The Girl Nextdoor

Chapter 27

Camila's POV

It's been a few days since the party. I was able to see wello the day after I scrambled to clean up my house. Thankfully, the house and wello were both okay, for now. Wello hasn't been getting better but he hasn't been getting worse either. And in an odd and circumstantial way, I guess that was good news. The time I was there beside his bedside, he had not spoken to me. It wasn't because he didn't want to but because he couldn't. He seemed as if he was really weak. He had refused to eat for the last few months due to the pains in his chest, but lately he has accepted to eat a nibble of things. Seeing him in this state hurt me in every way that it could. He had always been a cheerful man. He was the best grandpa a girl could ever have. He used to be the one who would sing me goodnight along side with wella and now I had been doing the one doing it for him.

Wello had always loved hearing me sing. He knew I had a passion for it and that it was what I wanted to do more in the world. He himself was a singer back in his days but nothing big. He would occasionally have gigs here and there until he hit 50 and decided to call it quits. He didn't want that for me though. No matter how old I got, he kept encouraging me to peruse my dreams. He wanted me to be just like him, but even better. But he was also the reason why I wanted to be a cardiologist. And it was my way of helping others and hopefully someday even him through the implications that the heart puts on it's owner. Although my heart had not been in a good place lately, I didn't let that stop me from spending time with my wello when I still had the chance. I remember asking him while I was there what I was meant to be. College was right around the corner and I had been mentally contemplating with myself on the matter. At first he laughed at my question but it soon hurt him and caused him to cough. I immediately felt bad for asking such a stupid question that I already knew the answer too. But he held my hand to assure me that it was okay. He tried to open his mouth to speak but each word was a struggle, luckily though he managed to ask, "What do you love more?"

At the moment the answer was clear, "You wello. I love you more."

He chuckled again and soon after regretted it. He coughed a bit before he spoke again, "No Mija, I don't have much time left and you know that. As stubborn as I am, I don't think I'm going to make it. Don't direct your future based on me and my health, do what you love."

"But I love you wello. And I'm not going to let you die. "

"By the time your done with school, I might already be gone. I don't want you to do it for me. I want you to do it for you."

"Wello...-" I began to say until he interrupted me.

"You already know that singing makes me happy. And singing makes you happy. I want you to sing Mija. Not because I love too sing, but because you love too."

I half smiled, "Okay wello. Okay." I simply said before I started to tear up.

He wiped a few of my tears away with his shaky hand then asked me, "What else is going on with you Mija, te ves muy tensa."

I shrugged.

"Don't give me that shrug. When a women says she doesn't know what's wrong, she's lying. Don't lie to your wello Mija. I can tell something is up." He managed to say before he started coughing again.

In that moment I wanted to tell him everything. But he was yet another person in my life that was important to me and didn't want to disappoint. But in a few seconds of mental contemplation, I looked back into my wello's weary eyes. The same eyes that I looked at with admiration and love. In that second, I knew that I could trust him. That a man like my grandfather would never judge me, because he loved and knew me too well. I ended up telling him everything. I was fortunate that no one walked into the room while I finished explaining my story. And when I did, my wello's facial expression was unreadable.