truth from you or if I hurt you in any way. I didn’t mean to hurt you, in fact I would never want to hurt you. Just know that I will always be here for you Alexandria, I hope we can talk soon.
I bite my lip and look up at the ceiling to stop the tears from falling.
“Alexandria.” Mom says, she takes a seat next to me and puts her hand on my lap.
I wipe the tears away and look at her with a small smile, “I am alright, Mom.”
“Alexandria, how many times do I have to tell you that you are so bad at lying?” she chuckles. “Are you now going to tell me what’s going on?”
“I – I don’t know where to start, to be honest.” I stammer, looking down.
“Just take your time, sweetheart.” she replies.
“Well, uh, you probably know that I already have.. feelings for Rye, right?” I ask.
“Yeah, I do, it’s really obvious.” she laughs.
I look at her in surprise and her smile widens.
“Oh, come on, sweetheart, I’ve been there.” she says.
I bite my lip, “Yeah right, I don’t know, Mom. He’s really funny, he always makes me smile and laugh; he knows how to make me feel better whenever I am upset..”
I continue to tell her how and why I fell for him, that he was always there for me, that I love how close he is to his family and how he treats everyone around him, that he’s very optimistic and outgoing, and that he’s also really sweet and caring.
“You do know that he likes you too, right?” she asks and that question took me by surprise.
“Well, here’s the thing.” I reply. “When I realize that I was already falling for him, I kept my distance from him. I had a feeling before that he actually feels that way, but I would just shrug it off all the time because I didn’t want to make some assumptions until last night, Andy called me and he probably didn’t know that I was already on the line and I heard their conversation; the boys were persuading Rye to tell me the truth already and he said that he was just waiting for the right time and I – I don’t know, I just hung up and I just start to ignore them.”
“Alexandria, love can be confusing sometimes, you can’t blame Rye for not telling you the truth –”
“I am not, I just –” I breathe out. “I don’t know how I should feel about it, if I am going to be happy to know that he actually likes me too or..” I shrug, looking down at my hands.
“Talk to him, sweetheart. If you like him, don’t hesitate to tell him the truth especially now that you know that he feels the same way about you, so what’s holding you back?” she asks.
I shake my head and sigh, “I don’t know, Mom.”