The Wings Of A Caged Bird | First Draft

chapter 34: cedar goes on a mission

I am shaken awake from my dreams. "Cedar Cedar, I think grandpa's having a heart attack."

I snap my eyes open, finding July's panicked face hovering over me. For a moment I consider the possibility that I might still be dreaming, but July shakes me more and tells me to get up. So I do while rubbing my eyes and ask, "What did you just say?"

"It's grandpa." His voice is shaking. "I think he is going to have a heart attack soon. He needs to be hospitalized right now!"

My head goes blank. "Wha- I- what do you- I don't- what am I supposed to- ?"

"You have to g-g-get up and you have to tell them- you have to explain it to them just- come on!"

It seems like neither of us are able to think with a clear head right now, so I quickly get off the bed and follow him out of my room to grandpa's. There I find the old man lying on his bed, eyes closed and brows furrowed. His face looks wet.

My eyes widen. "Oh God, is he-"

July shakes his head and begins to talk very fast. "No, he's still breathing. But he is sweating all over. And look at the thermometer beside his pillow. He has a high fever too. I saw him tell aunt Sayu last night that his chest is hurting so he thought he is having gastritis. And then he took an antacid tablet. But I don't think it's- he is probably going to have a heart attack soon or he has already had a very small one and another one might happen soon-"

"Okay okay calm down calm down." I grab his arm to steady him. "Okay I got it, I'm gonna go wake uncle Ray up. Oh my God."

Everything happens very fast afterwards, without a single moment being wasted behind panic and confusions. After I wake up uncle Ray and aunt Sayu they quickly give a call to uncle Ray's childhood friend Lucas Jenkins, who comes over with his car to take grandpa to the hospital. Tiara and Aris had also woken by then, and Tiara wanted to accompany them to the hospital. But aunt Sayra tells her to take Aris to school and watch over Aurora, so she has no choice but to stay back. When the first rays of the sun pours into the Emmens household, it only makes the apprehension floating in the air more visible.

Tiara is still a little shaken up, so July and I take Aris to school. It is only a fifteen minute walk from home. On the way Aris asks me if grandpa will be okay. I only tell him to hope for the best. That doesn't seem to lift up his mood, and I know he would rather hear something like, Of course, he will be completely healthy in a few days. I don't know. I don't have too much knowledge about heart attacks. But I do know that my maternal grandmother, who mom had cut off contact with, passed away from heart attack though she was hospitalized quickly. I also know that matters of death are unpredictable; human lives like brittle leaves that may fall off any moment from the lightest breeze.

The thought of something happening to grandpa makes my head all disheveled, like how I had felt when I overheard Edgar and sister Elysia's conversation back in the Conways' house. But I push the thought away. I don't have the courage to dwell on it. I glance at July. He is walking with his head down, hands shoved into his pocket. He looks very distracted, hasn't uttered a word this whole time. The incident must have shook him up the most, since he was the first one to notice something was wrong.

After we drop Aris to school, we start to walk back the way we came.

"Are you okay, July?" I ask, moving closer to him.

He doesn't reply for a while and just keeps walking. I have gotten used to the scenery of the forest now, yet it makes me feel something the monotonous city scene never could. It's the way the songs of the birds can be heard with so much clarity, the way greens and woods capture my vision wherever I look, the way the air smells so soft and pleasant, the way everything is always so thriving with life.