Fish Out of Water (23 page)

“My uncle says he’s sorry he didn’t answer and is letting me use the car so I can get whatever you need. I’ll be there soon.” He hangs up before I can say goodbye.

I hold my phone to my chest, trying not to show how relieved I am that he’s coming. A weight lifts off me, like I don’t have to hold all this on my own anymore. It’s both terrifying and awesome.

“So.” Dad straightens his glasses. “Am I allowed to ask him about Cypress Point tonight?”

Mom smacks his arm. “Honey.”

“What?” He holds back a smile. “I just want to know what’s off limits before he gets here. I’m being considerate.”

I roll my eyes. “He loves golf. Yes, stay on golf. Do not get anywhere near what I was like as a baby or child.”

Mom smiles. “We promise. At least for now.”

It doesn’t take Dylan long to get here. His eyes light up when he sees me, and I have to restrain myself from running over and hugging him. He sets the bags and blankets on the coffee table in front of us. “You must be Mika’s parents. I’m Dylan.”

Dad stands, trying to be intimidating. It doesn’t work with his thin frame and general nerd-like appearance. He holds out a hand. “Nice to finally meet you. I’m Stan, and this is my wife, Yumi.”

“Nice to meet you, too.” He glances at me, his smirk mischievous. “Sorry it wasn’t sooner—Mika is slightly ashamed of me.”

I glare at him.

He laughs. “See? She’s worked hard to teach me how to be a decent human being.”

My parents give him a puzzled look. Then my dad asks, “What does that mean?”

Dylan’s eyes go wide, as if he just realized how that might sound. “Oh, nothing seriously bad. I’m not like a pimp or drug dealer. Just a selfish rich boy out on his own for the first time.”

They both breathe a sigh of relief.

“Get over here before you put your other foot in your mouth,” I say, pointing to the seat next to me.

“Yes, ma’am.” He sits and takes my hand tentatively.

“So you’re out of high school?” Mom starts passing out food. It has been a few hours since we had dinner, and I’m more than ready for some stress eating. Especially now, with my parents and Dylan in the same place.

“Just barely.” He reaches for a blanket and puts it around my shoulders. The gesture makes me blush, and I hide my face in the soft fabric. “I’m staying with my uncle, working at the pet shop while I figure out what to do next.”

“You don’t have plans yet?” Dad does not seem impressed by this.

Dylan purses his lips. “Well, my father had plans—I did not agree with them. Now I’m trying to decide if I should go for the pro golfer thing or if it’s too late. I need to get in touch with some of my old coaches and see if they still think I have a chance. If not that, then I’ll go to college and play—”

“You’re good enough to do that?” Dad barely hides his skepticism.

Dylan shrugs. “I was at the top of the Junior PGA until my dad stopped me from playing, and now I don’t get to play as much as I’d like. But when I do, I have a plus-seven game average right now. That’s not in tournament, though.”

Dad’s eyes go wide. “That’s pretty good.”

The big swinging doors
swoosh
open. The same doctor from before comes straight for us, and my heart pounds twenty thousand times a second. My parents stand, but my legs won’t follow suit. The doctor’s face gives away nothing, and I don’t know what I’ll do if it’s bad news.

Dylan’s hand comes around my shoulder, and he squeezes once. No words. It means the world.

“Good news,” the doctor says. “You mother made it through surgery.”

Dad hugs my mom, and I lean into Dylan. “Thank goodness.”

“She’s on her way to recovery, but I’m afraid she’s still in danger. We had to do a quadruple bypass, and her heart is very weak. She may need to stay here longer than a normal heart patient, especially since we can’t rely on her to be careful on her own with the Alzheimer’s.”

My parents nod, though I swear I can hear their thoughts.
How will we pay for this?
It’ll already be more than we can afford, without extended hospital stay.

“When we’ve settled her in her room, I’ll send a nurse for you.” The doctor looks at Dylan and me. “Since it’s after hours, I’m afraid it’s family only.”

“Of course,” Dad says.

The doctor leaves, and about twenty minutes later our guide shows up. She hands us special bands that show we have clearance. My parents stand and look at me. I gulp. “Can you give me a second to say goodbye?”

“Sure. I’ll text you with the room number.” Mom pushes Dad forward before he can disagree.

