Dirty Chai

chapter 7: Hungry

They had arrived at the hospital and walked into grandpa's room. He was already up and picking at a breakfast tray.

"Good morning Grandpa." Frankie said as she walked in.

"Frankie!" Grandpa's face lit up when she walked in."who's that?"

"This is Oliver, he's a friend of mine." Frankie said, smiling at Oliver.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you." Oliver reached out a hand for grandpa to shake. He eyed it suspiciously for a moment but took it on his own.

"My name's Marty." He eyed Oliver up and down. "What are your intentions with my granddaughter?"

"GRANDPA!" Frankie exclaimed.

"It's ok Frankie" Oliver said, holding back a laugh. "I intend to take her to breakfast this morning, and then talk about our intentions for each other. Mine are honest, I assure you."

"What do you do for work? It pays good? Frances deserves a good life; she's been nothing but good to me." Frankie sank into a nearby chair and was hiding her face with one hand, but her shoulders shook with held back laughter.

Chuckling Oliver responded, "I work in marketing, it pays very well. I agree, she deserves the world." He smiled at Frankie who had lowered her hand, a soft blush building across her face.

"She is all I have left now. You take good care of her." Marty said, turning his attention back to the tray of food. "They never give you enough syrup for these things."

"I'll go grab some more for you." Oliver said, turning towards the door.

"Thanks," Grandpa said.

"Do you need help with anything grandpa?" Frankie said, scooting the chair closer.

"Yeah, can you open this for me?" He pointed to the orange juice that had a glued on foil lid. It looked as if he was biting it to try and open it.

"Of course!" Frankie took the juice and gently pulled the tab back leaving half of it on so it wouldn't spill. "How are you feeling?"

"Hungry," grandpa said, lifting a fork full of pancake to his mouth. There was a knock at the door, looking up Frankie saw the doctor she talked to yesterday and they walked in.

"Good morning Mr.Collins, I'm Dr.Greenly we didn't have much of a chance to talk yesterday. How are you today?" The doctor said warmly.

"Hungry" both Frankie and the Doctor laughed.

"I won't keep you then would you mind if I talked to Frankie for a bit?" Dr.Greenly smiled at them both. And Marty waved them on.

Frankie got up and walked to the end of the bed. "He seems to be well this morning." Frankie smiled softly at the man in the bed.

"Yes, though last night he woke up and the nurses were having a hard time getting him to calm down. He thought he was visiting Francesca in the cancer ward."

"That was my late grandmother." Frankie said sadly. "I hope he wasn't too bad since I didn't get any calls."

"No, the nurses managed ok, I brought it up because I'm worried about you. You said you took care of him at night, and have an in-home care nurse that comes out during the day." Frankie nodded in response.

"I think it's time for you to put him in a full time nursing facility. For your health AND his. They will be able to handle him when he gets anxious, and some of them have very long visiting hours so you can see him whenever you want. I gathered some brochures for you."

"Thank you," Frankie said softly as she took the brochures.

"I'm also prescribing some anxiety medication. I think it could help with the outbursts. Did you have any questions for me?"

"No, thank you again." Frankie said. She was trying to hold back tears.

"Don't hesitate to reach out if you do. Have a good day Mr.Collins" Marty waved at the doctor again, and they left. Frankie sat back down and with her head in her hand wept. She wept for the beginning of the end. She had held off for so long to not put grandpa in a home. She didn't want to say goodbye and was absolutely terrified by the prospect.

Oliver walked in, holding what must have been 20 packets of syrup. Frankie laughed at this, her emotions raw.

"Here you go Marty I got you enough for a while," Oliver said, giving a worried glance to Frankie. "Do you want me to open one for you?"

Marty nodded, still chewing a piece of sausage. Oliver opened one for him, placing it in his hand. He came over to Frankie's side of the bed and bent on one knee in front of where she sat, trying to hold back tears.

"It's ok to cry Frankie," Oliver whispered to her. Holding her hands. She looked at him and nodded then let it all out. She wept softly as her grandpa ate breakfast and Oliver held her hands. Once she was done grieving for her grandpa. She took a few deep breaths and wiped her eyes with a tissue Oliver handed her. He kissed her forehead. "You alright?"

"For now, yeah." She grabbed a tissue from the side table, and blew her nose. Grandpa had fallen asleep and she kissed him on the temple. "Let's go get that breakfast. I'm hungry" she smiled at Oliver.