nights; h.s.

50

fifty

harry

"Bye Nana!" I yelled, rushing out of my room since I was already 20 minutes late and I still had to pick up Brooklyn and Junior. But, I couldn't help but notice she didn't reply.

I slowed my steps down the stairs and reversed them, quickly knocking on her bedroom door. "Nana?" I called and I heard some humming so I opened the door.

"Are you okay?" I asked, looking at her with a blend of confusion and terror in my eyes. Her skin was pale and dry, her lips tinted blue, and her breath was silent.

"I'm fine darling, go to school." She said, rolling over so I was no longer able to see her. This wasn't my Nana. My nana was up at 6:00 every morning, she'd always check on me after my alarm went off and by the time I came downstairs a bowl of baked beans with a side of and bread was already made and a sandwich was in my bag.

"A-Are you sure? Do you need water or anything?" I asked, moving over to her bed and sitting beside her. She grabbed my hand, hers felt like ice. "I've just caught a cold that's all, go to school."

I stood up, feeling a sense of nausea with the thoughts and 'what if's' that began to run though my mind. I could feel my phone buzzing from angry 'hurry up' texts in my pocket so I leaned over and kissed her forehead before speeding right out of her room. I slid my shoes in, barely even pulling them over my heels and jumped into the drivers seat. Seemed to be hours before Brooklyn was sitting beside me, in the passengers seat.

"Junior got a ride from my mom and will always be getting one since she found out you drive a truck." Her voice said. I nodded.

"It's not even the danger the thing, she just thinks it looks too aggressive for Cheshire, whatever that means," she scoffed. I pulled into the parking lot and sped into the first spot I saw. Brooklyn unbuckled her seatbelt and kissed my cheek, jogging off to the second building where she was almost 10 minutes late to her first period.

I walked, feeling like the ground was gonna cave in underneath me, all the way to English where I sat staring at my desk for the whole period. Soon enough it was lunch, then the end of the day and I could finally leave. Although I was in a hurry I still had to drop off Brooklyn, so I swallowed all my anxieties and drove silently with Brooklyn over to her house. She asked if I wanted to come over and I said 'Umm.. no..?' with no explanation, which just made the silence weird and sour. She didn't speak again except for the small 'Thank You' she squeaked out before hopping out of the truck.

I sped out of her drive way so fast, making her head whip back at her doorstep. I cursed silently but continued to speed down the Cheshire roads all the way to my house. I parked messily in my drive way and rushed inside, barely even shutting the door and just scrambling up the stairs to Nana's room.

She was still laying there, in bed. "Nana, you feeling better?" I asked stupidly, "Harry, yes, I'm fine-" she said, interrupted by a string of coughs that illustrated the opposite.

"Have you eaten since morning, Nan?" I asked, sitting on her bed. "I've been resting-"

"Sweet Jesus, let me bring you some water and then I'm gonna make you some dinner."

"I'm not hungry, Harry, I'll eat later."

Ignoring her statement, I picked up the empty glass on her nightstand and ran down the stairs, filling it up in the kitchen sink and bringing a banana up, and 2 capsules of DayQuil up along with it. "Dinner will be ready in 45." I said, gently placing everything on her table and leaving before she could say I'm fine.

I ran back downstairs and took multiple packs of ramen out of the cupboard, and throwing them in a sauce pan full of boiling water. Once it was finished, I served two bowls full and brought them up to her room. That night, I ate by her bedside. Little did I know that little routine would last a little longer than a "cold" would.