“Thanks for everything,” I say once they’re out of earshot. “Really.”

Dylan gently puts his hands on my face and kisses my forehead. “I’ll wait here for you, okay?”

I bite my lip. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I want to.” His hands drop to my shoulders. “They have TV here. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve watched TV? My uncle still doesn’t think I’m ready for ‘media.’”

“Seriously?”

He nods. “But I’m allowed to eat when I want now. I don’t have to do chores all the time either. I got my wallet back and he’s going to let me have a phone once I can pay for it myself. And if something involves you, I can get the car easy. He thinks you’re good for me.”

“That’s a little creepy, but I guess I won’t complain.” I kiss him, making sure not to linger too long. “You really don’t have to stay.”

“Why are you always trying to get rid of me?”

“Psh. I’m just saying it could be a long time before she wakes up, and you don’t have to sleep deprive yourself.” I stand, pulling out my phone to text Mom. “Maybe I worry about your wellbeing sometimes.”

His arms come around me from behind. “Good to know.”

“I better go.” I reluctantly pull away.

“You know where to find me.”

I shake my head. He might be cute right now, but what if this takes six more hours? At some point he’ll have to leave. He does have his uncle’s car. I head down the hall, following the directions for the room number my mom sent me. I warn them with a knock before coming in.

Mom and Dad sit by my grandma’s bedside. To my surprise, Dad has his hand over his mother’s. For all his anger, I guess part of him does still love her.

Never thought I’d understand that, but I do.

My grandma is hooked up to a lot of machines. She looks pale, and I might think she was dead if it weren’t for the slow, steady beeping that I assume is monitoring her heart. I should step closer, but I’m scared to mess something up or startle her at the worst possible time.

But more than anything, I’m taken back by the undeniable fact that she’s not just that crazy woman I met on the first day. She’s my
grandmother.
Part of my family. And I love her. I never thought it would be possible, seeing how different we are, but it happened so fast.

Mom reaches out for my hand and pulls me onto her lap. I feel like a child, but that’s okay right now. We watch her quietly, waiting. Time passes slowly in the dead of night. She doesn’t wake. My dad’s head bobs as he nods in and out of sleep, and my eyelids feel like they’re made of lead.

At two in the morning, she finally opens her eyes. She doesn’t say anything—is probably too weak to manage it—but she smiles.

“We’re here, Mom,” Dad says.

She closes her eyes, and one tear trails into her hairline.

After that, Dad tells us to go home and rest, that we’ll take turns and he’s first. We don’t argue. I want a bed after all this. Who knew waiting could be so exhausting? I feel like I’ve run a marathon.

When we get back to the waiting room, I can hardly believe what I see. Dylan sleeps awkwardly in a chair that is decidedly too small for him.

He stayed.

I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to tell him how much that means to me, but I let go of any fears I had. I let myself be okay with how much I care about him, just like I let myself love my grandmother.

Chapter 35

My phone is ringing. Problem is, my brain tells me this way before I can figure out how to move my arm. I have no idea what time it is, but surely it can’t be morning yet. There is so much sleeping left to do.

Again with the ringing. I reach for my nightstand, fumbling around until I find my phone. I don’t bother looking at the screen before I say, “Hello?”

“Are you still sleeping?” Shreya asks.

I force an eye open. My clock says it’s past noon. No wonder I’m so hungry. “Yeah, it was a rough night.”

She groans. “Please stop there.”

It takes a moment to figure out what she thinks I mean. “No, Shrey, ugh. I didn’t even go out with Dylan. My grandma had a heart attack.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah…” For a moment, last night doesn’t seem real. It happened—the details are all crystal clear—and yet my mind still wants to resist the truth of it. “I tried to call you and Olivia.”

She sighs. “Olivia missed yours. I…kinda don’t have a phone anymore.”

“What?” I sit up. “I thought you still had time on yours!”

Long pause. “My parents must have turned it off, because I don’t get service anymore.”

“Oh, no…”

“It’s okay. Olivia took me to a movie to distract me from having a total meltdown, and then we ended up visiting Pavan and Rachelle.”

“Really?” She must have been really hurt if she made Olivia drive her all the way to Salinas. And neither of them called to let me know what happened? Maybe they didn’t want to interrupt my date, but still. I should have been there for her.

