Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 138287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 691(@200wpm)___ 553(@250wpm)___ 461(@300wpm)
It was hot.
Hot enough to make me shuffle in place.
A single word lit up. ‘Me’.
When Connor appeared again, he licked his lips seductively and winked. I couldn’t help but snicker. He was ridiculous. Then he clicked his fingers again and the photo that appeared had me both tearing up and barking out a laugh.
Connor must have been about seventeen years old. He was standing next to his Aunt Kim, dressed with a bright smile, wearing a white dress shirt, slacks, and a tie, all of which swam on him. His hair was slightly too long, leaving it lightly curled and his cheeks were rosy. They posed together as he held out a corsage.
‘Also me’.
My heart melted. Through tears, I asked a shaky, “You took your aunt to prom?”
He blinked at me before pointing to his image on screen. “Look at me! Who would’ve accepted a date with that doofus?”
In awe and head-over-heels in love with this man, I revealed a sober and sincere, “I would have.”
Connor didn’t respond, just squeezed my knee.
“When did you do this?” I probed, stunned. Amazed. Dumbfounded.
“This morning.”
More and more people added to the hashtag. The numbers grew into the hundreds of thousands. My faith in humanity restored, I felt the tears trailing my cheeks yet somehow couldn’t stop smiling.
I continued to watch person after person reveal themselves in a pure and humorous way. I continued to watch support flood in from celebrities and the public alike. I watched as people made a stand against bullying.
I watched as they stood for kindness.
“Are you okay?”
Sniffling, I swiped away at stray tears and swallowed hard. “Yeah.”
Everything was okay, just like Connor said it would be.
My smile stretched and grew, wobbly as it was.
In fact, everything was great.
Chapter Forty
Put Your Head on my Shoulder.
Emmy
I knew the day would come but when it did, I found I wasn’t prepared for it. I assumed I would be. But then, how does one prepare for such a thing?
She wasn’t even gone yet and somehow, I felt loss all the way through me, seeping into my bones, crushing my heart.
I stood in the open doorway, my gaze passing over the fragile, almost unrecognizable woman in the hospital bed. My arms crossed over my stomach, I wondered how this could have happened so quickly as I hugged myself tighter. I’d just seen her the day before yesterday.
The nurse in the room kept a close eye on nanna. I didn’t miss the way her lips pulled back. Nor did I miss the way her eyes softened as they landed on me. Her voice was reassuring, motherly, and it almost broke me. “You don’t have to stand there, honey. Come in.”
My eyes resting on the woman who’d raised me, I took a single step inside and asked, “How long?”
The nurse took pity on me. “Not long.”
Oh wow. I didn’t expect that to hurt so much.
My face crumbled.
I wondered if I should tell Connor that I changed my mind and no longer wanted to be alone. But as the nurse approached me, my lips quivered, and I found myself asking, “What do I do?”
She gently took my hands in hers and squeezed. “Talk to her. She’s not gone yet. It’ll bring her comfort in her final hours.”
I nodded through the blurry sting of tears and quietly approached nanna. I moved a chair to the edge of the bed and thought about everything this woman had done for me. She sacrificed everything to raise me. She went back to work as a middle-aged woman with very little work experience. Made sure I was educated. Never held me back. Always encouraged me to do the best I could with what I had. She was affectionate and loving.
She was, and remained to be, my hero.
Faye Aldrich was a saint unsanctified.
And somehow, sitting by her didn’t feel close enough.
The nurse watched me gently climb in next to nanna, take her hand in mine and lean my head against hers. I didn’t know what to say to her. How do you thank somebody for being everything you needed and more?
Lost for words, I remained quiet a long while, hoping my touch would be enough to relate how I felt about her. I was losing her. And nothing had ever felt so tragic than living in a world without my nanna.
In the silence of the room, my quiet voice cracked, “Put your head on my shoulder…”
I sang to her until I couldn’t sing anymore. I held her in my arms as she took her final breath and the tears took over, my body shaking in silent sobs.
Grief washed over me, and I mourned.
Chapter Forty-One
We are the champions.
Emmy
“I wasn’t snooping,” I exclaimed way too loudly as I saw Connor standing in the open doorway, watching me go through his sound files.
They were good.
No. Good was too weak a word.