It had been some time since she’d called him that and the smile that lit up his face told her that it had been the exact right thing to say.
“You’re home early.”
“Hmm,” he nuzzled his nose against hers, bumping her cheek sweetly. “You look nice.”
“I have a litre of coconut oil in my hair.”
“Still look nice.”
“You’re so full of it,” she snorted, her words holding no bite. “Now really, why are you home early?”
“Missed you.”
He dropped another quick kiss on her mouth, shutting her up before she could say anything sassy.
“Where’s Nanaji?” he asked, drawing away just as she started to feel dizzy. Phew, she still wasn’t used to how he kissed her. Like he’d never get to do it again, so he had to make the most of it every single time.
“Just settling in for a nap.”
“Oh, I’ll go say hi before he dozes off. Maybe he’d like to go to the new gardens today for sunset. He liked the beach yesterday.”
Vera nodded with a smile, lacing her fingers with his as she led him into Nanaji’s room. She found it sweet that Vihaan found ways to involve himself with Nanu’s caretaking. More and more, she was learning to rely on him and finding that it had gotten easier to accept the help he so generously offered.
She knocked on the door once, pushing it ajar, her brows knitting when her grandfather looked to be asleep already.
She’d left mere minutes ago. Had he been that tired?
“Nanu?”
The silence felt eerie, a harbinger of something sinister. Not only did her grandfather not respond, but he also barely moved to acknowledge her calls.
She stepped closer, her blood draining when she noticed the unnatural stillness in his chest, the awkward position of his head and arm. As if he’d been getting ready to sleep comfortably, but had not been given the opportunity to fully settle in.
Ice spread across her skin, freezing her as terror seized her mind. Dropping Vihaan’s hand, she stumbled to Nanaji’s bedside, barely holding back from falling to her knees.
“N-Nanu?” she croaked, her hand hovering over his face, petrified of touching him and confirming what her mind knew but her heart rejected. “Vihaan is here to meet you. Nanu?”
Her breathing came out in loud, broken rasps, her vision blurring as she cradled her grandfather’s face between her trembling hands.
“Please wake up.”
Hot drops fell from her eyes onto his cheek, drawing no reaction from the man lying prone on his bed. She stared, reality settling into her bones with a weight of an anchor ready to drown her in pain. With a shuddering gasp, Vera crumbled atop him, her cheek pressed against his still warm chest.
“Don’t leave. Don’t leave me alone,” she whispered, her heart breaking when instead of the steady thud of a heartbeat beneath her ear, there was only the hollow sound of emptiness. A pool of silent tears dampened the cloth under her cheek as she choked back a sob, clutching her grandfather harder when she felt someone touch her back. Like a fearful pup afraid of leaving the only shelter she’d known, she climbed onto the side of her bed, hugging the man who’d loved her when no one else had.
She couldn’t let him go. She wasn’t ready. He was just talking to her. He was just here. “How am I supposed to live without you? Don’t go.” She buried her nose into his chest, desperately breathing in his scent before it faded.
She clung to her grandfather like the scared child she’d been when he’d dropped her off at the fancy school with the people who didn’t like her oily braided hair or her hand-me-down uniforms.
“Don’t go,” she whimpered, knowing that no amount of begging will allow her Nanu to hold her hand through the pain ravaging her. “Please. I have no one else but you.”
44
Goodbyes
Vera
Her world had stoppedalong with Nanu’s heart. But she was still breathing.