I Love You to Death(39)

He’s still smiling. "Cool, I was just on the phone, but I’m glad they caught you. Do you remember everyone?"
I unconsciously lick my lips. My mouth feels very dry so I take a sip of beer. Luke watches me. I feel like all of them are watching me.
"Yeah, I remember them, sort of. I’m surprised they remembered me actually."
Luke laughs, a little red creeping onto his cheeks. "Yeah you know, the party, plus they’ve been in to work before, and I guess they all saw you at our show too."
I’m confused. I don’t remember ever seeing them in the shop and I’m still surprised I would even be that memorable for them. I’m about to ask Luke, when Jared interrupts us.
"We should get going soon boys, Ash you’re coming with us right?"
I turn to look at Jared and see he’s smiling at me like it’s obvious I’ll be going. Luke leans over and I feel his warm breath as he whispers in my ear, "We’re going to watch a band, some friends of ours. Come with us."
It’s a statement, not a question.
I feel my hand tighten around the cold glass in response to his words. I don’t know what’s going on here. Jared and the others are all looking at me and smiling. Luke has pulled his head back, but I can feel the heat of his arm behind me. Finally someone speaks as though to diffuse the situation.
"Yeah you should definitely come with us, hang out, it’ll be fun."
What to do. What should I do?
∞

On the last morning of our stay with my grandparents, as I made my way downstairs, I found both Seth and Grandad waiting for me. I must have stopped right in my tracks, because Seth just laughed when he saw me and said, "What, you think I’m gonna keep letting you have all the fun?"
I glanced over at Grandad who was standing by the door, his jacket still hanging on the hook. "But you’re coming too, right Grandad?"
"Up to you Ash, I’ll come if you want," he said. "Or do you just want to go with Seth today?"
I glanced over at Seth who simply shrugged as though he didn’t care what happened. I didn’t want to have to choose between them, but I didn’t want one of them to not come either, so I said the only thing I could say. "Both of you come."
We did a couple of runs down the hill together, Seth always beating me because he was fearless and would fly down without even thinking about how to stop at the bottom. Grandad kept helping me pull my sled back up the hill, but after a few runs I could see he was getting tired and now seemed to be having trouble breathing.
"Are you okay Grandad?" I asked.
He could only nod at me as he tried to catch his breath which was blowing out in irregular puffs of white frost in front of him.
"Maybe you should sit down for a minute Pop," Seth said, coming over and wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "I’ll do this one with Smash."
Grandad nodded and we left him sitting at the top of the hill as once again, we flew down it. When we got back to the top, he seemed better. He was breathing more normally now and smiling as he saw us. "Alright kiddo, let’s go again."
"Are you sure you’re okay Grandad?" I asked.
"Never better," he answered smiling.
So the three of us set off once more down the hill, Seth as usual getting to the bottom first and then followed by me. When we both turned back to look for Grandad who was always the slowest, he waved at us. As we were waving back, we watched as his hand suddenly went to his chest and his head bent forward. I remember calling out, "Grandad," but not sure if it was even loud enough to reach him.
And then I remember Seth dropping his sled and running up the hill towards Grandad who had suddenly veered sideways as his sled turned over and Grandad fell off it.
I remember Seth turning back to me, a look of terror on his face as he yelled, "Run Ash, run, go and get Dad."
I remember standing there, frozen on the spot, watching Grandad as he lay on the cold snow clutching his chest. I wanted to go to him, see if he was alright. He wasn’t moving at all and the only thought I had was how cold he must be, lying there on the snow.
"Run Ash. RUN!" Seth screamed at me.
And then I remember running. I remember running and running and the hard burn in my legs as I just kept telling myself to run. When I finally reached the backdoor, I ran inside screaming for Dad. He came rushing in from the living room.
"Asha, slow down, what’s wrong sweetie, what’s wrong?"
My breath was coming out in hard puffs, almost like Grandad’s had been before that last run. "It’s Grandad, something’s wrong!" I finally managed to get out. "Seth, he...Seth said to....to come and get you."
Dad took off out the back door, not even stopping to pull on his coat. I raced after him, desperate for everything to be alright. Dad turned back to me as we neared the bottom of the hill. "Go Ash, go and tell Grandma to call 911."
"But Daddy!"
"Go Ash, now!"
I ran back to the house, my legs near collapse as I raced inside to find Grandma.
Then I remember the lights and sirens. The ambulance as it pulled down their long drive and stopped in front of the house. The men in green uniforms, who emerged running to where Dad and Seth were still crouched over Grandad’s body. I remember seeing all of this from the living room window, Grandma standing behind me with her arms around my shoulders. Eventually, Grandad was lifted and taken to the ambulance and when I saw this, I pulled myself from Grandma’s arms and ran outside to see him. Seth grabbed me before I got to him though and the last thing I remember were words, spoken quietly to my Dad. Half caught phrases like exertion, heart attack, too much, over did it.