Page 123 of If Love Had A Manual

“Lena?” It’s Doris this time, and she’s too quiet.

I want to scream.

“I’m sorry to wake you, honey,” she says. “But your grandfather’s taken a turn.”

A turn?

The words knock the breath from me.

“How bad?”

She hesitates, and I hate that most of all. That pause always comes before the real blow. “You should come,” she says softly. “And you might want to let your family know.”

I’m out of bed in seconds, flinging back the covers. Jeans. Hoodie. Shoes. I grab my phone again and send a text to the group chat I have with my siblings.

Me:Grandpa’s not doing good. You should all come. Love you.

I’m moving on autopilot. Bag. Phone. Keys. I hit the front door before the tears start.

I whisper prayers I haven’t said in years.

Just let him hang on.

Let me see him.

Let me tell him I love him one more time.

Don’t you dare leave me now, old man.

Not tonight.

Not like this.

Just hold on.

Your baby girl is on her way.

Forty-Six

No one responds to the group chat. It’s too late, or too early, depending on how you look at it, so I start dialing.

Eli picks up after three rings, voice hoarse and sleep-heavy. It vanishes the second I say Grandpa’s name.

“I’ll wake Theo,” he says. “We’ll call Tess. Just get there, Lena. Love you, sis.”

I close my eyes, then nod like he can see it. “Love you too.”

I need to call my father. I don’t fucking want to, but I have to.

He needs to know because he needs to be there for Tess when she gets the news.

Grandpa and Dad haven’t been in sync since Mom died. Maybe not before that, either.

None of that matters right now. The people who need to be there should be there, even if it’s complicated.

He answers on the first ring, but his voice is clippedand tight in a way that makes me want to cry harder.

“It’s Grandpa,” I tell him, and that’s all I say because nothing else will come out.

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