“Yeah, and they made us stay the night so we just got back. Sorry we didn’t get your call. Is she okay?” Shreya says. I purse my lips, sure Olivia had to have seen my calls. She just didn’t answer them. I get the feeling I’m not hearing the whole story, but I’m too tired to push it.

“All things considered, I guess.” I plop back into my pillows, fatigue outweighing hunger. “She had quadruple bypass surgery.”

“Whoa.”

In the background, I hear Olivia saying, “What’s going on?”

Shreya parrots what I said, and then asks me, “Do you need anything? We can drive you over there or bring you food or—”

“Maybe later. You already have so much to deal with, Shrey.” I can’t believe she doesn’t have a phone anymore. It’s like my lifeline just got severed. She’s always been the first person I call in any situation. Suddenly I have serious motivation to get her a job. “I need to get cleaned up and run a few errands. I’ll call you guys after?”

I can feel her frowning. “Okay. Call Olivia if I’m not at your house later.”

“Yup. See ya.”

Throwing off my covers, I head for the bathroom to shower. I put on my goldfish shirt because I’m tired of saving it, and also maybe because it feels like Dylan is with me. The house is too quiet, and I can’t believe Mom would sleep this late. When I check her bed and then the garage, I discover she didn’t. She must have gone back to the hospital, choosing to “spare me” against my will.

Cereal at one in the afternoon is probably not the best choice, but I’m not sure I can stomach much more. It feels
empty
here, like a shell of a house without my parents, without my grandma complaining about her food. I don’t like it, and it makes me wonder if this is how Shreya feels all the time. I have to get out of here, and there’s only one place to go.

AnimalZone.

I always park my bike out front when I’m not working, heading inside like a normal customer. To my surprise, Dylan is at the register. He smiles when he sees me. “Here for another fish?”

I smirk. “No. I didn’t know you worked Sundays.”

“My uncle thought it would be nice to give non-family Sundays off, so it’s just me and him.”

“Ah.” I look around, nervous about seeing my boss. “Speaking of your uncle, where can I find him?”

He raises an eyebrow. “So you’re finally gonna ask, huh?”

I nod.

“Good.” He comes around the cashier’s counter and takes my hands. “And since I have you here, we need to reschedule our date. Hopefully this time no one will get kicked out or have a heart attack.”

I feel horrible for laughing. “I have no idea when I can now. I’m almost afraid to plan anything and have something happen to you next time.”

He frowns. “Call my uncle’s house when you can, then. We’ll just do whatever we have time to do.”

“Okay.” I hug him, burying my head in his chest.

“Whoa, you alright?” His arms come around me slowly, which is when I realize that hug was kind of out of the blue.

“Yeah. It’s just…I wanted to do that last night, when I saw you still waiting. But my mom was there.” I breathe him in, never wanting to let go. “Thanks, for everything. You really did help.”

He squeezes me tighter. “I’m glad. You seemed pretty scared.”

“I was. I wouldn’t have known what to do with myself if she had died.”

“She’ll be okay.” He rubs my back in small, comforting circles. The doorbell dings, and we jump apart as a customer walks in. She gives us a disapproving glare. Dylan nods toward the back. “I think he’s cleaning the bird cages.”

“Okay.” I head down the main aisle.

“Oh, and Mika?” Dylan calls.

I turn. “Hmm?”

His smile is blinding. “Nice shirt.”

I roll my eyes, though at the same time I wish we were back in my room with the door closed. How I’ve managed to resist going further with him is starting to seem like a miracle. Or plain stupidity. I’m not sure.

Clark is just returning from the back alley—I assume to throw away bird poop—when I enter the break room. I straighten my shoulders, determined not to chicken out this time. He seems completely normal when he sees me, though a little concerned. “Hey, Mika. Dylan told me about your grandmother. I’m so sorry.”

“Oh,” I say, though of course he told his uncle where he was going last night. I vaguely remember Dylan mentioning something about Clark on the phone last night. “Thanks.”

“You here to ask for time off? It should be fine if you need it.”

“Actually…” I gulp. Shreya needs this. If I want to keep her in Monterey, she needs money. “Kind of the opposite. I was wondering if you might be hiring anytime soon?”