The Secret of Ella and Micha Chapter 23

EllaWe decide to visit Grady before we part ways and head off on our separate adventures. Amy, his nurse, called me and told me that Grady was still in the hospital, but that he was allowed to have visitors. We make the hour drive around the mountains and to Monroe Hospital, toilsome to enjoy our last few days together.Its a bright, sunny day, and the trees on the side of the road be green. I hang my head out the window, watching the road, flavoring like theres so much waiting for me in life.What be you doing? Micha teases, turning the music down. Trying to be a dog?I shake my head and look up at the bright blue sky. No, Im beneficial enjoying the nice, warm day.He laughs at me and turns the music back up. My head remains out the window until we reach town, then I return to my seat. When we pull up to the hospital, blue and red lights light up the parking lot and my stomach constricts thinking about the night they showed up to take my mothers body away.Micha squeezes my hand, l etting me cope hes there for me. You ready for this?I nod and we locomote hand-in-hand across the parking lot and through the automatic glass doors. A lot of people are sitting in the waiting room and there is a baby crying loudly on a womans lap. The smell of cleaner collides with my nostrils as we walk up to the front desk where a secretary is rebukeing on the phone. Shes young with dark hair woven in a bun on go by of her head. I catch her eyes skimming across Micha as she hangs up the phone and turns to us.She overlaps her hands and sets them on the counter. Can I help you?Yeah, can you verbalise us what room Grady Morris is in? Micha asks with a polite smile.She taps her fingers on the keyboard and then reads the screen. Hes on the second floor in room 214.We nod graciously and head for the elevator. Micha swings his arm around me, guiding me closer as we reach the floor and I slip my hand into the back pocket of his jeans, craving his comfort. When we inscribe the room, my insides twist until I nonice Grady is sitting up in his eff, eating a cup full of green Jell-O. He looks pale under the florescent light, his mail nearly bones, and his eyes are more sunken in then the last time I saw him. A machine is hooked up to him, beeping in the corner, and an IV is taped to the back of his hand. Some of his items from home are hanging on the wall, making them not so bare.Somehow, he manages to genuinely smile. however what I wanted. To see my two favorite people in the whole wide world.I loosen up and Micha and I pull up chairs beside his bed on opposing sides of one another. Grady pushes the tray out of the way and sets his hands in his lap.So do you want to tell me whats up? he asks and Micha and I step in confused looks. With the cuddly entrance you two made.Micha made me do it, I joke, sliding a glance at Micha. He was being a baby. state he needed to be coddled.Micha winks at me. Yep, and you fell for it.Grady shakes his head and a frail laugh e scapes his lips. Ah, its good to see you two back together. He grows silent, mess his attention on me. You look happier than the last time I saw you.I am happier, I tell him, resting my arms on his bed.Youre still not there though, he says with concern.I know, I say. exactly Ill keep working on it.He seems content with my answer. I have something for you over in the corner.Micha and I track his gaze to a small box nestled in the corner of the room. I walk over to it and peer down inside. My smile expands as I pick up that broken vase I destroyed when I was a child. Its black, with a red pattern around the top, but the bottom is bust out, so it can neer hold flowers again. I turn to him with the vase in my hands. You kept this?He shrugs. Just because its broken doesnt mean it loses its importance. And I figured Id demote it to you one day when you realized it was okay to make mistakes. rupture build up in the corners of my eyes. Thank you, Grady. And I mean that. Thank you for e verything. For giving me a small amount of comfort during my childhood and letting me know that not everything has to be difficult.Youre welcome, he says simply.I go over to the bed and hug him, trying not to cry, but a few tears slip out and I quickly wipe them away before I pull back.We talk a little more about the stuff were doing, then the nurse shows up and shoos us out so she can change his sheets. Micha and I leave, crafty it will probably be the last time we see him again. I cry the whole drive home, clutching on to the broken vase. But with Micha at my side, I know Ill be alright.MichaNow are you sure you packed everything up? My mom asks for the billionth time.I never told her what happened with my dad. I didnt want her to have to disturb more than she already does. Thats one moment Ill keep locked away forever.I pick up my guitar pillow slip from my bedroom floor and swing my bag over my shoulder. Yes, I have everything packed, Mom. Now will you relax? Youre driving me crazy.Im sorry, she apologizes. Oh wait. Do you have enough money?I shake my head. The womans going to worry herself to death. Of course.Tears puddle in the corners of her eyes and she gives me a hug that nearly squeezes the air out of me. Micha Scott youre the best son a mother could ask for.I stub out my lips together, trying not to laugh at her overdramatic reaction. Im going on the road for a few months, mom, not dying.She pulls away, wiping the running mascara underneath her eyes. It doesnt mean Im going to girl you any less.Yeah, well see if you say that after Im back for a week and youre finding bras in your bed again.She swats my arm and points at the door. Okay, now you can go.Laughing, I head out the back door. Naomi isnt here yet, so I sit down on the steps, staring at Ellas house, wondering if shes going to come out. Shes never been good at good-byes so when her bedroom window slides open, Im surprised.But Im even more astonished when she scales out of the window and down the tree. She has the sexy, strapless dress on, and her auburn hair is covering her bare shoulders. She doesnt say anything as she flings her arms around my neck. Her breath is hot against my ear and she buries her face into the side of my neck. I drop my guitar case and bag to the ground, pick her up, and embrace her with everything I have in me.Im going to miss you, she whispers softly.I run my hand up and down her back, shutting my eyes, and public discussion her in. Itll be okay. Ill be back and annoying you before you know it.She looks at me with her big green eyes and then seals her lips over mine, kissing me indefinitely. My hands feel every part of her body, memorizing every curve, and the smoothness of her skin. I back us up against the tree into the shade, and slip my hand underneath her dress, feeling her there too. satisfactory Romeo, its time to go. Naomi honks the horn of the SUV.Sighing heavily, I release Ella and she puts her feet back on the ground. Ill call y ou every day.I kiss her one last time, then get into the car. She watches me the absolute way down the driveway, with her arms folded, fighting to stay composed. When we turn onto the road she walks to the end of the driveway, keeping her eyes on me for as long as possible. But eventually we slip away from each other.