Read Online Winter's Tide by Lisa Williams Kline - Free Book Online

shining on her cheeks.
    â€œListen, honey, the doctors are doing everythingthey can. We want to go see Grammy and let her know we’re here for her.”
    â€œThe girls are upset. Do you think it’s a good idea to take them in to see her?” Mom asked Norm.
    â€œI want to see her!” Stephanie cried.
    I didn’t say anything. Grammy Verra had been nice to me on the cruise. She had asked me questions about myself that a lot of other people may not have asked. She had given me hugs and insisted that I was her new granddaughter. She had given me advice but not in a way that felt pushy. Just caring advice.
    But sick people scared me.
    â€œI can wait in the car,” I said.
    â€œWe’re all going,” Norm said firmly as he pulled into a space in the parking deck.

6
S TEPHANIE
    V isiting hours will be over in fifteen minutes,” a busy nurse behind a desk told us when we finally arrived at Grammy’s floor. I wiped my eyes and tried to comb my hair with my fingers. I didn’t want Grammy to think I’d been crying.
    Daddy was walking ahead of the rest of us. I could tell he was very worried about Grammy. After what happened with Diana’s phone, I was surprised that Lynn put her arm around Diana’s shoulders as weheaded down the long hall. I was even more surprised that Diana didn’t shrug it off. I guess being in the hospital was scary enough that Lynn wanted to comfort Diana.
    The halls were shiny green-and-white linoleum. Attendants in colorful patterned scrubs walked by on quiet shoes, carrying clipboards or pushing carts loaded with equipment. In the rooms, lights were low and tiny TVs hung from the ceiling. People in thin gowns with IVs lay in the beds. Trays with leftovers from dinner rested on rolling carts beside the beds, and the smell of the hospital food still hung in the air. I didn’t like that smell.
    In one room we passed, a group of people talked loudly and laughed, but the rest were quiet, with just the buzz of the television or the murmured conversations of one or two people.
    This was the second time in two days that I had been in a hospital. It was so strange that Matt and Grammy were both in hospitals at the same time. Since Matt hadn’t regained consciousness before I left, I hadn’t been to his room to see him. I had only been in the waiting room. I was glad. I didn’t know how he would look all bandaged up. Had he woken up yet?
    â€œThis is Grammy’s room,” Daddy said quietly, stopping beside an open door.
    My mouth went dry. What would she look like?
    Nobody talked. I peeked in.
    Grammy lay in the bed, looking small and pale. I almost didn’t recognize her. Her mouth, usually smiling and laughing, was a thin line without her usual lipstick. Her closed eyes looked large and sunken. An IV went into the crook of her arm, and she was hooked up to a monitor that beeped softly and continuously. She wore a faded hospital gown and was covered with a thin, stiff, white blanket.
    Everything went blurry as tears stung my eyes. My breathing felt shaky. I blinked hard, because it would be terrible if she saw me crying. To make myself stop, I gritted my teeth.
    I tried to keep from thinking it but couldn’t help it. Was Grammy going to die?
    Hesitantly, Daddy stepped inside the room. The rest of us stayed out in the hall. Lynn swiped a tear from her cheek with a crumbly tissue and cleared her throat. Diana, with a stony look on her face, stared at the floor.
    Daddy stood next to Grammy’s bed and started to put his hand over hers but then let his hand drop. Looking at Daddy, just standing there with his arms hanging uselessly by his sides, made my throat ache.
    Suddenly Grammy’s eyes fluttered open.
    â€œNorm,” she said faintly.
    â€œHi, Mom,” Daddy said softly. “I didn’t want to wake you.”
    He took her hand, something I couldn’t ever remember him doing.
    â€œYou’re here,”