Disclaimer: See Prologue.
Chapter Two: The Phone Call
Andrea rushed through the front door. She'd heard the phone ringing when she'd arrived at her apartment a few moments ago, but of course she couldn't find her keys in her bag. For a moment she thought she'd lost them, but thankfully they were there, right down at the bottom of her bag underneath her wallet.
"Hello?" she said into the receiver.
"Andrea?" was the reply. Andrea recognised her mother's voice.
"Hi Mom," she answered. She was surprised that her mother had called her at this time. She knew that Andrea typically wasn't home before 4 o'clock.
"Andrea…" her mother said again, and paused. Andrea picked up on her mother's tone immediately. Something was wrong.
"Mom? What is it? What's wrong?" she asked.
"Oh honey, it's Grandma Rose. She collapsed this morning. She's in the hospital. The doctors say it's her heart," her mother said, sounding upset.
Andrea sat down, feeling shaken. She'd always been close to Grandma Rose, ever since she'd lived with her during high school. After she'd moved away to Connecticut to go to college, and later to New York for work, she'd talked to Grandma Rose regularly and Rose even flew out to visit Andrea and Hannah once every year. In fact, she'd talked to her only three days ago about arranging another visit.
"How bad is it?" Andrea asked her mother.
"We don't know. They're not telling us much."
Andrea considered things. She knew she had to go back and see her grandmother. She'd never forgive herself if she didn't and her Grandma got worse, or died. Hannah was finished school for the summer on Friday. Today was Wednesday. If she flew out to California she'd have to bring Hannah with her. Could she wait until Friday? What if something happened between now and then? No, she'd have to leave as soon as possible. Tonight if she could get a flight.
"Mom, Hannah and I are gonna fly out, okay? As soon as we can get a flight out."
Andrea and her mother talked for another minute and then said their goodbyes. Andrea headed straight for the computer. Within minutes she'd found an evening flight to Los Angeles. She'd have to pack quickly, and leave as soon as possible after Hannah came home from her friend's house, but they should just about make it.
After making a quick phone call and asking her daughter to come home, Andrea headed into her bedroom to start packing. She dragged out a large suitcase from under bed. It should be enough for both her and Hannah.
A few minutes later as she was packing her things, she heard the door close. She knew it must be Hannah. Thankfully Hannah hadn't been too far away – just two floors down at her best friend Sarah's apartment.
"Mom? What's going on?"
Andrea looked up and saw Hannah standing in her bedroom doorway.
"We're going on a trip, to California!" Andrea told her daughter, trying to sound cheerful. Hannah looked puzzled.
"Why? We've never gone there before. When are we going?"
"Tonight. Grandma Rose isn't feeling well, so I thought it would be nice to visit and cheer her up," Andrea replied. She didn't want to make things sound too serious. She didn't want to worry Hannah. Not yet anyway.
"If we're leaving so soon, it must be bad. Is she gonna die?"
Damn! Trust her to pick up on that. Usually Andrea was proud to have such a smart daughter, but it had its disadvantages. She knew she'd have to just be straight with Hannah; otherwise the poor kid would probably invent all kinds of scenarios that ended with Grandma Rose dying.
Andrea sat down on the bed and patted the space beside her. Hannah left the doorway and came and sat next to her.
"Okay honey. There's something wrong with Grandma Rose's heart, and the doctors aren't sure if she's going to be okay. So you and I are going to go out and visit her, and maybe that might make help her feel better," Andrea said, hoping that Hannah would take the news okay. She realised as she was looking at her daughter waiting for her reaction, that her own mother had probably felt the same way earlier today when she'd called her with the news. If the situation wasn't so serious she would have laughed.
Thankfully, Hannah seemed to be okay. She agreed to go and get whatever she'd need for a couple of weeks away. In less than half an hour they were both packed and messages had been left with Andrea's employer and on the answering machine of Hannah's principal. After one final phone call to her mother to give her their flight details, Andrea and Hannah left the apartment to catch a taxi to the airport.
