Family trip
827 Words
“Hospital?!! Did you say papa was in the hospital? But, why? Is he alright? You said he left the hospital, right? So, he must be alright. Right? Can I call him? Will he be able to pick up? Time! What time is it over there now?”
“Natia.” Startled, she turned around and came face to face with a worried grandpa.
“Take deep breaths dear.” Natia realized she was panicking again and needed to calm down. She began to take deep breaths, hold it for a while and then breathed out while grandpa was rubbing her back soothingly murmuring ‘there..there..’
“I take it you didn’t know he had a heart attack and was hospitalized for about two weeks?”
A little calm now, Natia turned to face Aleksandr again. He looked like he was bored. She shook her head.
“I didn’t know. What happened? He said he was busy with work. He didn’t mention anything about being sick or anything.”
Aleksandr sighed. “He fainted in his office. It was a minor attack and not the first one either, according to his doctors. He must have had a silent attack before.”
“I had no idea.” Natia muttered. ‘Her father was getting treated for a heart attack while she was here, feeling disappointed at him for not making to her stupid birthday trip! She had brooded over it for a few days. Hence, grandpa suggested they go for camping. Grandpa loved camping. He used to go for weeks in his RV, hiking, boating and fishing. It reminded him of his younger days in China. It has been a while since he went to one. And they both needed a change. So she readily agreed when he asked.’
She felt a hand on her shoulder. “He must have thought not to worry you.” Grandpa’s face was sad when he continued. “You have been having a hard time since Xi-wang died.” His voice broke in the last. Chen Xiwang was not only her mother, she was grandpa’s only daughter too. Even though he rarely shows it, grandfather was having a hard time too. Probably even harder than her. He lost his wife and only child in a span of two years. That was also one of the reasons she decided to stay with him until graduation.
When she was in ninth grade, her grandmother died. Grandpa was devastated. Mother thought it would be better not to leave him alone. So they moved back to San Francisco to live with grandpa. She had been moving around with mom her whole middle school years, even though they frequently visited grandmother and grandfather. She changed schools five times in middle school itself and was mostly home schooled before that. When her mother died, papa asked her to move to Russia with him. But, she told him she wanted to finish school there and he agreed. She didn’t want grandpa to grieve alone and she was also not ready for another change in her life. But, she will be moving to Russia after finishing graduation next year.
“Xiwang?” Aleksandr raised a quizzical eyebrow at them.
“Chen Xiwang. My mother.” Natia answered.
“Oh.” Aleksandr looked a little apologetic at first, but he soon returned to indifference.”
“I thought her name was hope or faith or something like that.”
“Hope Chen is her American name. Xiwang is the Chinese one. It also means hope.”
“Oh. Alright. If you are done here, you can go start packing. We need to leave as soon as possible.”
“What! Why? Where are we....Are you taking me to visit papa? But I don’t have a visa to Russia.”
“Yes, you are going to see him. However, we are not going to Russia. We are going to Hawaii.”
She blinked at him confused. Before she could say anything, he raised a hand to stop her and continued with a distasteful expression.
“A family trip.”
Natia searched his face, expecting it to be a joke. When she found out he was serious, she was troubled.
“But, papa is not well. He just left hospital. How can he go on a trip now?”
Aleksandr looked at her exasperated. “It’s been five days since he was discharged from the hospital. His doctors approved of his return to work. So he should be fine. Plus, we will be in our private yacht and there will be a doctor on board for emergencies.” He was typing on his phone at the last sentence.
“I am just here to find you and bring you to Hawaii. If you have anything more to ask, you can ask father directly.” Saying that, he tossed her the phone and turned to grandpa. “You are also invited.”
- Writer
